Good Morning, Quilters and Gardeners!
Any weeds in your garden (yet)?
Last week we worked on The Dandelion Free Motion Quilt tutorial and I made the little quilt below.
We discussed if the quilt below had enough quilting.-Read more HERE (see comments, too!).
Some of you suggested I needed to add more, perhaps with a  neutral thread–
This adds a subtle, but interesting texture. Â (Compare to The Scissors quilt--all the thread is the same.)
 I’m happy with the results.  I used Sulky Rayon to stitch the Dandelions and  Superior’s King Tut cotton in a color that matches the fabric for the background. Â
LESSONS LEARNED
- More quilting is ALWAYS better?
- Use a heavy weight thread (40 or heavier) with a sheen (like Rayon) in a contrasting color when you want to pop the quilting.
- Use a low sheen thread of finer weight that matches the fabric when your goal is to add texture.
I think there’s a Thistle Quilt in our future!
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy of The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, share or pin with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt.  For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com.  Thanks!
PPS. Aurifil 50 wt cotton in the bobbin, on my BERNINA820-a domestic sewing machine.
16 comments
MICHELE HOTTEL
LORI, I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU DO. YOU ARE SUCH AN INSPIRATION TO QUILTERS…I CANT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR ALL YOU HAVE TAUGHT ME..YOUR THREAD TIPS ALWAYS HELP ME TO BRING IT ALL TOGETHER…KEEP INSPIRING US!!! I THANK GOD FOR LORI….
Moki
Lori, just thought I should let you know that I nominated you for the Best Overall Blogger Award through National Quilting Circle. If you want you can go to their site ( http://go.nationalquilterscircle.com/bloggerawards2015/). where you can grab the Blogger Award Nominee Badge which might encourage your readers/followers to continue to nominate and then vote for you. I did this because you are the only Blog that I follow regularly and the only one I continue to recommend to friends. ( Who by the way, also continue to follow you). I have also learned more from you about FMQ then any other Blogger, or class I’ve taken. Good Luck!
Lori Kennedy
Thank you! What an honor to be nominated! I will do this right away!
Leslie Schmidt
I liked the way it looked originally, with the spiky lines and circles making interesting counterpoints. But I agree with your comment, Lori, that it looks finished now. Very pretty!
Gertrude
I have been wondering about something, Lori. Your quilting is always on plain fabrics and then the fuller quilting helps motifs pop out. When we have a quilt top that has very busy fabric (think Kaffe Facett) the quilting gets lost. Can you sometime give some suggestions for those situations. Also, dense quilting makes the quilt stiffish. For a children’s quilt normally want less dense machine quilting?
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Great questions. Do you mind if I wait to answer and use it for open line Friday this week?
Gertrude
Sure, that’s great.
Gertrude
My last sentence should read: Would a child’s quilt normally want less dense machine quilting.
Sorry about that.
treadlemusic
More is not always better but in this case, with your thread and motif choices/additions, it is comfortably finished. I just finished a Christmas tree panel that, when I stood back to take it in, struck me as “Victorian stitching”….you know, that era when “over the top” and “too(?) much” was the acctepted ‘norm’. Knowing when to stop and call it done is very difficult sometimes!!!!!! I really like this one, though!!!!!!
Pat
The straight lines of the leaves make a pattern of their own that really stands out in the original. Your additional quilting softens the whole thing. It’s a beautiful lesson in the power of texture.
nancie b
I didn’t think it needed more quilting except maybe a small motif in the empty center space. Wowza was I wrong. The texture and contrast make it exciting. I’m going to have to switch to mini’s because I’ll never finish a full size with that density….but I’m going to try!
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Yeah! It’s fun and addicting!
Ann
Nice add! I like the difference in texture created with the variation in thread. The dandelion has sharp angles and the spirals contrast also. 🙂
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The spirals almost make one think of the seeds in the wind?
Laroletta Petty
I am amazed at the difference the additional quilting made. There was certainly a lesson for me to learn about background quilting and how it relates to the texture of of a piece.
Lori Kennedy
It really looks finished now.
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