It’s a chilly morning in Minnesota, but what do I care? I don’t have to go anywhere this morning and we all know I have plenty of quilts to keep me warm! I am going to quilt all day (I wish!)
Today we are stitching a little Free Motion Party. Swirls and Twirls looks like a “party-on-a-quilt” to me! This pattern dances across the fabric and would look great on any quilt-formal or casual-waltz or zumba!
The Swirls and Twirls Tutorial
This is a 3-Pass pattern. That means it will require three rows of stitching to complete the motif.
First, a little marking. For each row of Swirls and Twirls, draw two lines 1 inch apart or more. (This motif would be very difficult to stitch any smaller than one inch.) On the bottom line, draw “ticks” 1-1/2 inches apart. This will help you keep the spacing between the spirals even. With practice, you may not need the tick marks.
(NOTE-Don’t forget… Frixion pen markings don’t come out with ironing–you must use steam to remove these lines-Thanks, Marianne for the reminder!)
Stitch a row of spirals, filling in the one inch rails and spacing the spirals between the tick marks. See the Spiral tutorial HERE.
Begin the second pass by echo quilting over the top of the first spiral.
Add a loop -extending above your marked one inch lines.
Add a second loop.
Add a third loop and then begin stitching toward the next spiral.
Your second pass should look like this:
The third pass is the same as the second, except underneath the spirals.
Echo stitch under the spirals, then add the loops…First one
Then two and three…
This pattern takes a bit of practice, but it is so beautiful when it’s complete…
NOTE-Don’t worry if some of your loops are different shapes and get “squished” a bit. Just avoid stitching over any other lines or double stitching in any area.
This tutorial was stitched with Aurifil in the bobbin and Robison-Anton Rayon thread on top using a Schmetz Topstitch size 80 needle on my Bernina 82o.
Tomorrow is Work in Progress Wednesday and I have a little vase quilt with swirls and twirls and spirals and more to share…
Hope you have made some progress on your Quilt Notebooks…How many UFOs have you found? (Read HERE about this week’s Notebook Assignment) One reader described her search as an archaeological dig!
Warm wishes and Happy Stitching from Minnesota,
Lori
PS…All tutorials, information and images are property of Lori Kennedy @ The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to Pin and Re-blog. Please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com for any other use. Thanks!
