Flower in a Pot #1 - the Quilting

Now that Flower in a Pot #1 is appliqued, it's time to free motion quilt!  I really enjoy quilting and working on a small piece since it is so much easier than running a large quilt through the machine, though I do that too.

I started by quilting in the ditch around the outside of the appliques.  Then I did the feathers.  Last, I did some work inside the large flower and the pot because they are so large that they needed more quilting to help them lay flat.

I decided to quilt the pot in a grid between the designs.  I didn't want to take away from the effect of the pot so I used matching thread.

I love feathers.  In my opinion, you can never have enough feathers.  Ever.  So, I decided to quilt this series of quilts in different kinds of feathers.  I started with Sally Terry's hooked on feathers.  I quilted a spine starting from the base of the flower and working it's way out from there.  I then went back and filled in the feathers with the available space leaving myself about an inch around the edge for a small break before the binding.  

I also added an additional outline around the feathers once they were complete.  An extra outline around feathers lets them stand apart from whatever fill you put around the outside.  I really like the way the feathers pop out here too when you look at the photograph.

Below you can see a picture of the back of Flower in a Pot #1 where I hadn't yet added quilting to the inside of the appliques.  You can see that the fabric is really loose.  That's why I added more quilting inside the appliques.

Suzy