Isaiah's Quilt (and FMQ tutorial)

A long time ago, I met a rambunctious, smart and adorable lil red haired boy in my 4 year-old VBS class.  His name is Brandon.  How has enough time passed for him to get married and have a son? (who by the way, looks exactly like his dad!)

I made a little quilt for Isaiah.  First, I found the fabric for the background.  It's a camera print from Robert Kaufman.  Brandon is an ace photographer. I knew the camera fabric had to be for his son's quilt.  I was excited to find all of the other matching fabrics in my stash!

It took me a minute to figure out the pattern, but I laid it out and then sewed 4-patches together.  When the top was pieced, I took it to my friend, Kim, so I could quilt it on her long arm.  Kim she showed me how to do make this puzzle pattern.  The week before, she was demo-ing a Gammill at a quilt show and using this design.  I knew it was perfect for this quilt.

Here's a close up of the teddy I made from the Zakka Style book pattern.

Here's a close up of the puzzle quilting design.

Wanna know how to make the puzzle design?  It's easy when you know the trick!

1. First, decide how large you want to make the 'pieces.'  If you make a puzzle bump on the seams, that gives you an regularly spaced guide.

2. Make all of your vertical lines first.  Note that all of the puzzle 'bumps' are lined up--

this is so you can sew betwteen the straight horizontal lines in the next step. 

It does not matter which direction the bumps go, just alternate from time to time.

(You might want to practice this several times on paper before you try it on your quilt.)

3. Come back with horizontal lines through the vertical puzzle lines and sew the same pattern, 

alternating bumps up and down (use the same regulated markers as you did on the vertical.)

See?  Wasn't that easy?