Free Motion Friday - Quilting Vintage Part 5

Quilting Vintage Part 5 today!  Today I get to start quilting in that yummy blue satin!  I discovered last time that I can't mark the blue satin, so I used doctor paper to help me stitch the lines.  Now for the fun.   For the area next to the border I used one of my quilting designs Curl Echoes.  It did them very small to add texture to the space.  I love the way it came out.

Be sure to check out the links to the previous posts

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

It really tacks down the area and will leave the thin border to shine.

I knew that for the next border I wanted to go back and add more feathers.  I moved the safety pins so they were in a line (you can see this above and below) so I knew where the boundary was to stop my feathers.  Then I used the existing stitches as the spine.  I did rip a few times on this part when my feathers got too large compared to the others.  I love how it turned out.

Below you can see the full spray of feathers going up the sides.  It was such fun to stitch!  I am a firm believer that you can never have too many feathers.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

A Project Found

As I was digging for a project to take to Quilter's Night Out the other day, I came upon a project that was leftover fused down onto a background.  It was all circles I'd cut with a circle cutter or scissors for the smaller ones during a class in Colorado 3 years ago.

Those of you who read my blog often are aware that I try to learn something new with each project.  This project was all about using different kinds of blanket stitching on the circles.  Different widths and lengths.  I like the overall effect because you have to look closely.  If you stare at the picture below you can see than the circle on the right has a much larger stitch width than the green circle on the left.  

Here's another look at some of the different circles.

Now you can see some of the Echo Curls I did as part of my Brick Wall Free Motion Quilt Along which is culminating Friday!  I can't believe the quilt is done.

The final quilt. It's a cute little piece done with leftovers.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Black and White Flowers - The Quilting!

For Free Motion Friday today I have a quilt I quilted with one of the new patterns I stitched during the Brick Wall Quilt Along.

I used the pattern Curl Echoes.  It's one of my favorites and was great to really sink the back of my Black and White Flowers quilt.

I must admit that I bought 3 different border fabrics for this quilt.  Did I use any of them?  Nope.  They didn't work!  They were too busy and distracted from the center of the quilt.  So, I decided to leave if off.

Her is the finished quilt.  I really meant to take a closeup, but I forgot.  And of course, where is the quilt?  It's having it's sleeve put on a by a friend of mine.  Oops.  I thought for sure I had some closeups.  I'll post more pictures of it close-up next Friday as well as a new pattern.

Gotta love the cute photo bomber! 

Here's a peek at my new quilt for the Island Batik Ambassadors New Beginnings Blog Hop which starts today!  My post will go up Wednesday.

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Curl Echoes

There are many variations of curls out there and echoed curls too.  This is a take on them I have been working on.  If it's out there somewhere else, please let me know so I can give credit.

Directions for making this design are here.

Stitch in the the ditch around your block.  Then start off with a small curl between 1/2 and 1 inch in diameter.

Make a curl around the original curl and echo back making the distance between the lines about 1/8 of an inch.

Add a third curl echoing the first two.

Make an S shape off the curl ending a new curl to start your new echo.

Echo this second curl two times.

Make an S curve ending in a curl to start your third curl. and make two echoes around it continuing in this pattern.

Here's a curl in the corner.  You can see that I echoed around the curl, but had to stop in points because I hit the edge of the block.

Here is another example of when I hit the edge of the block.

You can see that I have an open area in the center of the picture.  It's almost completely contained.  These kind of areas are harder to quilt than any other kind because they have so many boundaries.  I try to avoid doing this, but it happens sometimes.

Another curl in the corner.

Oops....a little space I made.  Here's how I filled it:  Make a curl and then echoed around the extra space once.  Then I went into a new curl again.

Saving the center for last...how do I end if I'm in the middle?  Pick a place to end and just do it.  NO one will find it in the final design.

So....can you see where I ended in the final design?  Not easy is it?!

I'd love to see how your Brick Wall quilts are going!  Please share your pictures on my Machine Applique Adventures Facebook Group!

I hope you get to quilt today!

Suzy