Tuesday Tutorial: The Fleur-de-lis

April 23, 2013

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

Today is Tuesday and it is time for another free motion quilting tutorial!  Today we will be working on the classic Fleur-de-lis (or lily flower) motif.  We have two motifs today:  The Basic Fleur-de-lis and The Deluxe Fleur-de-lis.

Let’s start with The Basic Fleur-de-lis.

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

I always begin with two drawn lines or “rails“.  They can be any size that fits your quilt.  For this tutorial, the rails were 1 inch apart.  Begin in the center of the rails and stitch a right Downward Curl.  (Find that tutorial here.)  When stitching the curls, make your first curl (the inner curl) small and the outer curl larger:

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

After you complete the right downward curl, stitch a left downward curl–Use the rails and try to keep your curls within the marked lines—“Stay in the lines.  The lines are your friends…”

Next, stitch a “Flame Stitch”.  I haven’t posted a tutorial on the Flame Stitch, if anyone would like one, please let me know…

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

The basic Flame Stitch looks like this:

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

For The Basic Fleur-de-lis, add a curvy line through the center of the Flame which will allow you to begin at the base of the next fleur-de-lis.

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

TIP-The Downward Curls and the Flame Stitch all meet near the middle of this motif.  Be careful to offset them so that you do not overlap your stitches.  When stitches overlap, the quilting gets  “thready” which is messy looking.

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

The Basic Fleur-de-lis:

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

For The Deluxe Fleur-de-lis, replace the curvy line in The Flame Stitch with two One-Pass Circles.  (See the tutorial here.)

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

After you complete the entire row of this motif, echo-stitch on both sides of the pattern.

The Deluxe Fleur-de-lis:

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

Fleur de lis, Free Motion Quilting Tutorial,

Tomorrow:  It has been raining cats and dogs for the past two days, so tomorrow’s Work in Progress is a small Umbrella quilt.

Next Week’s Tuesday Tutorial:  Umbrellas for you!

Thank you to all who continue to pin on Pinterest and re-blog.  Our sewing circle gets wider every day–and this week we met hundreds of new readers including many from the Russian Federation.   Thank you to  http://www.darievna.ru  who re-blogged the Easter Egg Tutorial. (I have to find a translator program to read it, but thank you!)

Note: All the photos and tutorials are for personal use only.  No commercial use…(I hope to publish a book some day…)

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21 comments

  • You may have addressed this in another post, so I apologize for asking, you can just send me the link if you want! After you sew the connected design, do you go back to the beginning to do the echo (sewing bottom up) or do you just go back ‘down’ the design? I am concerned about the fabric distortion of 2 different directions.

    • WordPress.com Support

      I do either way depending on which works on the quilt. I really don’t have problems with distortion.

  • kydong

    Thank you so much for your guide. I’ll follow you from now on.

  • I am in fact thankful to the holder of this web site who has
    shared this fantastic post at at this place.

  • More awesome quilting and fabulous tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

  • without a video tutorial on this particular shape, it is too difficult for beginners. I understand the curls, but the flame shape in the middle is extremely difficult. I tried sketching it, I can’t even duplicate it on paper. If I can’t do it on paper, I won’t be able to do it on a sewing machine. Can you elaborate about how the flame shape is done?

    • I will do a formal tutorial on the Flame Stitch –hopefully by next week. (I’m sorry but I’m not set up to do videos–yet).

      I agree that you have to be able to draw it on paper before you can do it on the sewing machine. Don’t be discouraged, just doodle it whenever you have five minutes…I like to doodle and practice the designs while I’m watching TV with my family.

  • Oh, wow!!! Really, REALLY love these motifs!

  • You always make it look sew easy, Lori! Thank you for this pretty one…it looks much more difficult.
    I’m off to make up ANOTHER quilt sandwich so I can practice it. I’ve filled at least 3 & even started using a different colored thread to repeat the motifs in a different area. As I improve, I’m going to bind them & use them as hot mats in the kitchen.
    With grateful hugs,
    Rett

    • What a great idea! I just throw mine in a box (and rarely bind them). Any ideas for quick bindings?

  • Colleen

    Love your tutorials, can’t wait to try this one!

  • That looks fantastic. It’s nice to see it broken down in steps. Thank you for sharing.

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