Grid Pop-A Free Motion Quilt Tutorial
Good Morning, Quilters! Welcome back to Tutorial Tuesday. Today we have two tutorials in one…
THE BASKET WEAVE AND GRID POP
To make a Grid Pop, start with the classic and beautiful Basket Weave.
The Basket Weave has been a perennial favorite among hand quilters and machine quilters alike.
It looks great behind any appliqué and fills in any background.
Grid Pop is more popular among machine quilters– you’ll see why once we get started.
THE BASKET WEAVE AND GRID POP TUTORIALS
Begin by drawing a grid.
For practice, a six-inch square is perfect. (If your ruler is a bit bigger, go for that–make your life easy!)
Begin by drawing a square. Then use a ruler to draw a diagonal line across the square.
(I love this 3-D Ruler purchased from an office supply store or drafting store. It’s easy to grip.)
Draw one inch lines parallel to the first line across the square. I like the Fons and Porter or SewLine mechanical pens and the Clover chalk wheel. Frixion pens by Pilot are nice too. (See Marking Pens)
Repeat the process in the opposite direction.
A diagonal one inch grid ready to stitch:
Start stitching on the center diagonal line. Stitch right next to the line and echo stitch back to the corner.
Next, stitch on the outer square to the next diagonal line and repeat the double row of lines.
Continue this way until the corner.
(NOTE-Because these lines are short, I decided to free motion quilt them. You could use a straight stitch foot and sew the lines with feed dogs in the normal, UP position.) I recommend you try one free motion quilting style and then make your decision based on the project…
Continue across the top. At the corner, switch directions and stitch the perpendicular lines.
The view from above:
Continue working around the square – filling in the double lines.
A Perfect Basket Weave!
It’s gorgeous! Stop here and your quilt will look great….OR….
Go for the GRID POP!
At the corner, stitch back and forth parallel to the top line to fill the 1/2 triangle on the side.
Continue down to the next triangle and repeat.
At the bottom of the first row, stitch across one set of squares and begin filling in the first full row of squares.
Cut across the top and repeat until every other square is filled.
This motif is one of my favorites–(Do I say that every week?)
The open squares just POP! creating a stunning texture!
CLOSE UP:
The Basket Weave (Upper Left) and Grid Pop (Lower Right):
Tomorrow: The Rest of the Pumpkin, Oak Leaf, Acorn, and Grid Pop quilt…
Thursday: Building a Rock Solid Routine for Free Motion Quilting: Episode Four
I’m off to my sewing machine-and hoping that you are, too!
Pop-py sewing to YOU,
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 share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
love it have just the place for it
Wow!! I love it! I’m off to the work table right now to set up for this! Thanks!
You do such great work, thanks for sharing. Sincerely, Paula K.
I’ve noticed you rely on your ruler and fabric marker to draw lines. What do you think of drawing your first line, sewing it, and then attaching and using a quilting guide instead. Wouldn’t that cut down on some work?
Love your artistic expression and your willingness to share. Thank you!
Sounds like a great idea especially on a small quilt! I always like to experiment! Thanks for the idea!
I have tried that. It works, but it is not as accurate as drawing the lines. I use a double needle and a walking foot for stitching the interior lines. Gives you great accuracy.
Lori- do you have any hints for “away from you” fmq, as in your basket tutorial above? Sewing towards me is ok, but then it’s so hard to see where I’m going as I sew backwards. I have a clear fmq foot but the shank still gets in the way. Any ideas? Also, I just used your oak leaf and acorn on a small border and it turned out great. Thanks for another fun to do design.
Hi Kate. Thanks for the great question. When sewing away you are somewhat blind. I stop at intervals and look around – behind- my sewing machine. Slowing down helps too but it is always a bit challenging.
I’m finished with my practice piece and just love it!! It was great for me because I tend to move my fabric to fast when ‘traveling’ and this makes big stitches, so I was
really able to concentrate on coordinating my hands and foot!! Think I’ll make another! Thanks a million for all the time to take to share your skills and help us build ours. ~karen
Love this background fill and am eager to try it! Thanks!
I struggle with finding the best speed of stitching – too fast and I get ahead of myself; too slow and I get that herky-jerkyness. I’d love to watch videos of you stitching the designs. Please consider producing a DVD with your tutes in motion – I’ll gladly buy it!
Thanks! Quilt on!
-Lil
Love this one! Simple but can be so effective!!
I just love this one!!! Thanks so much!
This is great but how to you get around a design if its in the middle so that your grid keeps looking inline?
Draw the grid lines all the way across the block skipping the area with the center motif. Stitch to the design and back to the outer border and continue all the way around just like in the samples here. Try it on paper first with a small design. I think if you see it on paper it will make sense–it’s very easy. If that doesn’t work…let me know and I will do another tutorial demonstrating.
I just started free motion quilting and am hungry for GOOD tutorials. I found yours and all I can say is “YOU ROCK!” Thanks so much for your clear instructions and wonderful pictures. I’m loving it!
Thanks, Agnes! I’m going to tell my children you said “I rock!”…they don’t always think so…LOL!
I am still in the practice stage, but your tutorials are very helpful and interesting to read – thanks 🙂
Thanks for the tip on the 3-d ruler. That sure will come in handy.
Thanks for sharing this tutorial! I will be trying it for sure.
One more excellent tutorial! I like photos; if you happen to include videos, please DON’T give up the photos.
Thank you so very much for posting this!
Where do we find the pumpkin design?
All of the tutorials can be found by clicking the red apple in the side bar. Link directly to The Perfect Pumpkin here:http://lorikennedyquilts.com/2013/10/15/tuesday-tutorial-the-perfect-pumpkin/
Could you use a double needle for the cross hatch lines?
This is great! I will do this practice piece today.
You’ve inspired me. Thanks
Wow I can’t wait to try this! I have the perfect piece to put this on! Love all the detailed pics! Thank you.
Wow, this is so cool! Thank you so much for showing this brand new quilter a great wat to quilt my tops. I will be following you for sure.