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The Snowflake-A Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

January 7, 2014

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

It’s Tuesday and time for our first Tuesday Tutorial of 2014!  As I mentioned yesterday, Minnesota (like most of the country) is in a deep freeze.  The thermometer is stubbornly stuck at -15 F.  (Which is a heat wave compared to yesterday’s temp of -42F.)  In weather like this, it is impossible to quilt daisies and tulips…Today I offer–The Snowflake, (and a few snowballs) for your free motion quilting tutorial of the week.

This pattern can be stitched in long rows.  Add a few snowballs (see Spiral tutorial HERE) and you have a gorgeous pattern than can fill a border or a very large space.

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

In this pattern, I began by drawing lines one inch apart.  You may draw your lines farther or closer apart as fits your project.

Begin stitching ON your drawn line.  Stitch down a short distance, then stitch at an upward angle and back to the center line.

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

Next, stitch perpendicular to your drawn line and back to the center.  (NOTE- do not stitch over any previous stitches and leave a gap in the center of your snowflake. )

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

Stitch out from the center and a downward angle and STOP here.

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

For this part of the snowflake, instead of stitching back to the center…stitch past the center (drawn) line and up to the right of your snowflake.

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

Return to the center line, and stitch another line to the right and perpendicular to the drawn line.

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

Finish the last “spoke” of the snowflake and stitch down the center line to begin another snowflake.

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

The key to this pattern is to never cross over any other line with your stitching.

By staggering the adjacent rows, the snowflakes create a beautiful fill pattern.  But, you know me…when quilting gets too regular, I have to start changing things up–hence the snowballs….

The Snowflake Free Motion Quilting Tutorial

FYI–The Snowflake mini quilt above was stitched on my Bernina 820 with Sulky 40 wt on top and Aurifil 40 wt in the Bobbin.

We will be doing more with this lovely snowflake pattern in the future…so I hope you will take the time to learn it now!

Tomorrow–I have another style of Snowflake I am working on...

Warm wishes,

Lori

PS…All photos and tutorials are for personal use only.  Feel free to Pin and re-blog with attribution to yours truly at The Inbox Jaunt.

No commercial use permitted.

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Categories

All Machine Quilting Motifs Seasonal/Holiday

Tagged

Aurifil Bernina Long Arm Quilting quilting Seasonal/Holiday Snowflake Sulky Tutorial

23 responses to “The Snowflake-A Free Motion Quilting Tutorial”

  1. Svannah says:
    January 7, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    When starting or stopping, or even if you run out of thread or it breaks in the middle, what do ya do? Start back up a few stitch before and back tack? I’m thinking thats what would be done but out of all the tutorials I have seen…no one mentions what to do if it happens and I’m curious.

  2. françoise 38 says:
    January 7, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Thank you very much for this lovely, pretty tutorial.
    Françoise from France ( ! )

  3. Pat S says:
    January 7, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    What a pretty pattern. I don’t blame you for not wanting to do posies at this point. And here I am whining because it went all the way down to 4F – at least it is still above zero.

  4. Deb says:
    January 7, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    You are so talented thank you for sharing Us newbies know nothing 🙂

  5. Roxanna says:
    January 7, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    oh, its loverly. thanks!!!

  6. Marilyn Larkin says:
    January 7, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    Thank-you Lori, here in Australia the weather is quite the opposite to yours and snowflakes are a welcome contrast. I so enjoy the way you demonstrate your designs, make it so easy for someone like me who is not confident in where to go. Hope the freeze starts to thaw soon.

  7. Leslie Schmidt says:
    January 7, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    This is quite a jaunty design! I love the little curlicues you’ve put in there. Thanks so much.

  8. Rebecca Grace says:
    January 7, 2014 at 5:33 pm

    Ooh, it was only SEVEN degrees in Charlotte, North Carolina this morning — that has NEVER happened before! No snow for us, though.

    Your snowflakes are lovely, especially the way you staggered them and threw in a few spiral snowballs.

  9. Terry says:
    January 7, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    What a fun design…thanks so much for sharing!!!

  10. pamelajeannestudio says:
    January 7, 2014 at 10:51 pm

    Adding the snowballs really makes the pattern sing! Love it. Way too much snow and cold around here. I think we got up to 4 above zero today. Nice day to stay inside and quilt!

  11. Missy says:
    January 8, 2014 at 10:12 am

    This is perfect for the winter themed BOM I am participating in this year, so I’ll have to wait a year before trying it out! LOL

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  13. Judy Highley says:
    February 7, 2014 at 1:22 pm

    Do you have to use different thread in the bobbin?

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  16. Pat Harkins says:
    December 18, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    I think this will be great for a foundation pieced Christmas tree I am working on. Thanks.

  17. Denise Payment says:
    January 5, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    I like the snowflake…I want to use it on my last section of a queen sz. the border is 5 inches wd.I want to go up and down as opposed to going across. Would I go down then turn or should I stop at the bottom each time?

    1. Lori Kennedy says:
      January 5, 2015 at 3:52 pm

      Great question. I think i wiuld knot off and start at the top each row. I think you might get less twist in the quilt and you wont have to learn how to do the motif upside down. Though for this motif it wouldnt be hard

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  19. Gloria Howell says:
    November 26, 2015 at 8:26 am

    Thank you for posting this great pattern online

  20. schultzfamily9 says:
    December 8, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    Thanks for the snowflake tutorial! I am finally making a lapquilt for my husband from Moda’ s 2010 Minnesota themed fabric and wanted an appropriate quilting stitch. You do a yeart job with your blog and have so many creative/clever/interesting/ lovely ideas!

    1. WordPress.com Support says:
      December 8, 2015 at 12:52 pm

      Thank YOU! I’m so glad you are here. Can’t wait to see what YOU create!

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    Lori Kennedy

    Hi! I’m Lori Kennedy, machine quilter, & author from Minnesota. Check out my monthly newsletter & my articles. Machine quilting is my passion. From doodling to quilting, I’m here in my Minnesota studio to help you get quilting.

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