Doodling Trees and Designing a Quilt Block

December 7, 2017
How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori Kennedy

 

How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori KennedyGood Morning, Quilters and Doodlers!  (and maybe a few Zentanglers!)

I hope you had fun doodling Christmas trees last week.  Trees are a simple design and can be decorated in so many ways.

(Tree Doodles are HERE)

This week, let’s combine the trees in compositions to create either a quilt block or a whole cloth doodle quilt!

The easiest composition is one central motif with a background.

Choose one motif to fill in the tree and one for the background.  Add a third motif in the foreground for more depth.

Try a few gumdrops for brain fuel…I think peppermint is supposed to make one smarter?  (The things that make one more creative aren’t very healthy!)

How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori Kennedy

Create a horizontal composition by doodling a row of trees and several rows of other motifs.


How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori Kennedy

Another one of my favorite compositions is the radiating composition.  

Place the trees along the diagonal and straight axes.  Fill in with a background motif or leave the background plain.How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori Kennedy

 

The most complex looking is the overlapping horizontal composition.

It looks complicated, but it is easy!

First add the lowest row of trees.

Add a wavy line that connects just below the tip of each tree.

Draw the second row of trees on that line.

Repeat with as many rows as needed to fill the page.

We’ve had so much peppermint by now–it was a breeze, right!?

Once you have the basic composition doodled, decorate the trees and the background.

How whimsical!  (and easy!)How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori KennedyAdd more gumdrops and peppermint sticks to keep the ideas flowing…

How to Doodle a Christmas Tree, Lori Kennedy

When you run out of candy…well, the gig is up!

So either buy a big bag of gumdrops or chew slowly!

Remember, if you have fun when you’re quilting, your quilts will be fun!

I’ve got to go for a walk…

Your candy hound quilter,

Lori

If you like these motifs and tips, be sure to check out my book, Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 or any of my Craftsy Videos!  

(My Craftsy video: Divide and Conquer-Creative Quilting for Any Space includes several compositional styles and examples of quilts in each style.)

PPS…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, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt.  For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com.  Thanks!

 

 

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11 comments

  • Kellie Campbell

    Hello everyone. My name is Kellie and I was wondering if I could get some advice and/or suggestions on a quilt that I am planning on starting after Christmas? I’m a confident beginner quilter and I’m a horse crazy gal. Lol. I have loads of horse fabric but I have not been able to think of a pattern for my quilt. I have 2 or 3 panels but I was not planning on putting all of them on one quilt. I have fleece horse fabric for the backing but I need some help on doing the top of the quilt. I would very much appreciate any advice or suggestions that I could get from any of y’all. Thank you so much in advance. Kellie.

    • Bonnie Hurkmans

      Hi Kellie, I made a couple of horse quilts and the way I quilted them was to outline quilt the main horse in each block and then meander the background of the block in a shell or flower or any meander you like to do, this makes the main horse pop!

  • quilter1522

    Great post, Lori! Really fun to see your creativity! Inspiring!

  • Sew much inspiration and sew little time. I only hope I will be more prepared next year! Just love all ideas.

  • Cheri

    LOL I love gumdrops!
    Will be doodling away on trees and pathways to see what I can come up with! Thank you again for the inspiration you provide! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

  • Rosemaryflower

    Lori, these are adorable and happy little images. I will try them on my machine today.
    I have a great set up in the dining room now (hahahaha) I separated my mother in laws beautiful walnut table and did not put in the extra leave. I put a wooden file cabinet underneath and set my White mechanical on top. Then I did some super amazing jigsawing and made a piece of board to go over the machine to make the surface smooth. I have been making sandwiches with left over pieces of old fabric and batting bits.
    My life is nuts busy but I am aiming to fit it all in, a little at a time
    Thank you for your wonderful encouragement

    • Maureen B. in B.C.

      Another woman who can operate a jigsaw … a kindred spirit! Purchased during my “wooden folk art period” I now use ours to create quilting template pieces for blocks I intend to make over and over, from acrylic sheeting available at Home Depot. That way you can use a small rotary cutter to cut fabrics rather than having to draw around them and cut with scissors.

      • Joni Otto

        This is a great idea. I went to Dollar Tree and bought a package of the plastic cutting mats, I traced my quilt templates from my quilt book. Cut them out and you have permanent templates to use over and over again.
        Joni

        • WordPress.com Support

          Great idea!! Thank you!

    • Lynda

      What a fantastic, innovative way to make a custom sewing table! Brilliant!

    • WordPress.com Support

      Your table sounds amazing! Little. By. little!

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