Destiny's Debutante Quilt

My goddaughter, Destiny Kincaid, is a debutante this year! It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly they grow up when you feed and water them regularly.....She's 18, just graduated from high school, and on her way to college later this month.

The debutante experience is a program in our community that teaches young women skills that will last them a lifetime. One of the main focus points is that we give back to our communities by helping various charitable organizations that help those in need. The debutante class of 2009 had a fashion show that was held last Sunday and the quilt that she and I made for the occasion was auctioned off to the highest bidder. I'm using the words "she and I" pretty loosely -- Destiny did all of the sewing (LOOK at her go on the brand new Bernina 830!!) -- and I did the cutting and pressing. Once the quilt was pieced, I took over and did the quilting.

She decided that mitered corners would be the best border option for this quilt and I just had to take a picture of the great job she did on them!

The first step in the quilting was to sew diagonal straight lines in both directions through the pieced blocks. I used monofilament thread in the top of the machine and Mettler Silk Finish 100% cotton thread in the bobbin. I definitely appreciated the larger bobbin size on the 830 as well as the low bobbin indicator on the face of the machine. I have been playing around with the dual feed feature of this machine and decided to use it instead of the walking foot. I think I still like the walking foot for quilting, but like the dual feed for better accuracy in piecing.