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.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

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)