Rhonda Bracey: At Random

Another scrappy quilt. This one was made up of lots of half-square triangles, with two large stars formed from some of them. And then there was a strange 3-strip panel on each side.

The direction of the main triangles leant itself to some straight-line quilting. I stitched in the ditch along the main diagonal seams first, the through the middle, then through the space created by those lines. I liked the effect, especially as I used a gold thread (NOT metallic) to set off the many fabrics that had splashes of gold in them.

For the stars, I just stitched in the ditch, then did some McTavishing in the white space. It took a while to decide what to do with the 3-strip panels. I thought about feathers then figured they’d look out of place with the straight lines of the diagonals, so I did some mountain peaks (no rulers or marking) along one side first, then echoed back on the other side.

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Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Glide ‘Military Gold’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 27407)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin

This small scrappy quilt had so many colours happening, I didn’t know how to quilt it! Eventually I decided on a variegated pastel thread and a big spiral motif, which I think sets off the quilt quite nicely and unifies the many squares and colours that make up this quilt.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Harmony ‘Spring’ (40 wt, cotton, colour 14062)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (white)

I thought this quilt was individual blocks, but the entire centre was a single panel print! Clever.

I started by stitching in the ditch around each of the ‘blocks’, leaving the ‘borders’ around each one unstitched. Then I did loopy Ns and Us in the soft green leaf border, and a meandering stipple in the large leaf border. Finally, I outlined the main elements in each bear and rabbit block. I didn’t try to be too precise here — the aim was to hold the layers together yet keep some puffiness in these blocks.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Rasant (cotton, colour 0861); Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour FB 5660 [soft green])
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

How to quilt this quilt? I started with straight line echoing and ribbon candy in the maroon Vs, followed by cathedral windows and a cathedral window variation in each alternate 9-patch block. In each centre, I stitched an 8-petal free-motion flower with each petal hitting a corner or seam. I left the pink and green triangles unstitched, then straight-line echoed in the border and filled the space with a ribbon candy motif.

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Threads used:

• Top: Floriani embroidery thread (40 wt, rayon?, colour PF106)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

I knew that any quilting I did on this quilt would fade into the background, so I just an all-over motif (my open headbands) in a black and white variegated thread. I thought about using a neon pink or green thread, but went for the more subtle black and white instead.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Wonderfil Mirage (30 wt, rayon?, colour SD28)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (black)

I took ages to get to this hexagonal quilt. First, I really didn’t have any idea how to quilt it so it sat over the back of the sofa for a few weeks. And second, I have a shoulder that’s playing up (surgery is scheduled for December), so in the meantime I have to take it easy with many of the actions involved in quilting.

I eventually decided on my easy cathedral window motif, which I adapted for hexagons — do two arcs to hop from corner to corner for two sides inside a hexagon, then arc up (or down) the vertical seam then back down the other side. Repeat until you get to the end of one row, then arc up (or down) to the other side and just do arcs hopping from one side to the next to fill in the remaining sides. Rinse, lather, repeat for all rows.

I left the blue borders unquilted, and did a smallish stipple in the white border. I finished off with a flower in the very centre.

NOTE: The batting used in this quilt was VERY fluffy, so there are bits of fluff all over it, which are very prominent in the navy sections. This quilt needs a good brush down with a lint brush.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Glide ‘Navy’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 32965); Fil-Tec Glide ‘White’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 10000); Floriani embroidery thread (40 wt, rayon, colour PF487 [dark grey])
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (white, lead grey, black)