Good morning, Quilters! Welcome back to Tutorial Tuesday at The Inbox Jaunt--where every week we add a free motion quilting motif to our collection. I am sewing on a Bernina 820--a domestic sewing machine with an extra wide harp, but I have sewn all of these motifs on a Bernina Virtuosa 150 with a standard harp size. ( I have quilted king quilts on my Bernina 150 domestic sewing machine–it can be done!) Of course, all of the motifs can be stitched on a long arm quilting machine if you’re lucky enough to have one… Whatever you have–“Make it work, people!” (Any Project Runway fans out there?)
Before I begin today’s tutorial, I want to remind everyone that all of the Tuesday Tutorials can be found in the Quilts tab above. There are more than 40 free tutorials for you to try. Feel free to Pin and share them–for personal use only! I am very encouraged that many of you are using the patterns in your quilts and I want to thank the quilters who have sent photos of their work to me! I love to see your creations!
Also, check out yesterday’s post: Peculiar Children–On My Nightstand. There are several book recommendations from readers in the Comment section. Several great ideas for books and books on tape–thank you to all who contributed!
Now, without further ado…The LOOpy Leaf!
Begin by drawing three lines or rails. In the sample below, the lines are one inch apart, but any size will work. Begin stitching on the middle line. You may add an optional spiral. Stitch a curved line toward the bottom rail, then curve back up to the middle rail. Looks like a shallow bowl…Notice below how the pointy tip of the leaf is achieved…Stop here.
Next, reverse directions and mirror the bottom of your leaf. This curve does not need to be a perfect mirror image–most leaves in nature are not perfectly symmetrical. Stop NEAR your first stitches, but do not cross over. This helps avoid the build up of threads at one point that causes a messy look.
Now stitch next to the first line of stitches until you have room to begin the loops.
The loops are stitched toward the center “rail” line, but not over it. If your leaves are larger or smaller, adjust the number of loops you add. For the two-inch leaf below, I was able to add three loops on each side.
After you complete the third loop, stitch into the point of the leaf, reverse directions and stitch parallel to the upper leaf until you have enough room to begin looping again.
Stitch the upper loops and end NEAR your previous line of stitching.
Now trail back through the center of the leaf and out of the tip to begin the next leaf. This line can be curvy or straight, but I think it looks best if your are consistent throughout the project.
I really like the character of this leaf. It can stand alone or be stitched in a border. For variation, stitch the leaves at angles instead of a straight line border. This variation looks great in very wide borders.
I hope you will all have time to doodle this and then quilt it this week. August is a very busy month with vacations winding down, sports winding up and everyone getting ready for school…
PS–I have some really exciting Back-to-school motifs I can’t wait to show you! September is going to be very busy for The Inbox Jaunt— more tutorials, more projects, a King Arthur Flour cookbook giveaway, a stencil giveaway, more on threads, tension, doodling, Iphoneography tips…Let me know what you’d like to see….
Stay tuned! (And tell your friends about us!)
Stitching and Doodling Here in Minnesota,
Lori
