Jul 19 18

Quickie Quilted Wall Hanging

This is my donation quilt for the Silent Auction held this September at the Asheville Quilt Show.  One thing that’s been nice is I have so many blocks that are preliminary stitch outs of machine embroidery applique designs that it’s always pretty easy to come up with a basis for a  donation quilt.  I made this one by coupling design files from other block designs.

Quilting it was a total blast.  Once I’d outlined the applique shapes with invisible thread, I started with very basic straight line ruler work to create a frame:

I never fill 1/4 inch wide channels, so those are added only to add intricacy to the design.  I filled the 1/2 inch wide channels with the “fingertips” design, then added a 1/4 inch channel to each lateral side as I created triangles for 2 featherettes.  All of those design elements were added in this next shot:

I then filled in the inside space with a loose variation of the “igloos” free motion quilting design.  Note that I change my thread color as the background color changes:

At this point, I started feeling that frame was too understated, so I drew a temporary soap line to create a boundary for feather tips, then added plumes to the outside edge of the frame:

If that part about the soap line didn’t make sense, look closely at the shot above.  There was a temporary soap line that ran the length of the outer border of those plume tips.   I use that soap line to tell me how “wide” to stretch each individual plume.  This is how you achieve a sense of symmetry when you are working freehand.

I then added the background fill design.  Just like I did with the interior, I changed my thread color a few times as the background fabric color changed:

I love the luscious texture of the background fill design.  If you are wanting to try stitching this out yourself, here is a video we made last year that shows how to do it:

And here are some other shots:

-Fabric:  Hand-dyed cotton sateen for background; 100% cotton batiks for applique shapes

-Batting:  Hobbs Tuscany Wool/Cotton Blend

-Threads:  Variety of Filament Polyester Threads and Rayon Threads

Want it?  This could be your wall hanging!  Be sure to visit the Asheville Quilt Show September 28-30, 2018!

5 Comments

  1. Sis Says:

    Wow, that is such a stylish quilt. I love your combination of digitised appliqué/embroidery with fmq and the colours are gorgeous. Who wouldn’t like to own this?
    Thanks for sharing.

  2. Suzy Webster Says:

    I LOVE the wool cotton blend. It has such great definition when quilted

  3. Diane Says:

    I’m curious how the little yellow dots along the stem are made.

  4. Theresa Says:

    Beautiful! And very clever way to put those stitch outs to good use!

  5. Betsey Ryan Says:

    After some period of time I have finally found my way back to your web site. I wandered away as I wasn’t keen on the embroidering for me. I have several questions. I am waffling between a Long Arm and a George and new you had the latter, also I stumbled upon your You Tube video expounding on the merits of the Clarity ruler foot. To my knowledge no one talks about it up here and it appears to have been on the US market for a couple of years!!!! The use of the solid ruler foot and not being able to see where the needle is hitting the fabric was one of the things that bother me about the Long Arm. Will the Clarity Ruler foot fit on a Long Arm or on George? After viewing your You Tube on your love affair with George I was wondering why you have been using the Baby Lock for the last couples of videos that I have watched? Does using the open toed ruler foot on the George give you a true 1/4″ line if the ruler is running along the open groove? What machine do you now use for piecing? It still gives me chills when I see your work and your video presentation is by far the BEST!!!!!! If you a moment I would love to hear from you. Thanks so much.
    Betsey Ryan (north of Toronto)