Never have had a problem with 505. I can never not use it.

I agree with the above: do all the middle first. Then do the SID around and lastly do the border. I would really worry about puckers if you did the SID around first.

Just to update this thread--I finally finished this quilt! Life did a really good job of getting in my way, but I had a deadline to meet and I managed to find some time. Due to time constraints, I simplified the quilting pattern in the middle, but I still did all the pebbles around the edges. Typically I'm pretty critical of my finished works, but I'm actually really happy with the way this one turned out. Take a look!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]613738[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]613739[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]613741[/ATTACH]

I love bubbles/pebbles! They take some time, but they make a great filler.

that's a nice quilt! :thumbup:

Love this quilt! The pebbles turned out nice. I also like the blue fabrics.

Thank you!

I made this quilt for my son's school paraprofessional. She has been amazing for the last two years, and now that he's moving on to jr high school, he's moving on to a new para. Yesterday was the last day of school, and I presented her with this quilt before classes started for the day. She cried, I cried, we hugged, it was wonderful.

I felt driven to make this quilt for her...I Needed to make this quilt. Then, when we composed ourselves, she told me that her sister is a quilter, and is dying of ALS. The last quilt that she was able to make was given to our para, and is on its last legs. She really wanted to put it away for safekeeping, but didn't have a good replacement for it, and was reluctant to put it away. She has sent me a pic of it (my quilt) in her den, on her rocking chair, where she sits with her sister's quilt every night. Now she's going to sit with ours and get a big hug from us every time she sits down to watch TV.

This turned out to be even more meaningful than I thought it would, and I'm so glad I was able to give her such a gift.

A quick note about making a jelly roll race quilt--This was my first, I found that this wasn't really any faster for me than doing any other kind of quilt. All the pressing of all those little seams takes up a ton of time. I really felt the pressing was necessary, though. I just couldn't stomach the idea of having a lumpy quilt-top!!