Day 332 – Pea Gravel Path

We’ve finally made it to the last of the Quilting Arts designs! This was the last design originally published in the In Stitches eMag back in June 2010, and out of the 9 published, I think this one is my favorite:

It’s hard to say where Pea Gravel Path will work best in your quilts because it’s so oddly quilted. I think the best advice is to place this in an area that’s open and uncomplicated so you have more than enough space to fill in with the simple spirals and the circles.

This is one of those designs that I really need to go back and experiment with to really see what it can do and where it will work best. I’ll admit – even I don’t know exactly where all the designs will work best and experimenting with them is something I really hope to have time for in 2012.

Difficulty Level – Advanced. This design is not impossible, but is can be tricky. You first want to start by filling your quilting space with the curvy spiral lines, densely enough that you can then stitch back into each area and fill it with the large, oval circular shapes. Play with drawing this a bit, or even marking the initial spiral designs to make sure you don’t get stuck in an area of your quilt with no way to get out!

Design Family – Foundational. This design family always starts with a single line that then forms the base of the rest of the design. In this situation the base is the curving spiral paths, so focus your attention on forming that part first, then filling in the in-between area with pea gravel.

Directional Texture – All Directions. This definitely makes for an interesting texture! Make sure to place this design where you want lots of focus and attention because all the travel stitching and thread play is certainly going to attract your eye.

Suggestions for Use – The texture of this design really can’t be beat, so I think the best place to use it would be on a plain, solid fabric. Stitch it up over 16” of fabric, then finish the edges and fold it up to create a handy clutch style bag!