THE TUESDAY TUTORIAL SERIES
Surf’s Up! It’s time to ride The Wave. Today’s free motion quilt tutorial has us swirling and twirling on the high seas…
The Wave is the mirror image twin of The Wind–a free motion quilt tutorial we worked on last year…
Though the patterns are similar, learning to free motion quilt the two patterns requires separate practice–
THE WAVE — FREE MOTION QUILT TUTORIAL
Begin by drawing three lines or “rails” equidistant apart– In the sample below, the drawn lines are 1/2 inch apart. (More on marking tools on Thursday…)
Begin stitching near the bottom “rail”. Stitch a long tail sweeping up – above the middle line and curve around TO the middle line. Stop here.
Next, echo stitch the first line, ending just above the first stitches. Stop here, then begin echo-stitching back around the curve…
Stitch right to the top line and then around to the center of the swirl. Stitch very close, but not right into the previous stitches.
Swirl down to the bottom “rail” and begin the next Wave.
For each additional Wave--tuck the “tail” of the Wave into the previous wave–without touching the curved line…see photo below.
This prevents a built up of stitches…
THE KEY to this motif is to avoid overlapping stitches–Overlapping stitches look messy–See below:
Note how the “tucked” in tails look better–no overlapped stitches.
SURF’S UP
Now it’s YOUR turn… Practice doodling this free motion quilt pattern until you are comfortable with it on paper–
Then-Ride The Wave–it’s fun!
If you are working on an Independence Day project…you might like the Swirling Stars free motion quilt pattern–one of my favorites!
Tomorrow: A quick peek at a small project featuring The Wave.
Lori
PS…This tutorial was stitched on Kona cotton fabric with Sulky Rayon on top and Aurifil Cotton 50 wt in the bobbin on a Bernina 820 without a BSR using a #90 Topstitch needle and Warm and Natural cotton batting.
PPS…All images, tutorials, 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, tweet, pin with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me a lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thank you!