Good Morning, Quilters!
Welcome back to our weekly installment of:
QUILTER, TAILOR, SEAMSTRESS, SPY
A Quilt THRILLER in several parts….
There are a few new clues to add to YOUR quilts…as The PLOT THICKENS….
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Using an erasable marker, chalk, or soap…place an “X” in the upper left hand corner block…
(For more about erasable quilt markers read HERE.)
In the very center block: Row 3, Column 3–Place the message “C 50”. Again, in an erasable marker…we don’t want to leave any evidence…
In the lower right hand block ,(Bottom right corner) (again with an erasable pen) draw three lines…
Draw the first line approximately one inch below the zig zags and the other two one inch apart…The spacing isn’t critical…
YOUR MISSION
Your mission this week is to practice YOUR Signature in Free Motion Quilting.
When you are happy with the lettering, sign and date your quilt in the bottom left corner on the lines you have drawn.
I have included sample handwriting for your ANALYSIS….
CONTINUOUS LINE DESIGN
Cursive handwriting is one of the most familiar continuous line designs… and beginner quilters are often instructed to use it to learn free motion quilting.
However, cursive is NOT ENTIRELY continuous line…
We lift our pens to dot “i” “j” and to cross “x” and “t”…so as you perform your handwriting analysis, take special note of how theses letters can be formed.
For “i” and “j”, try adding a circle on the top…
To create a “t”–swoop up, stitch a few stitches down and stitch horizontally to create the cross before swoop back to the bottom line.
U and V…
Like the “T”, Cross the X in the middle, before continuing on to the next letter…
A FEW HANDWRITING TIPS
- Draw lines to keep your spacing. (In the sample below, the lines are one inch apart.)
- Use an erasable pen to write your name before stitching over it.
- Practice by writing one of your favorite poems or songs.
- Add a wavy line between words.
- Practice YOUR signature…Your family wants to see YOUR handwriting in your quilts, not the forgery of some imposter…
TEST YOUR SKILL AS A SLEUTH….
What word did I mis-spell?
Tip #6-Don’t make spelling mistakes–there is not “auto-correct!”
USING HANDWRITING IN QUILT
- Handwriting is a great way to quilt any quilt. Cover the quilt with a favorite quote, song or expression. There are beautiful whole cloth quilts that are just written free motion quilting.
- Add personal messages to the recipient of your quilt. (See College Quilts) I added messages to my daughters’ college quilts like “Study Hard” and “You are the bees knees.”
- Sign YOUR quilts…that way if you never get around to the label, at least your name will be on the quilt somewhere!
HAVE FUN WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT…
You don’t need to learn all the letters…just YOUR SIGNATURE!
TOMORROW
We will continue our Quilt Essentials Series. January is “Know your sewing machine” month.
We will tackle…T-E-N-S-I-O-N (Which I believe is a diabolical plot worthy a mini-series…)
Happy Sleuthing and Stitching,
John Lori-Carre
PS…All tutorials, information and images are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin, tweet or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks.
