Tommy the Turtle – A Free Motion Quilt Tutorial
Did you ever have one of those SLOW days? Days that you don’t even want to get out of your pajamas? Tommy the Turtle has them all the time–but he knows the secret….
Slow and Steady Wins the Race!
In honor of Tommy – and embracing his motto–let’s stitch a new motif!
TOMMY the TURTLE –THE TUTORIAL –Say that three times fast!
It is helpful when learning any new pattern to use some guidelines. This helps keep a motif in proportion. If you are sewing a quilt with squares–no need to draw lines-use the seamlines.
Begin by drawing any size square. In the sample below, the squares are 3- 1/2 by 3-1/2 inches.
Next, draw a circle in the middle of the square. I used this ruler – found at an office supply store and drew a 2 -1/4 inch circle. You could use a cup or a small plate…
Begin by stitching around the circle (Start where you want the neck to be positioned.) Then stitch the neck and head into one of the corners of the square.
Next, travel around the circle and stitch a rounded leg. Stitch around the circle and close to the previous line of stitching.
At the opposite corner, stitch a leg, a curved tail, and another leg before proceeding around “the shell” again.
Stitch the last “leg” and then cross into the circle.
Spiral into the center of the shell and stop.
Next, spiral out – but add a scallop as you go…(this is actually Tammy the Turtle…?)
For a boy turtle–simply spiral out and back toward the neck. Knot off at the base of the neck somewhere.
NOTE--I was unable to find a nice looking way to transition to another turtle–so I knotted off between each turtle. (For more on knots see HERE and HERE.)
Make a pair of turtles…
and maybe a baby…
Or line them all up in a row…
The turtle’s shell is an opportunity for creativity. Add any embellishment here…Give your turtles personality!
Tommy the Turtle would look darling on any border and in the center of any quilt square. Or–make a pillow or a pin cushion with a single turtle!
TOMORROW–
Check in tomorrow to see a little quilt I made with Tommy the Turtle. I think I’m going to have it framed!
Lori
MATERIALS
This turtle looks great on Kona cotton from RJKaufman’s New Summer Collection…Stitched with Sulky Rayon thread on top and Aurifil cotton 50 wt in the bobbin on my Bernina 820 without a stitch regulator…
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 Pin, Blog, Tweet with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
Oh, Lori. Your stitches are so even. I’m blown away.
Gorgeous turtle! Tommy the Turtle is a super addition to your freemotion designs. Thank you Lori. Your Tommy makes me smile.
Who knew a turtle could be so endearing!?
So cute, Lori — looking forward to seeing the quilt!!
Turtles are endearing! And adorable (unless it’s a snapper, which isn’t so adorable). Lori, your turtle tutorial (whew!) is wonderful and I can’t wait to try it!
This is my favorite yet!
The turtles are adorable. I had a pet shop turtle when I was a kid named Blossom. I don’t know if it was a girl or boy but it had a red design in the center of its shell that looked like a flower.
Tommy and Tammy are precious! I think I’ll make a baby or child’s quilt to put them on. Thank you for your inspiration and expertise!
OMG, I love that little guy! I think it would be adorable in the border of a baby quilt. Thank you so much for sharing this neat pattern, Lori. I re-read your knotting technique and I will do mine the way you curved to the left with tiny stitches from now on.
Thanks, Lori, for another wonderful tutorial.
Thank you so much for this adorable tutorial.
I am making a pond quilt for my grandson – perfect timing for a perfect motif.
Rosemary B here:
OHHHHH NOOOOO this is way too cute. too much toooo much cuteness
Oh gosh. I am looking forward to tomorrrowww
This is so adorable.
Now all I need is some grand children lol. I am waiting patiently
So it is good to practice now
Another great tutorial, you are so creative!
I love this motif! It looks so do-able, and adorable for a baby/toddler quilt. Thanks for sharing!
This is just way too cute….love it!!!! Thanks for the great turt-torial 😉
He is SO sweet! You must dreamquilting to make these wonderful patterns.
Tommy the Turtle is really sweet. I know some little one will love this. Thanks for sharing all your wonderful ideas.
Awww …..he’s so sweet. Nice addition to your collection!
I can see window toppers to match a sweet little crib quilt in that soft green. 🙂
Thank You!!! I love turtles and now i can quilt them!
How cute is this?! You get such smooth curves. I don’t think I can move the fabric that well to end up with cute turtles. I know, practice, practice, practice. Thanks again for such wonderful tutorials.
Genial!!
Darling!
Thanks for sharing. Just found your page last week but found it to be a needed treasure that’s filled with inspiration for joyful quilting. Enthusasium without a plan is not so great but your site has ideas to push me away from boring pieces.
I love your tutorials! I am excited to try all of them. I’m sorry if you have already answered this question but, what type of marking pencil do you use to mark your lines?
Lori, thankyou so much for this tutorial. Tommy, Tammy and the baby are adorable. I love to be able to do designs like this on my customers kids quilts, and they love it too! Thanks again
Amazing! Thank you..
What the name or mfg of the ruler that has all the holes? Would love one of those!