Better Quilting Through Doodling: The Honeycomb Leaf
Good Morning, Quiltoodlers!
(Not to be confused with Quiltoddlers–most of whom can’t read yet…)
NATURE NOTES
Thank you for all who posted suggestions and explanations yesterday! It was fun to hear all the possibilities for the big footprint. Half the fun was that it wasn’t clear what it was…lion, tiger, or bear! OH MY!! I’ll continue to keep you posted on my nature hikes!
THE HONEYCOMB
For the past two weeks, we have been learning a very versatile machine quilting motif: The Honeycomb.
This week, our tutorials was for the first variation, the Honeycomb Leaf.
We will be learning a few more variations in the coming weeks.
BETTER QUILTING!
As you know, one of the quickest ways to improve your machine quilting is through…
What???
I can’t hear you???
Yes, indulge me….please say it out loud…
DOODLING!
If you can’t doodle it…you can’t quilt it!
So let’s get doodling!
USE YOUR STENCIL
Mark several (7-10) sheets of paper with one inch parallel lines.
If you have a stencil (Read more here), use it to mark light guidelines.
Fill up your marked pages with wavy lines– We did this when stitching our Honeycomb motif here.
(By the way…The Wavy Line is really just a series of Tapered Scallops–one of the Six Essential Doodles from my book, More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3–Autographed copies which include a little prize in every package available on Etsy HERE.)
Don’t worry if your wavy lines aren’t perfect–that is the look we are going for–not ruler precision!
LEAVES ARE DIRECTIONAL
Notice that the leaves are directional. Try doodling a few variations. Doodle one page with the leaves all going the same way and another page with the leaves going opposite directions.
Doodle one page with the leaves skipping every other line…
Fill a page with the leaves in every row.
Try different sizes…
And different pens and pencils…( I LOVE Stabilo ALL pencils-(just $1.23 at Dick Blick)–they have a nice chalky feel and look cool when you add a little water!)
Or try Inktense Watercolor Pencils...These wonderful pencils look like plain, colored pencils, but with a quick wash with water, they turn into pretty watercolors! They add a fun element to doodling….
Really, it doesn’t matter what you use to doodle—
Only that you do-doodle!
What about YOU?
Do YOU doodle every day?
What’s YOUR favorite pen, pencil or marker?
We’d LOVE to hear!
Toodles,
Lori Kennooodles
PS…All tutoodles are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
Well, now you’ve done it!!!!! Made me feel GUILTY for not doodling!!!! Okay, okay, I promise to do better now!! (In fact, I have a doctor’s appointment this morning, and I will PROBABLY have plenty of time to DOODLE!!! Hope no one will be looking at my paper, I never was a doodler!!!!
(And, yes I really enjoyed your hike, something that I asked God for when I got sick, suddenly 27 years ago, to be able to hike and ride horses again! Have done neither!
So, I will be looking forward to seeing what you see on your hikes! And, here I am in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park!!!)
Aren’t the Smoky’s beautiful right now Maggie? Am loving the cooler temperatures & the remaining colours of the leavdes. Now, lean back, close your eyes & imagine walking/hiking through Townsend–as a cancer survivor I find this imagination works well.
There is another place we walked with our grandchildren when they lived in PF, but we have forgotten its name… There is a covered bridge and we think it was east of Pigeon Forge/Gatlinberg areas. My soul still rejoices at those memories. The place was so lovely.
Good Lord, I need more coffee! When I read this “As you know, one of the quickest ways to improve your machine quilting is through…Doodling” my under-caffeinated brain saw this: DROOLING.
Love the honeycomb leaf – I have just the quilt in progress for it, too – a French braid quilt.
