Hey Everyone, welcome back to Free Motion Friday.
Last week my free motion design was spirals – a continuous curved line that just keeps going around and around and around itself. This week is another spiral of sorts which is a continuous line that keeps going around itself but has square edges rather than curved.
One might say that it looks a lot like a Greek Key design especially when done in small spaces. This is another great design for large open areas or blocks that need an all over filler design. Any type of thread can be used depending on the project and the look that you want to achieve.
I have used the free motion foot to create the motif but if you are not comfortable with a free motion foot then a walking foot could be used. This design can easily be marked out on the fabric as well with either a Chaco Liner or an erasable fabric marker such as the Air Erase Marker or Water Soluble Marker. These three products are all available from Clover.
Mark off lines on fabric
I marked the squares I wanted to quilt in with an ‘X’.
‘X’ marks the spot to be quilted
Using a walking foot will give you a lot more control and the space between the lines would be even. The down fall to using the walking foot would be all the pivoting and turning of fabric, with the free motion foot there is little of that.
Start in the centre of where the design is to be and just start going around in a continuous line making sure to have 90 degree corners where you turn or close to 90 degree – the idea is for the design to look square and straight.
Four areas quilted
I decided that I didn’t like all of the negative space so I added in some smaller spirals to fill in the space and give a little more texture and design to the piece.
Different sized spirals working together to create a full design
They all look a little whimsical and off kilter – I like it!
Give it a try on some scraps and see what you think – who knows, this quilting motif may just be on top of your next quilt.
Happy Quilting!
