Practicing Freehand

My daughter's friend asked me to quilt this for her on my longarm. It is about 80" square. I've done little quilting this year sew I was concerned it wouldn't turn out well cause I wanted to do it freehand,or at least, not follow a pantograph. I can usually follow lines pretty well, but I wanted to do it freehand and I'm not real good at that, yet anyways.  I am just a bit concerned that I may never get very good at it if I don't do it more often. That and the fact that I never could draw very well. And wow, now I am just doodling on a quilt with this big machine and it's fun. I just wish I was better at it. So I plug along and practice. Actually I quilt, but I always call it practice cause I need more of that. One thing for sure though. If I really am just doodling, then it is sloppy work. But if it is a real quilt, I try harder. I do think I need to mark the quilting lines more. That is always something I didn't like to do. But to do a good job, I guess I need a good sharp line. The chalk doesn't do it for me. All that means it is not as freehand as I'd like it to be.  Some teachers say doodling on paper everyday helps. Maybe I could do that while I have my morning coffee.

I was glad to finish this one up and already have another one loaded. It is a small
sampler comfort quilt. Should be fun. Now off to check out the inspiring quilts linked up to Judy's for Design Wall Monday.