Free Motion Quilting Design #16 – Brain Coral

This filler is really just a play off of Stippling! Do you see how? Rather than make a single, super wiggly, but never crossing line, I’ve instead made a parallel set of super wiggly lines.

The first line of stitch is basic stippling, but echoing those stitches just one time can make a big difference in the texture it creates.

Inspiration: My husband, Josh Day, has maintained a 10 gallon saltwater tank since the summer of 2005. In this tank, he has beautiful corals and occasionally a bright, spunky fish.

One of the corals in the tank is called an Open Brain. This gorgeous coral is actually pretty closed up in this picture, but at night is opens up like a monster and expands to 2-3 times this size!

Difficultly Level: Beginner. Think of this design as the more responsible cousin of Stippling. Simply maintain an even stitch distance in your echo quilting and have some fun!

Design Family – Echoing.

Directional Texture: No Direction. Similar to Stippling, Brain Coral gives wonderful texture without a ton of distraction.

Suggestions for Use: Any art quilters out there needing to stitch some coral? No? Well in that case it would make a great fill around vines or other organic shapes. As you can tell from the video, this filler can easily trap you in a corner so just be careful when stitching across wide areas.

Of course, even if your trapped, you can always wiggle yourself back out again by traveling along your previous stitching!

Feel free to use this free motion filler designs in your quilts. Please spread the word and tell your friends where you learned it. Click here to support the project by visiting our online quilt shop.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day