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!
