Rhonda Bracey: At Random

What a colourful quilt this was! I didn’t do any stitching in the ditch; instead, I started in the middle and worked my way out stitching circles inside circles with connecting loops in a bright orange thread.

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Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Glide ‘Neon Orange’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 90811)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (red)

My apologies for the washed out photos — this quilt was much brighter than it appears in these photos.

I started by stitching in the ditch around all the blocks, then around the big circles, segueing into petals around each one to create the illusion of a large flower or a sun. I repeated the petal/fire motif in the border, using a charcoal thread.

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Threads used:

• Top: Various Fil-TEc, Isacord, Madeira, Mettler, Wonderfil, and Robison-Anton threads
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (black)

What a stunner of a quilt this was! The person who made the top used colours that I would never have dreamt of putting together to create the illusion of a colour wash, and it was all done with faux pinwheels too.

How to quilt it? I thought about graffiti quilting it, but decided against it, instead choosing to go a bit more formal. I decided to closely quilt the lightest colour of the central area, using McTavishing. For the next layer (light to mid tone pinwheels), I segued into a larger open headband motif in the same variegated cream thread, then finally into a medium-size meandering stipple in a matching variegated cotton thread for the mid to dark areas.

Even though I’m not a fan of traditional applique, this quilt is a real stunner and I hope I’ve done it justice with the quilting I’ve done on it.

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Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec ‘Wheat’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 60300); Superior King Tut ‘Old Giza’ (40 wt, cotton, colour 941)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan, lead gray)

At first glance, I thought this scrappy quilt was too busy, but on stepping back from it a little, I realised how cleverly constructed it was with the offsetting of the lights and darks creating various optical illusions.

I started by stitching in the ditch along all the diagonal lines, then filled in the dark parts only with a large ‘n’ and ‘u’ stitching pattern, keeping about a half inch between the up and down strokes of the motif. I didn’t use rulers — I just eyeballed the distance, so some are a little closer or further apart than half an inch, but the overall effect is of similarly spaced parallel lines.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour FB4133)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (lead gray)

For this batik quilt, I used a bright yellow thread to stitch large overlapping spirals on the main part of the quilt, and large ‘ribbon candy’ in the piano keys border. I left the inner and outer borders unstitched.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Threads used:

• Top: Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 0600)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (red)

To counteract the rigidity of the horizontal stripes in this bright jelly roll quilt, I decided to go a bit more organic by stitching all over with circles (aka bubbles or pebbles) of various sizes, in a fluoro orange thread. I left the border unstitched.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Back:

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-Tec Glide ‘Neon Orange'(40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 90811)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (red)

For this small scrappy quilt, I decided to let the ‘on point’ squares pop by only stitching in the white space. I started by stitching in the ditch around all the squares and the borders, then did elongated curved ‘S’ shapes up and down and across to create the illusion of flowers or cathedral windows in the white space. I left the two inner borders unstitched, and did a large meandering stipple in the outer border.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Back:

Threads used:

• Top: Fil-tec Glide ‘Cream’ (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour 20001)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (light tan)

I decided to follow the geometric nature of this quilt made from some lovely batiks and stitched an all-over design of overlapping squares and rectangles. I didn’t use rulers, so not a single line is straight, even though they all look it from a distance.

(Click on a photo to view it larger)

Back:

Threads used:

• Top: Isacord (40 wt, trilobal polyester, colour FB3040)
• Bottom: Fil-Tec Magna Glide Classic pre-wound bobbin (white)