Free Motion “Ruler Work” with Amanda Murphy

March 15, 2018
Deirdre's Diamonds, Machine Quilting

Alternative to Ruler work quilting, Lori KennedyGood Morning, Quilters!

Yesterday we looked at my beginner attempts at ruler work.  Ruler work is challenging for me and I can only concentrate on it for an hour at a time.  It’s too early to tell if I’m struggling because I’m a beginner or because this technique is not one I’ll ever enjoy.

After working on Amanda Murphy’s ruler work project , I let myself “free” to explore the project from a “hand-drawn” perspective.  My goal was to stay faithful to the original design, but see how I could do it without rulers.  (See my hand drawn version of Lesson One: An Alternative to Ruler Work HERE)

Ruler work does involve some marking, so I allowed myself to use marks for the free motion version as well.

In Area 4, I added the same tick marks to keep the spacing of the darts even.  Instead of straight lines, I stitched slight curves and I couldn’t help myself–I added a three loop embellishment.

Alternative to Ruler work quilting, Lori Kennedy

 

 

Area 5 is diamonds.  I replaced the ruler work diamonds with a motif from my new book called Deirdre’s Diamonds-(named after my daughter who is getting married this year!) To create Deirdre’s Diamonds, I drew a centerline and tick marks to space the diamonds evenly.  The result is not as perfect as the ruler work version, but I like the hand drawn look. (Diamond tutorial HERE)

Deirdre's Diamonds, More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3

Alternative to Ruler work quilting, Lori Kennedy

Area 6 in Amanda Murphy’s project is overlapping circles.  I started with two lines in the center–for the overlap distance as well as tick marks for the placement of the circles.  Again, I would say this method is not as perfect as ruler work– but easier– and I don’t mind the imperfection.

Alternative to Ruler work quilting, Lori Kennedy

Area 7 is three circles.  The ruler work version required drawing a placement line down the center of the space.   For the free motion version, I drew two lines to mark the top and the bottom of the circles.  In this case, my hand drawn circles came out better than the ruler circles-but I’m sure with practice the ruler circles would be more precise.  The question remains which do I like better????

Lori Kennedy, Free Motion Quilting

Amanda Murphy’s quilt-a-long is excellent.  Her instructions offered free by BERNINA are very easy to follow. Her project is a great way to learn this technique–at least well enough to find out if we want to pursue it.  As many of you have mentioned, there are a sea of rulers out there… the question remains, which rulers do we absolutely need and which ones can we find a free motion alternative for?

Still pondering…

What about YOU?

Do YOU enjoy ruler work?

Would YOU rather free motion quilt or use a ruler?

Do YOU have a ruler you can’t live without?

Any other tips or suggestions?

We’d LOVE to hear!

 

DON’T FORGET TO PRE-ORDER

MORE Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 is a celebration of the seasons and holidays and includes a chapter on fun fillers and backgrounds.  Pre-orders for signed copies will be mailed the week of April 2!!!

Happy Quilting!

Lori

PS…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!

More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3

 

 

 

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