Blue Roses in Free Motion Couching Complete!
Good Morning, Quilters!
My Blue Roses in free motion couching table runner is complete!
You may remember the sneak peek I offered a few weeks ago.
I bound it using Susan Brubaker Knapp’s method HERE.
Though later, I saw this method for a faced binding on BERNINA’s We All Sew, which looks a lot easier.
Today, I thought you might like to see my process.
The Blue Roses
The Blue Roses are the Nora’s Rose quilt motif.
(Nora’s Rose can be found on page 106 of Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3)
I stitched this on my beautiful BERNINA Q20-using the #72 adjustable ruler foot and couching inserts.
Read more about couching HERE
I used Cascade yarn-which was easier to couch than other yarns I’ve tried. I think the small amount of elastic made a huge difference.
Machine Quilting
After completing the roses and the borders with couching, I switched to free motion quilting to fill in the background. I used one of my favorite threads, King Tut 40 wt cotton from Superior Threads. If you haven’t tried King Tut, check out Superior’s Try Me Special!
First, I echo stitched around the roses, then I added swirls.
To create the border, I subdivided the space into random triangles and filled in the space with straight line quilting.
Contrast for Better Design
The contrast between the blue yarn and the off-white background really pops!
I also love the contrast between heavy yarn and the relatively light weight King Tut thread.
And as always, I love to mix straight lines with curvy lines!
Small is Best
When trying a new technique or thread, small is best!
And it’s certainly nice to have a FINISHED project!
What about YOU?
Have YOU tried couching?
Which yarns or threads worked best for YOU?
Do YOU have any small technique projects in the works?
We’d LOVE to hear!
Signed,
YOUR Davenport Diva,
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to Lori Kennedy Quilts. For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com. Thanks!
Four Books in my Etsy Shop
My quilting books include chapters with Skillbuilding, Doodling, Design as well as 60 motifs each!
Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 (THE Original Fun Filled Book–Leaves, Flowers, Patterns and More)
More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 (Seasonal Motifs, Holiday patterns, and several sewing-inspired motifs like the scissor and spool of thread!)
Books edited by Karen Burns and Amelia Johnson which each include four of my designs!
180 Doodle Designs: Free Motion Ideas for Blocks, Borders and Beyond
I have done a fair amount of couching, but nothing like this! I am dying to try your technique! But – because there are just a bit over 4 weeks till Christmas – my sewing machine has gone on the fritz and needs to go to the shop today for repairs, so this will need to wait. But it would be ideal for one project in the queue.
This is GORGEOUS,Lori!
This is beautiful, Lori. I haven’t tried couching, but yours turn out so beautiful I might give it a shot!
Lori, this is absolutely stunning!! I am not ready to try this just yet, but maybe one day! I will just admire yours for now.
Very nice! I like the variety in the quilting and the contrast with the couching, which I’ve never tried. I love mt Juki 2010, but I think I’m having a little sewing machine envy of your Bernina 😉
Fabulous! Thank you for inspiring us again.
This is lovely. Did you stabilize your fabric or use batting on this project? Might play with this sometime.
Batting!
Wonderful – my mom-in-love liked the color blue so I’m planning my own version of your project. Thank you for the inspiration and great instructions!
This is inspirational & so beautiful! I’d been wondering about the #72 foot. Would love to see it in action.
This is beautiful Lori. I love roses in any form and would love to try couching some pink ones.
This is spectacular! I took a class on couching and your project has encouraged me to tackle something more difficult. Thank you for all the inspiration!!!
Hi Lori. Are you using the Clover air erasable purple capped pen to mark? Love ya!
I don’t speak yarn language. What weight or other info do I need to get what will work with my Bernina couching foot?
Beautiful ! Photo at the top looks great for a Silent Sunday!! Happy Thanksgiving y;all..
we are flying (in a few hours) cross country to visit family for the holidays and back mid Dec,,Love you all and thankful for this blog and Lori.
That is GORGEOUS, Lori! I’ve enjoyed doing some couching and I’ve been debating getting the ruler foot with the inserts. I think I’ll put it on my Christmas wish list.
Just gorgeous! Thanks for all you share!
Just LOVE your work! It’s so inspiring. Can’t wait to give this a try!