Baseballs-A Free Motion Quilt Tutorial
TUESDAY IS TUTORIAL DAY
Good morning, Quilters and Baseball Fans! As you may recall, when I’m not quilting or blogging, you can find me sitting on the bleachers watching my son play baseball. It’s my favorite pastime!
There are baseballs, bats, gloves, hats (and smelly gym shoes) in every room of our house–including my sewing room. One day it hit me… (no, not a foul ball—an inspiration…)
A baseball quilt!
THE BASEBALL FREE MOTION QUILT TUTORIAL
To stitch this pattern, a circle template is useful. (The templates are available at office supply stores.) However, any circle will work…use a juice glass or a cookie cutter, or the bottom of the spray starch.
Begin by drawing two lines to keep the balls in a row…In the sample below, the lines are three inches apart.
Use the template to draw circles in a row. It is best if the circles touch… In the sample below, the circles are 2-1/2 inches.
Next, use the template to draw semi-circles on each side of the “baseball”. It looks best if the position of the semicircles is varied…
Begin stitching…stitch the full circle.
Over lap stitches–either by stitching right on top of the previous stitching or very close to it until you reach a semi-circle. Stitch ON the drawn semi-circle line, and then echo back.
Stitch around the baseball until you reach the second semi-circle. Double stitch the drawn line. Continue around the outer edge of the baseball and begin stitching the next baseball.
Complete the entire row of baseballs.
Next, stitch the “baseball stitching”…
Stitch over each of the double lines with a large zig zag. (NOTE-Create the zig-zags with free motion quilting–not the zig zag on your machine…)
In this sample, I used white Sulky Rayon thread to create the baseballs. Then I switched to Red Aurifil 28 Cotton thread–a heavier thread, to create a more authentic look for the baseballs.
NOTES ABOUT OVERSTITCHING AND KNOTTING
The baseballs contain more “over stitching”–stitching right on top of or next to a previous line of stitching– than I usually like in a pattern, but it is acceptable in this pattern because if the casual subject matter and look of this quilt.
Also, each red Zig Zag requires knotting off. In this motif, I knotted by stitching very small stitches back over the pattern for 6-7 stitches to lock the threads. In some motifs this would be too messy, but in The Baseballs, it suits the pattern and is acceptable.
OPTIONAL ZIG ZAG
In order to avoid the frequent knotting…
Add the zig zags right after each double semi-circle is stitched. (Not shown here)…It’s much easier…but not quite as cute…(Do quilters EVER do anything because it’s easier…)
It’s the bottom of the ninth, tying run is at second, two men out….YOU’RE UP…
Are you a clutch hitter?
I’d love to hear….
If not…stitch up a few baseballs from the comfort of your sewing machine!
Lori
TOMORROW– The Home Run Quilt–something every baseball player in the family needs…
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, share, Pin with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
Looks great…not to intimidating. Thanks for the tutorials!
It would be adorable on a grandson’s quilt, or on a donation (charity) quilt. Thanks for the tutorial, Lori……..great as always!
I love baseball too…in spite of the fact that I live with a golfer (DH) and a soccer FANATIC (DS). DH loves baseball too and was a relief pitcher in high school. We even have plans to see a single A and triple A minor league games after we drop said soccer fan off at his 1st year of college! Time to work on more quilting..oh,,and my goal of seeing all 30 MLB ball park. We are exactly half way! Thanks for the great tutorial! I can see this as a wonderful border treatment in a baseball quilt. Add one more quilt to the bucket list!
Love baseball too!!! We all played at some point and loved hearing my Dad’s stories of him and his cousins playing on teams growing up in MN. I grew up catching for my brother while he practiced pitching and playing on leagues when I got old enough to drive…thought it was so lame then that the only teams for girls here were slow pitch soft ball…LOL!
Good pattern Lori…my nephew plays now in highschool and I’ve been trying to come up with something quilty for him…thanks for getting the ball rolling.
SWING!!!batterbatterbatter!!!
That is so cute!!!!!
This is great! Thank you! My baseball son is now playing on a collegiate summer team, living with away from home this summer after being at an out-of-state school. I am scrapbooking his baseball career but also have tons of team t-shirts that he wants in a quilt. Enjoy every moment–they go by so, so fast.
You are one clever gal Lori!! Thanks so much for sharing this cute and doable pattern.
Agree with the other BB fan(atics). Totally agree with Beth in AZ, we’re going on a 9 stadium month long vac in Aug. Ugh, humidity as that’s the part of country we’ll be in.
Love the design as well as your tutes. Thanks for sharing with all of us in blogdom.
I love your baseball quilting. I have baseball quilts in mind for two of my grandsons and now I can quilt them with baseballs. Thank you for sharing your ideas. You hit a home run!!!
Thanks for the tutorial,Lori
i love the football free motio you did. did you do it with or without having a stitch regulator. I do not have one. i prac several tonite. is it ok if i quild one area of my texas tech quilty i made for my neice. the batting calls for 4″ apart quillting, so if its ok i will try a few footbals. i am not selling it- its her HS grad gift going off to college. let me know if this is ok. have you ever done this one using clear thread. i have never free motion quilted before i did the ditch on as much as i could. thank you for the tutorial. Lorna in Oklahoma
You are welcome to stitch the footballs on anything you like. I do not use a stitch regulator. When a batting says 4″ apart-that is the minimum spacing. You can stitch closer. If you stitch farther apart the batting may ball up inside the quilt when it is washed.