Thursday, January 24, 2013

A Few Stars

Occasionally I get in quilts to be quilted where an all over pattern is a little 'too boring' for the customer and the quilt doesn't lend itself to elaborate quilting.  What to do? I find that just a bit of custom stitching amongst a meander allover pattern fits just right.

I usually look to the fabrics in the quilt for a design.  If possible, I try and find something that I have already drawn or something that I already have a stencil for in house.  Sometimes, I just have to get out a pencil and paper and start drawing so I can get the scale just right.  For a project I did this week I chose some wonky stars.

 


Before I load the quilt, using white school chalk, I mark the areas I want to quilt the chosen motif.  This way I can balance the designs throughout the quilt.  For this quilt I put the stars in various groupings using some stencils.  (I find miracle chalk in white works the best.)

I used white thread to quilt the stars.  I then changed to a bright variegated thread and did swirling meanders around them. 




I also did some single stars in places where they would really show.  This quilt had a lot of colorful fabrics so it was difficult to get some contrast.

However, the white stars really showed up bright on the red backing.






When I don't use stencils, I will get out my laser and quilt from paper patterns.  If you sew on a domestic, cut the shape out of freezer paper and iron directly onto the quilt.  Then simply quilt around the paper. I have used this method to quilt in turtles, bears, stars, boats, to name just a few.  Hope this gives you some ideas on what to quilt on your next project.


3 comments:

julie said...

Thanks for the detail about your process. I learned lots. julie

Terrie Sandelin said...

Those stars and swirls look perfect!

Unknown said...

Love the idea about the freezer paper, I had considered giving that a shot myself. Always a good thing to know someone else has done something and had success :) I love the variegated thread, I especially like to use it on baby quilts it adds a subtle punch of color.

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