Tuesday Tutorial Trifecta-Straight Lines

As you can tell, I am crazy about alliteration lately–Work in Progress Wednesday, Silent Sunday–-and I’m thinking about  starting  (Avoid my) Mistake Mondays and Flower Friday–Thursday seems to defy alliteration–any suggestions??

Today’s Tuesday Tutorial is a trifecta!  Three mini motifs for you to try…  Last week, we talked about the importance of Contrast.  (Read about Contrast HERE).  Pairing curvy and straight motifs often improves the quilt design…

One very simple, but very effective quilting pattern is straight lines.  Repeated, straight lines create a visual break between curvy motifs.  You don’t need to get fancy.  Straight Lines look beautiful because of their simplicity as well as the symmetry and rhythm of the repeated pattern…very comfortable for the eye to rest…In the sample below, I stitched angular lines and then morphed into a curved version.  (In a quilt, I would choose one or the other.)  The curved version is a bit easier to stitch quickly and I use it in many of my quilts.

Sometimes, I vary the straight line pattern by adding a spiral (See Spiral Tutorial HERE).  It also looks great.  You can add the spiral on every third “upstroke”  or just add them randomly…

And our third motif today…Switching from vertical lines to horizontal  lines periodically…Another pattern that always looks fabulous!

So stitch a small sampler so you can see for yourself the simplicity of straight line stitches! (Thanks for indulging me…)

And check out the other tutorials in the “Quilt/Tutorial” Tab above.  More Spirals are HERE and the Spiral Hearts are HERE.

Later in the week, I will be discussing my SECRET WEAPON for FMQ that I use in place of those annoying gloves…