Butterflies on blue log cabins… how to quilt this one? I started by trying to stitch some free motion butterflies on a scrap, but that was a dismal failure 😉 So, instead of getting too technical, I decided to emulate the flight of a butterfly by doing an all-over large meandering stipple in a variegated blue thread. It didn’t take long and I was pleased with how it turned out.
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Well, if I loved the previous quilt because of its fresh bright colours, I loved this one equally for the maker’s brilliant use of colours and fabrics.
The design reminded me of some native American art I’ve seen in places like Arizona and New Mexico. I had to let this quilt sit for a while, while I decided how to quilt it. Then I remembered that I’d downloaded an image of a free motion quilt design some time back of a Navajo sun — that would fit perfectly! In essence the sun design is a spiral in the centre, radiating out into freeform arms.
I started with the ones in the ‘white spaces’ first, thinking I might do something different in the coloured sections. But I ended up staying with the same sun motif in the coloured sections too. However, the border fabric was quite geometric and I thought that the squared off open headband motif would work well there.
I was pleased with how this one turned out. It was a beautifully made top and I wanted the quilting to enhance this beauty.
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I love this quilt! I love the colours, the fabrics (all the same but in different colourways), and the background fabric (like a very small seersucker of old). The large circles just lent themselves to a circular quilting motif, so bubbles/pebbles it was!
I stitched the bubbles in each coloured sector in a thread that matched the fabric colour, and in a crisp white on the background fabric. I had lots of fun doing this quilt — probably because the fabrics were such fun to work with. Even the backing fabric was bright and cheerful 😉
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This purple, blue and black quilt was a variation on tumbling blocks. So that I could perfect the squared off open headband motif, I repeated it on this quilt too — I think it’s in my ‘muscle memory’ now 😉
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I wasn’t too fussed by this crazy 9-patch quilt’s colours etc. However, when I viewed it hanging on the line, I changed my opinion — I quite like how it looks like an abstract painting.
This was a busy quilt with all those solid colours, so I just did a squared off variation of my open headbands motif using a variegated thread in gold, green, and tan autumnal colours.
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After moving my Sweet Sixteen into the living room to take advantage of the air conditioning there, I tackled the pile of community quilts with a vengeance! There’s nothing like a stinking hot heat wave to keep you inside. In the week between Christmas and New Year I quilted some 10 or so community quilts 😉 As a result, I didn’t keep track of all the threads I used…
Here’s quilt #43. It was a little one, and I think the pink/green fabric is ‘Strawberry Shortcake’. As this quilt will likely go to a young girl, I quilted it using pink thread, in an all-over hearts and flowers motif.
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Rhonda Bracey: At Random 