Ditto! I’m feeling guilty too LOL…what with walking everyday, devotional, my ladies bible study homework, finishing UFO’s, keeping up blogs, housecleaning?? (scratch that to the bottom of the list LOL), etc. etc. the doodling has gone out the door again! I need to find my notebook and put it on my table and get at it…love those pencils!! I’ll have to acquire some of those…they’ll make it fun. OK, you got me going again…DOODLE!!! EVERYDAY!!!! Keep preaching it LOL. I did get that stencil when I was at the quilt show in Grand Rapids in August…digging it out this a.m. and using it for doodling too! AND, I’m going for a walk this afternoon with my friend….maybe I should take my camera!!!
What is this “housekeeping” of which you speak?
Lololol!!! Truly, that made me laugh out loud!
Bette, Me too !!
I don’t vacuum until the dust bunnies start sticking to my socks. Then I bring it out with a heavy sigh, and bat my eyelashes as my husband. Works very time!
Housekeeping? Really? I’m with you Arvilla. And I’m just like my grandmother; She would rather have been sewing than cooking or cleaning. My mom was like that too (although she did like to cook sometimes) but housekeeping was never her “thing”. She used to say, “If visitors don’t like the way my house looks, they’re free to leave.” What a gal! I miss them both.
I practice doodling when l have a quilt ready. Sometimes the quilt sits days while l practice doodling and deciding what l will quilt. Sometimes l use a pen ,sometimes a pencil for my doodles. Mmmm! Thinking colour pencils might change it up and encourage me to use more coloured thread. Always a pleasure, Thank you
Thank you for the encouragement. So nice to have you back.
Hi Lori! Such pretty doodles. But how you tempt me with that wonderful little pheasant mug. Love it! Have any info to share on how we can acquire one? Many thanks!
Lori, if you have lions, tigers and bears in Minnesota, I will stay right here in south GA and visit with you on the Online Jaunt ! Well, come to think of it, a very small bear was spotted in our county about 8 years ago…. in some deep woods, miles and miles from our acre. I’m sure we have nothing he would like. 🙂
WOO-HOO! I’m a’going to Daytona Quilt Week! Smack in the middle of Winter, smack in the middle of sugaring season, smack in the middle of a monstrous huge PIA client project and 4 weeks before the deadline! Surely I have lost what little mind I had left, but if I don’t get some downtime soon you will be seeing my photo on the evening news with the caption “hostages taken”..
But Lori – I did not see you on the instructors list. Will you be there?
Thanks for all you do for quilters and quilting. Do you ever sleep?! Will you be at Quilt Festival here in Houston?
After a very stressful time early this morning trying to catch my kitty to head to the vet, I sat down and doodled three pages of leaves. It really did help my blood pressure drop to a more normall level. Not all the way, but much better
What is it about cats anyway? I don’t even get the carrier out and they KNOW they’re going to the vet. Must be some sort of feline radar. On the other hand, my dog LOVES to go. He adores his vet tech and is totally gaga over our vet. Go figure.
Lori at one point your suggested a Boogie Board. I went right out and got one and I love it. They are great for planning a motif for a quilt square by laying it over it and start doodling on. I also have it by my chair and doodle . I like the idea of colored pencils. Might start up again on paper for a change of pace.
Say what? I sure missed something…. a boogie board?
I had to look it up, too. It’s kind of an adult Etch-A-Sketch, but you can save the doodles and you don’t have to shake it. You can find one on Amazon for about $20.
Arvilla. You are so good at coming to my rescue, Thanks…
I only looked it up after I ruled out the possibility that Lori was suggesting doodling on a small surf board. 🙂
LOL… I had thought and thought and couldn’t see us doodling on a surf board !
Oh it’s so nice to read everyone’s comments. Once again welcome back Lori, you get us all going in a good way. As for doodling, haven’t done any for ages. Time to start all over again. Oh and by the by, in Australia we have none of those cuddly but maybe fearsome critters. Koalas are not even bears, but; as for crocs they leave footprints with claws and long sliding marks on the sand. You can never track them in the water. best to stay out of the water in the ‘top end.’ going to look for my pencils now.
Had to laugh a boogie board in Australia is what the kids use to catch waves at the beach, confused🤔
That’s what I thought it was too here in the USA.