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New Quilt Collection Sneak Peak!

fuellingdesigns
3 days ago
2 min read

I have a quilt launch coming June 16 with twelve brand new quilts. I want to show you the custom quilting I have done on one of the quilts. This quilt has applique and trim on it that I needed to quilt around. I start by laying the top out and studying it. I scour many resources as I think about the feeling and look I want the quilting to portray. Once I have a basic concept, I am ready to start drawing. I have a dry erase see through mat that I lay over the top to sketch design ideas. Eventually I selected four main concepts. Straight lines, a triangle leaf design, narrow borders and block motifs.

I quilt from the top of the quilt down rolling the quilt sandwich (back, batting, and top) as I complete my quilting area which is about 16’’ deep by the width of the quilt, 96’’. I have my quilting designs figured out before I start and I draw out a map of what I want and where. I draw the designs on the dry erase mat and take photos to guide me as I progress down the quilt.

I “ditch” stitch between all of my borders. I think of this as the foundation of the house. This defines areas and stabilizes the quilt. Stitching in the ditch is when you follow the edge of a seam. This is not easy to do and takes skill and practice.

Quilting is a maze. Can I get in and out of an area without stopping? The goal is to minimize stop and start threads and have smooth transitions.

For this quilt I selected a number of designs for the narrow borders. I like to repeat basic elements which help to keep the quilting cohesive. In one area I treated two narrow borders as a unit and quilted a vine with leaves, feathers and swirls.

In the outer border I used a triple straight line to create triangles. I filled the triangle with an organic swirling leaf motif. I repeated this design element in two larger central blocks.

There is a border made up of blocks that surrounds a central section. I chose a free-flowing leaf, feather and swirl motif that repeated in every block of the border.

The two side borders are made up of hourglass blocks. I quilted an art deco style triangle flower in these blocks. A triangle flower also shows up in a narrow border.

For the old crow blocks I did a variety of background fills.

When this quilt drops at the launch you will be able to see the full quilt in all its glory. I hope you will look for and notice the quilting details that I am showing you today.