Sometimes a quilt just sings to you — this was one of those. I loved its simplicity and how the quiltmaker had used all solids in graduated colour ranges in each rail fence block. And the use of various widths in the white sashing strips.
I decided to quilt it with a yellow thread — enough to show up on the white, but not enough to be overbearing and dominate the simple beauty of the coloured strips.
First, I stitched in the ditch around each coloured strip. Then it took me a while of looking at it to figure out how best to quilt it. I went through lots of options in my head and drawing over it with my finger 😉 Eventually, I decided on an all-over squared stipple motif and was about to start, but at the last moment I decided on really big swirly spirals, with about a half inch between the lines in each spiral.
I didn’t mark anything — all these spirals were free-motion.
I really like how it turned out. And I liked how the yellow added just a bit more life to an already vibrant and colourful quilt. The back looks pretty awesome too 😉
(Click on a photo to view it larger)
Back:
Threads used:
- Top: Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 0600)
- Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 
[…] quilts (like #182) sing to you; others make you want to get them off your machine table ASAP… #183 was one of […]
Do you by chance have a tutorial about these swirls? I can’t figure out the progression of sewing. It is a wonderful quilt!
I think these are based on the ones Angela Walters does. So check out YouTube for her and you’ll probably find a demonstration on how to do them.
–Rhonda
Thanks! You are an incredible inspiration to me to learn to machine quilt!
Thank you!