QAYG, and today's stop!

The two meanings of "quilt as you go" (QAYG) cause a lot of confusion in the quilting world. Kind of like the two meanings for "paper piecing". I keep seeing the "stitch some fabric onto batting then add another" kind of QAYG on Instagram, largely because of this Craftsy class. Everyone seems to be doing straight line quilting but I wanted to see if you can do this with free-motion quilting (that would be FMQ QAYG!!)

Yes, you can!

The reason I think no one does this is you want a perfectly straight line to attach each subsequent piece of fabric but then you want to FMQ each piece, without having to switch back and forth between the straight stitch and free motion feet.  Well, here's how I did that: by using my square ruler as a guide. I just moved the free motion foot right along the edge of it as I stitched. No need to switch anything. Curiosity satisfied, I stopped the project there but I'll pick it up again I'm sure.

And now I'm happy to send you to today's stop on the First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting blog tour: Jessica from Life Under Quilts. Jessica's story of approaching a free-motion project will probably sound familiar to everyone.

I love Jessica's heartfelt nature, her steadfast commitment to her craft, and her really personal artistic style. Jessica is the person who started me thinking about myself as a potential author.  Without her, the book simply wouldn't have been written, or not for a long time, at least. What was even better was that while I was writing the book, Jessica was writing one of her own! Always nice to have a friend who gets it. Even if that friend is someone you've never actually met. I hope you enjoy Jessica's post and giveaway!