I’ve finished a few quilts in the past month after taking the machine quilting class I mentioned last month. When I was first learning to quilt, I was influenced by the book by Mary Ellen Hopkins, It’s Okay if You Sit on My Quilt. My main takeaway was that quilts are meant to be used.

I create a lot of quilts that are used for coasters and I added drying mats to my list of practical quilts. Heretofore, we’ve been using microfiber drying mats for dishes. Nothing wrong with those, but I can’t resist infusing a little beauty into everyday things and tasks. Enter the drying mat strip quilt! This quilt was a Christmas gift for my beloved – along with a promise to help clean the kitchen from top to bottom!

I experimented with using blue painter’s tape as a stitching guide (it’s amazing!), and I quilted with some of the variegated thread that I have been saving for a special occasion combining quilt-as-you-go quilting with traditional quilting.