Quilting Time!

I've started the quilting phase of my paper-pieced gift. Nothing too complicated, although I am in the process of ripping out a row since the backing puckered...what a bummer!
To reward myself after an hour with the seam ripper, I have started a mystery quilt-along with the Quilts of Valor group. This one is designed by LeAnn at Persimmon Quilts. She uses a great method for the flying geese! (Look for clue #2 on quilt 12)

I thought I'd share a tip I learned from the Yarn Harlot - a counting thread.
That is the sleeve for a raglan sweater, and I need to decrease every 4th row. So, I grabbed some contrasting yarn, and laid it between stitches in the middle of the first decrease row. It's very easy to count those four rows, then bring the red yarn forward. You can use this method to keep track of how many times you've decreased along with counting the individual stitches.

And a tip for the quilters...I was getting stuck with the corners of some blocks on the mystery quilt. My machine was eating the tips and creating a tangled mess of thread.
So, I flipped the fabric so I could start sewing on a wider edge rather than the tip.
Happy Stitching!