Pages

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Machine quilting motifs

Some of the students in my Beginning Machine Quilting class today asked me to post some of the free-motion quilting motifs I have used in my quilts. So here goes...

Here's a square spiral. I used a wonky variation of this in my quilt "Harbinger's Hope" (second photo).





Here's a meander:



A spiral:



A star:



A loop-de-loop:



Here's a list of some good books on the subject of free-motion machine quilting. These first three books are on my bookshelf, and I can recommend them:

Mastering the Art of McTavishing by Karen McTavish. A good book to read and study if you want to develop your own free-motion quilting motif for an all-over design to use in open spaces between appliqued shapes.

Coloring With Thread: A No-Drawing Approach To Free-Motion Embroidery by Ann Fahl. Great tips on threads and troubleshooting thread and tension problems, with an emphasis on art/pictoral quilts.

Guide to Machine Quilting by Diane Gaudynski. Diane walks you step-by-step through every aspect of free-motion machine quilting, with an emphasis on spectacular traditional designs (like feathers).

Here are some other books that were highly recommended on amazon.com that I'd love to add to my bookshelf, but have not yet read:

Machine Quilting Made Easy by Maurine Noble

Quilt As Desired: Your Guide to Straight-line & Free-motion Quilting by Charlene C. Frable

Continuous Line Quilting Designs by Pat Cody

Easy Machine Quilting by Jane Townswick

Heirloom Machine Quilting, 4th Edition: Comprehensive Guide to Hand-Quilting Effects Using Your Sewing Machine by Harriet Hargrave

Machine Quilting: A Primer of Techniques by Sue Nickels

Show Me How to Machine Quilt: A Fun, No-Mark Approach by Kathy Sandbach

250 Continuous-Line Quilting Designs: For Hand, Machine & Long-Arm Quilters by Laura Lee Fritz