Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I really liked this quilt — the design, the colours. I think it’s a variation on these quilts: https://rhondabracey.com/2015/09/07/baby-quilt-kaffe-fassett-fabrics/ and https://rhondabracey.com/2015/09/28/baby-quilt-with-tonga-treasures-fabric/, but instead of using charm squares, the quilt maker used half-square triangles inside each block. It’s very effective.

How to quilt it? I decided to do something I’ve never tried before — triangular spirals! It’s just a spiral motif, but with three corners. I liked the final effect, so might use this one again. No rulers were used — all free-motion quilting.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec GLide ‘Neon Green’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 90360)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (red)

I wanted to enhance this basic scrappy quilt with something floral, and ended up doing a sort of spiral centre, surrounded by rounded ‘petal’ arms. It’s another variation on ‘open headbands‘.

(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)

This big quilt was filled with panels from a marine-themed fabric, and surrounded by matching borders and sashing strips. After stitching in the ditch around all the blocks and borders, I did a water-style stitching motif in the panels, with wavy lines in the light green border and a sine wave in the thin dark border. I left the other areas unstitched.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Floriani (40 wt, rayon, colour PF074)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (lead gray)

Another big quilt, this time of half-square triangles in autumnal colours. After stitching in the ditch around every stinkin’ seam, I decided to do an all-over motif based on ‘open headbands‘, using a variegated autumnal thread.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Back:

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Harmony ‘Tweed’ (40 wt, cotton, colour 14076)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

This was a BIG quilt, with the potential for lots of puckering with all those bias edges in the octagons. I started by stitching in the ditch around the main elements, then stitching echoed 4-petal flowers in the white spaces. I free-motion stitched BIG spirals in the green areas (thank goodness for quilting gloves and my Sweet Sixteen’s quilting table and extensions, and my bungee cord system!).

For the border, I stitched flame-like motifs, all in the same green thread. The green looks stunning on the black, although the picture of the border below is a bit washed out and doesn’t show the contrast very well.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Glide ‘Neon Green’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 90360)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (white)

I quilted spirals all over this scrappy rail fence and 9-patch block quilt to soften the geometry of all those squares and rectangles.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Robison-Anton ‘Maize’ (40 wt, rayon, colour 2264)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

How to quilt this busy chevron quilt? I decided to only quilt in the beige bands and the main border, and leave the other bands and black border unstitched. I did a simple ‘u’ or ‘n’ shape, with a larger variation in the main border.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Robison-Anton ‘Maize’ (40 wt, rayon, colour 2264)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

I’m sure the child that gets this quilt will love it! It’s bright, cheerful, very colourful, and has dinosaurs front and back — what’s not to love?

I started by stitching around each block, then around all the main dinosaurs in each block, adding echo quilting to some of the blocks. I stitched straight lines in the sashing strips (using a ruler), and free motion straightish lines following the shape of the lines in the borders.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Back:

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Glide ‘Neon Green’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 90360)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

This small scrappy quilt was made up of 16-patch blocks, in various fabrics. I decided to quilt it simply using an ‘open headband‘ motif, in a pale lilac thread.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour Fb 3040)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

How to quilt this scrappy quilt of 9-patch and pinwheel blocks, which had no apparent colour theme?

I decided to use a muted thread colour (a lilac) and a simple cathedral windows motif in each block, leaving the sashing strips unstitched, and with only a single straight line echo stitch in the border.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour Fb 3040)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)