Good Morning, Quilters!
I am back from a week of teaching at The Minnesota Quilt Show and Convention–and what a week it was!
I was delighted to meet so many of YOU!
We worked hard, but had a lot of fun! Thank you to all of YOU who took one (or more) of my classes and to those who introduced themselves! I always LOVE to meet readers of The Inbox Jaunt!!!
THE SPRING QUILT-A-LONG
Today, we are working on our quilt-a-long. This project was designed to help YOU with YOUR quilts– I realize that most of you are not making whole cloth quilts on solid fabric.
We finished the HST rows last week and we are starting on the other rows today.
The Center Row–A Border Motif
Begin by choosing your thread.
I always use 50wt Aurifil cotton in the bobbin–It is a long staple fiber, low lint and my BERNINA 770QE just sings whenever it is in the bobbin.
I chose 28 wt Aurifil cotton on top. It is heavier than the 50wt so it will show up better.
MARKING
We will be stitching the Fabulous Flower in the center row. You can find the Fabulous Flower tutorial HERE and on page 108 of Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3. (Signed copies available at my Etsy shop HERE–or unsigned copies can be purchased from Amazon HERE.)
The Fabulous Flower is stitched in five passes:
- A row of spirals
- The bottom petals
- The top petals
- Echo stitch the top
- Echo stitch the bottom
I added two parallel lines, one inch apart, in the center of the row to serve as guidelines for the Spirals.
Stitch the first pass–a row of large Spirals with a long tail.
At the end of the row of spirals, start the second pass.
Stitch underneath the spirals–add scallop “petals”.
Add the third pass–Stitch scallop “petals” above the spirals.
Complete adding the top petals to the end of the row.
Begin the fourth pass–Echo stitch the top row of petals–add swirls or leaves if there is room.
Finish the motif by adding echo-stitching to the lower petals.
QUILTING ON PRINTS
As you can see, the motif is less noticeable on a printed fabric than it would be on a solid. Using a heavy weight thread like Aurifil 28wt cotton helps. The motif is more noticeable at some angles than from others and some light situations make the motif easier to see. When stitching on prints, consider if it is worthwhile to stitch a complex motif like the Fabulous Flower…
The Fabulous Flower is one of my favorite motifs (do I say that about all of them???)…
So I decided to add it to my edge borders as well.
(The center guidelines are 1-1/2 inches wide and are set 1 inch away from the pieced area of the quilt.)
In the original quilt, I added Ribbon Candy...
If you are ready…add a motif to the edge border OR wait until the other rows are complete.
I am happy to be quilting my garden again today–
We’ve had two days of thunderstorms and hail!
What about YOU? Are you indoor or outdoor gardening today?
Have YOU started YOUR Quilt-a-long?
How is it going? Do YOU have any questions???
We’d LOVE to hear!
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. —R.W.Emerson
Good quilting advice, too!
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 re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
