Pattern Testing

A couple of weeks ago Nadra at Ellis and Higgs wrote a post asking for quilters to volunteer to test some new patterns that she is in the process of preparing for her online shop.  I have always liked Nadra's designs and decided that I would volunteer.  At the end of last week I was sent a cute little pattern to test, called 'Sugar Candies'.

I was excited to get started on this sweet (excuse the pun!) little quilt but, before I tested the pattern, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure that my sewing machine was in perfect working order.

I cleaned out all the fluff and lint that was underneath the stitch plate, gave it a drop of oil in the appropriate places, changed the needle and gave it a general clean up.  It is incredible how much fluff you can find and, how much more smoothly the machine runs after it has been given some attention!

Once my machine was ready, I set about choosing some fabrics.

I was careful to cut only the amount that had been specified in the pattern so that I could give feedback as to whether the amounts had been calculated accurately.

I cut out all the pattern pieces carefully and started to sew them together. As this is a 'mini' quilt some of the pieces are quite small and I had to pay close attention to my stitching.

I had a really fun day yesterday putting this little quilt top together.

Today, I will start on the quilting.  When it is finished and Nadra is happy with it, I will show you more!