How to Quilt The Snowflake Ornament Motif

November 27, 2018

 

Lori Kennedy, Machine Quilting

Good Morning, Quilters!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends, football, and fixins’!

And I hope you had a chance to slip away from the commotion to stitch one of our Honeycomb variations?

Today, we are going to add a festive note to the Honeycomb with  The Snowflake Ornament.

How to Machine Quilt Snowflake Ornaments

This motif, like all the Honeycomb motifs, is a great background fill and is the combination of two motifs, the Honeycomb and The Snowflake.  (Both patterns can be found in More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3, pages 134 and 42.)

Begin with The Honeycomb motif.

Honeycomb, Machine Quilting Tutorial 

After the quilt is filled with the Honeycomb pattern, it’s time to add a Snowflake.

Begin stitching the Snowflake at the top of any row.  Stitch a straight line into the center of the Honeycomb and stop.

Lori Kennedy, Machine quilting 

Stitch an angled line to the upper left and back again to the center.

Stitch a horizontal line to the left and back again.


Lori Kennedy FMQ 

Stitch down and to the left.

Next, stitch a long line–past the center–to the upper right.

Lori Kennedy FMQ 

Stitch back to the center.

Stitch to a horizontal line and back to the center.Lori Kennedy FMQ 

Stitch the last leg of the snowflake by stitching at a downward angle and back to the center.

Stitch a straight line down through the bottom of the first Honeycomb and into the next to begin the next motif in the row.

Lori Kennedy FMQ

REFINING THE SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENT MOTIF

As you are stitching the Honeycomb, leave a small space between the rows to create a gap.  This allows the second pass –the Snowflake–to slip through without stitching over any other rows of stitching–much neater!

Likewise, when stitching the Snowflake, try not to stitch over any previous line of stitching.

CREATING MORE OOMPH

To add more depth to this motif, stitch The Hosta Leaf (More FMMQ 1-2-3 page 64) in alternate rows with a matching color thread–lovely!

Wouldn’t this be great as a table runner topped with a crystal bowl filled with green ornaments!?

Lori Kennedy FMQ

 

WINTER IS UPON US

Unfortunately, stitching the Snowflake seemed to move Mother Nature.  It is snowing in Minnesota!

Perhaps I should stitch Sunshine and Seashells instead!!!

What about YOU?

Have YOU tried the Honeycomb or Hosta Leaves yet?

Are YOU ready for winter?

Are YOU ready for Christmas and Hanukkah?

Did YOU score any sewing related Cyber Monday gifts?

We’d LOVE to hear!

Signed

Susie-Kennedy-Snowflake

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!

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24 comments

  • Oh, my gosh, I LOVE this one!! I was not really a fan of the whole honeycomb motif when you started with it–I thought it was kind of ugly and boring, actually. But with all the cool things you have showed us we can do with it, I’m really excited to use it! Thanks!

  • love how you have shown how to extend the basic design . thank you

    • Holly Ann

      I agree, Brenda. It must be an instinctive teacher mindset … starting with something simple but her mind is several projects ahead thinking about all the variations that can be built into that first basic design. That is what I enjoy about following Lori’s blog.

  • Helen Eidt

    Love this snowflake ornament! Will try it on some Christmas placemats. Thanks Lori. I love your tutorials.

  • Sue H

    Just when I think it can’t get any better — POOF! You did it again. Love the ornament!

  • Arvilla Trag

    Perfect for Christmas wall hangings! With the right thread and fabric combinations this could be a stand-alone decoration on a bell-pull. I love metallic threads (when they work right) and I can just see this motif in gold and silver thread (cording?) on a read or green or blue velvet background with a nice, fat tassel on the bottom. Now I want to make one…not that I have anything else to do…much.

    But Lori, I have a long-standing question for you – when you stop dong a motif, take it out of the machine to photograph it, and put it back in, over and over and over – does it make you a little crazy?

    • Arvilla, I LOVE your ideas for a bell-pull! Lovely!
      Actually, I stitch each step separately and then photograph them all at one time. Sometimes that drives me crazy too, but then again, most days I start out a little crazy…LOL

    • Theresa

      I don’t know why, but I haven’t seen any of the images posted for several months now which is very sad as I used to love to see them. Does anyone know how to cure this?

      • I am pretty sure this is on your end…Perhaps there is some security setting? Have you tried viewing from a different computer?

  • Lorraine Doyno Evans

    Very pretty! Why can’t I dream up these motifs?

    • I bet you can–just a few more minutes of doodling!! I bet you’re cooking is more creative than mine! LOL

  • Carol

    We had snow and ice…brrr…love the idea of shells and the beach and warm temps. Thank you for your awesome tutorials…so grateful for your willingness to share your expertise…and the careful teaching

  • Vanessa

    Love! 🙂

  • Suzanne

    This is so cool! (no pun intended) Perfect timing, thank you; I needed an idea for a Christmas table runner that I have to finished.
    I know I’m nuts, but I wish it were snowing here in Pennsylvania too. I love to sew while watching it fall. Snow turns everything beautiful.
    Thanks for the wonderful tutorial.

    • Snow is the perfect backdrop for quilting. But a little goes a long way! Not looking forward to months and months of snow!

  • CJ Green

    Lori! Thanks for this. The 1st pic in this tutorial (with the curlicue on top) reminds me of a Who from Whoville. I appreciate all the time and effort you put into your tutorials and everything else you do on our behalf.

  • I love this. It’s so easy to expand the honeycomb design into something beautifully Christmas. Thank you. I did score a small cyber Monday sewing bargain. I prepurchased the Colossal Round jelly roll rug pattern. RJ designs. While not as much fun as FMQ, I love seeing the “magic” of the colors coming together as it is being stitched.

  • Thank you for posting these great tutorials.

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