Tulips

When Sharon sends me her quilts it is like Christmas morning opening the box. I am always amazed at the beauty of them and the perfect piecing that accompanies them. It makes quilting a dream! 

I have Sharon hooked on wool batting too from Quilters Dream Batting. It really is a dream to quilt with. The texture that is achieved makes the quilt just come alive! Here is a picture of some feather work. Mimi (my grandmother) recently showed me a video of Judi Madsen's that featured her doing some feather work. In her video she showed how to do these feathers and I decided to try them out. Turns out I loved the rhythm and the look that was created. Judi's design adds detail to the traditional feather look and creates something special. I am glad I could find a place to incorporate the feathers into this quilt.

 

 In these rectangle sections I wanted something different than feathers because: a) this piece is going a different direction b) it is surrounded by purple sashing and c) why not!?.  So.... I decided on this design. I did use a marking pen to give myself registration lines to hit the points of the triangles. I then went through and did my straight lines and then completed the circles. Francis has a stitch regulator, which I love, however, when I am doing circles I tend to put it on non-regulated mode so I have more freedom to complete the circles. In the purple sashing I did a simple swirl to add more texture and fill in the space.

 Oh Tulips! In Sharon's first Tulip quilt I just did a squiggle line in each petal, up and back. In this Tulip quilt I accentuated the tulip leaves by echoing the shape of the leaf. I also made little leaves in the leaves. For the background I simply marked 1/2 inch straight lines. I really like how the straight lines draw your attention to the tulip and then you can see the detail that is in the flower.

 I really enjoy taking pictures of the quilt while it is on Francis. It allows for better lighting and the texture that can be seen really shows off the quilt and the quilting.

 These little odd hexagons were a challenge to create. Because I had straight lines and feather work in this quilt, I thought to myself, "why not combine them both into this block design". So I did! I like how it is soft and yet defined at the same time. I think it compliments the quilts and ties all designs that were quilted together. When I am quilting I try to just do two or three designs in the entire quilt and combine them and/or separate them to create different textures.

There are no rules in quilting, just suggestions. Go have fun, explore new techniques, and keep on quilting! Oh! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram (@dancingwithfrancis) to see the latest quilts Francis and I are working on!