The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

Flutter Tutorial-Round 2

I’ll continue showing the Flutter Motif in this tutorial, but first I want to show it done two ways.Here I have stitched it with Feathers, Bananas and Lazy S’s. I used Radiance fabric, wool batting and Superior 100 wt. Kimono thread on  both of the samples.Here it is stitched with just Bananas and Lazy S’s. I am surprised with the results: I like this one better than the one that includes Feathers-who knew?

I will illustrate the Flutter Motif here using just the two designs I showed in Part 1 of this tutorial: Bouncing Bananas and Lazy S’s, like the photo above.Let’s start out with a Lazy S (er, guess that’s a backwards Lazy S!).Double back upon the first, reflecting it’s curve.Continue on by nesting 4 Lazy S’s. By the way you may choose 2 or 3 S’s! Now it’s time to travel into another Lazy S. It looks best if the new Lazy S starts somewhere around the middle-ish of the first, at an angle.Finish out that set of Lazy S’s. Now let’s travel into the angle made by the two Lazy S motifs and start an area of Bouncing Bananas.Continue bouncing until you “fill” the area to the top of one of the Lazy S’s.Now come off of that Banana and start another Lazy S.Finish up that Lazy S group.Now travel again, into the angle between the two Lazy S’s and start a group of Bouncing Bananas.Fill that space until you come to the top of one of the Lazy S’s.Let’s start another Lazy S! See how you are forming an area to “Banana” between the Lazy S’s? Who knew banana was a verb??Finish out that group of Lazy S’s.

Are you seeing the pattern? Lay down Lazy S’s until there is an area to fill. Then fill that area with Bouncing Bananas until you hit the top of one of the Lazy S’s. Then, start another Lazy S.We’re filling that gap between the Lazy S’s with Bouncing Bananas….until we hit the top of the Lazy S and we keep going on in this manner. I continued on and formed something like this.

You can really rock this kind of look if  you use the right combination of batting, fabric and thread. Combine a fabric with a sheen (sateen, Radiance, etc.), with a very dimensional batting like wool. Then add 100 wt silk thread and your work will soar. It will be luscious and full of line and shadow-gorgeous!

You may want to combine Feathers, Bouncing Bananas and Lazy S’s like this:Just follow the numbers on the illustration to see my path. If you take it just one step at a time you can easily do this motif. If you are not yet proficient with Feathers, just use Bouncing Bananas and Lazy S’s-it’s just as beautiful!

If you want to use this in your quilts, take the time to get very comfortable on paper before you go to a practice sandwich. Then try it on a layered  practice sandwich before putting it on your quilt. After that you will be confident when you unleash this beautiful motif on your own quilts!

Comments

  3. I love it when people can actually analyze how they create something AND show others how to do it. This is a really good tutorial and I also love that it’s not a video. Your drawings and photos make it easier to go back and really see how the process works. Thanks.

  4. Thank you! I really wondered about such a long tutorial and thought I might need to gear up to do You Tube videos. Nice to hear that you actually prefer it this way. I appreciate your thought provoking comment!

    • I really did prefer this. I know how to do quilting…it’s the design I was interested in re-creating. I use drawing and finger-tracing practice to ingrain the design into my brain and you just can’t do that with a video.

  5. Thank you thank you for real feedback! In class I always suggest what you just wrote, to trace it with your finger. The real trick is getting it into your brain so the photos help more for that than a video. Great point!

  6. I agree with quirksltd…I prefer the photos as well, and I like to trace with my finger too. Thank you for a fab tutorial! I honestly don’t know which I like better…with feathers, or without. Both designs look great! Oh how I need to find some practice time!

  7. Thank you Laura for both the compliment and feed back! This is why I blog: I love to pass on my passion and knowledge and I also really appreciate feed back. Whew-thought I was going to have to gear up and figure out how to do You Tube videos. Hope you find the time to play-that’s all it takes!

  8. Thanks for stopping by my blog, Jenny. Clearly, I have to pay you a visit for your FMQ feathers tutorial!

  9. OMG that is so gorgeous, and it makes me want to try it, especially on that shiny fabric! I also love the wool batting. I am going to include video on my blog at some point this year, but this was easy to follow- you could also do both for those who like video.

  11. I just found your blog thanks to someone who “pinned” one of your projects! You do beautiful work and I bookmark you, so I will be back! Oh, and thanks for a great tutorial!

  12. Wow. I was just swimming in the beauty of the quilting at the top of your pages, wondering how in the world did you do that. Then I found this tutorial, and Jenny, I really agree with your friends about the pictures. I love them, and am going to try printing them. You are such an artist, and because you provided us (students at the Long Beach quilt Show) with that fabulous sateen fabric. I actually knew what you were talking about! Thanks, and now I’m going to hunt for ‘tutorial 1’.

  16. Back again—-if I do manage to get to grips with this, is it OK if I use it on a quilt I have rather a lot of negative space on, to help fill it up? Been trying to think of something new to use as a ‘big space’ filler and you appear to have solved my problem. :-)

  17. Janet it’s a beautiful filler-just make sure it doesn’t overwhelm the main motif. I did this on a small piece (10x16ish) and it overwhelmed the central motif. If I had surrounded the motif with a pool of echo, it would have worked.

  18. Thanks so much for your tutorial, it’s brilliant. I’m going to play with that today.

  20. Hi Jenny,

    I’m from the UK and have just found your site. I have only been doing free motion for a short while and wanted to try something more adventurous. This tutorial has inspired me and I will have a go. Thank you so much