Day 62 – Jack of Clubs
So we’ve started with the Queen of Hearts, now let’s meet the Jack of Clubs:
I’d say that this design is just slightly harder than the hearts simply because we so rarely draw the club shape.
Don’t let that intimidate you though! Take your time and give yourself permission to mess up. It’s usually the “gotta get it perfect” mentality that will get you into more trouble than anything else.
Inspiration – That good ole pack of playing cards was definitely the inspiration for this design. Symbols often make the most interesting designs.
I was recently at the mall where there is always a big sidewalk book sale going on. I love these sales because you never know what you’re going to find.
Lately I’ve been looking beyond my usual scope of crafty books for books on art, architecture, and really weird stuff like signs and symbols. I picked up an excellent book on the Masons and all the symbols they use for $3 bucks!
It was an awesome book and one of these days when I have the time (okay, in 10 years!) I’m going to make a wholecloth quilt that only features Mason signs.
Difficulty Level – Intermediate. The challenge is not in filling your space or in chaining the designs, it’s in forming the club shape consistently. You need a definite 3 humps in order to make this shape look like a club.
Design Family – Stacking. Like Queen of Hearts, the club shapes are chained together to fill the space. This will work fine in big or small areas, but it is time consuming, so if you’d prefer not to be stitching your quilt in 2015, maybe place this in smaller areas.
Directional Texture – All Directions. This design creates a good overall texture for any area of your quilt.
Suggestions for Use – Anyone up to making a quilt devoted to Poker? I know this drawing is terrible, but I did it in 3 minutes in paint so it actually came out better than I expected.
Surrounding the club symbol will be Jack of Clubs, filling in the space and making the club shape stand out. Give it a try and see what you come up with!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
This is a fantastic blog, Leah. Keep up the good work. I'm a beginner, and this has been, and will be, tremendously helpful to me.
Thank you, thank you for your awesome tutorials, videos and inspiration! I just reviewed the last six or so designs and I love them! This is EXACTLY the sort of free motion quilting designs I want to learn to do! I am so glad I subscribed to your blog! Yippee!
Anna
HahHah! I like the idea of your Mason's quilt despite the "no women rule." I have been thinking about alchemy signs and I'd love to do a quilt based on the signs out of an alchemist's handbook. (Mercury, Gold, Elements, etc…). What would Mercury look like done in your free motion style? I'm curious to see how they would connect!
Thank you so much for embarking on this "adventure"! I am in awe of the amount of work and commitment that something like this takes. I've been searching for ways to build my free motion repetoire and ..well…here you are!I'm so glad I found your site.:)