The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

May Free Motion Quilting Challenge

The May Free Motion Quilting Challenge at SewCalGal gave us two choices and I chose to use Marble-T Designs fabric and intuitively free motion over the surface of the fabric. When I logged onto their site and saw their exquisitely hand marbled fabric, I knew that I wanted to take that challenge.

It’s hard for me to just intuitively free motion over the surface, I’m usually a little more intentional. But I don’t want to always be so intentional!I followed the contours of the marbling and really did do this intuitively. I tried not to stop and ponder too much, just go forward. I also tried two thread choices and the darker thread showed up much better. It’s kind of a fine balance with a fabric like this-you don’t want to take away from the artistry of the fabric with a strident color choice, yet you want your quilting to show enough to enhance the piece.

I used Aurifil 28 weight cotton and I think the darker color, showing mostly in the upper and left portions of the photo, marry better to the piece than the lighter color in the lower right quadrant. The back shows the line that the quilting formed-pretty fun! I still have these pieces that need to be in on the fun too! This was a fun exercise and a true challenge for me.

Comments

  1. Jenny, This is just lovely. Excellent. I got through it yesterday and just did the samples as directed. Ended up liking the railroad tracks. Was surprised. You work is so good. Thanks for sharing.

    • Thank you Mona-I like the railroad tracks too, just decided to take the other challenge choice.

  3. Thanks Laura! That fabric is pretty inspirational and really a lot of fun to play with.

  4. Looks like you met the challenge and conquered it! Your stitching is beyond belief, as always. Thank you for sharing the journey.

  6. Excellent job. I have to admit that I didn’t even realize there was an option for this challenge other than the Double-stipple and Railroad Tracks.
    Those are beautiful marbled fabrics!

  7. Thank you! SewCalGal added this choice later in the month and I think it was easy to miss. You’ll have to try the marbled fabrics-it was fun!

  8. You have captured the “feel” of the fabric perfectly with your free motion quilting design and I agree with your comment about the slightly darker Cotton Mako’ 28 looking more effective on the fabric. Good choice, and nice quilting. Thank you for sharing your progress.