Good Morning, Quilters! Today is Tuesday!–Free Motion Quilt Tutorial Day! A Holiday in the middle of the week!
Today, we are working on a background filler–a stipple banishing–background filler. (Those who have followed for some time know that my goal is to BAN THE STIPPLE–it’s not pretty, it’s not easy, it’s not necessary…
To this end, I have been offering FREE free motion quilt tutorials every week for more than two years!
Today, we have a pretty little posy for you…The Happy Blossom. Don’t you think some flowers look HAPPY, while other flowers, like roses, seem rather serious? (Perhaps it’s part of my “pareidolia“???)
THE HAPPY BLOSSOM TUTORIAL
This motif could be stitched in a row–in a border, or stitched as a background, all-over, or “fill” pattern.
Because this is a fill pattern, we will not begin with any lines or “rails” as we do in most of the tutorials.
Begin by stitching a curved tail and an open circle.
Next, stitch a loopy petal. Stitch over two small stitches and begin the next petal.
Keep adding petals around the center.
Adding as many petals as necessary to surround the center– four, five or six…
The key to this flower is the small stitches between each petal.
Once the flower is complete, stitch across the stem, and sweep underneath the flower to begin the next flower…PERFECT!
For more interest, add a leaf anywhere along the stem.
Or add a leaf or two between the petals.
When stitching this motif as a background, there are several ways to travel to the next flower. (See above and below…)
It takes practice to stitch background patterns.
Take your time, stop frequently and plan. When you get trapped, simply knot off and start again–like any Happy Blossom would!
Signed,
NOTE-Today’s tutorial is stitched on Robert Kaufman Kona cotton, with Aurifil 28 cotton on top and Aurifil 50 wt in the bobbin using a Schmetz 90 Topstitch needle on my Bernina 150-Quilter’s Edition–(My Bernina 820 is in for a cleaning…) No stitch regulator…
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, Pin and tweet with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thank you!
