I have done very little free motion quilting over the last year. Most of my quilts have been too 'busy' to merit anything other than basic quilting. I know I was very rusty and needed a project that would get me using my fmq brain.
Last summer I made a feathered star mini quilt for a swap. I was given a list of the recipient's likes and dislikes. She liked quilts with lots of white space and modern quilting. I kept the quilting very simple and used straight lines. I enjoyed the process, but wondered what a large version with more traditional quilting would look like.
In the end, I chickened out somewhat on the design and went for a simple orange peel design for all the outside white space. However, just the physical process of fmq was very beneficial and therapeutic. Maybe next time I'll be more ambitious.