Quilt Along #24 – Tree Roots

It’s quilt along time again!  I hope you’ve had the chance to hop on your sewing machine and practice quilting Bare Branches.  While the straight lines and travel stitching can be tricky, it’s sure to really boost your free motion quilting skills

This week we’re going see what happens when Bare Branches goes all wiggly and wobbly!  When you make all those straight lines curvy, you end up with Tree Roots:

This was one of the very first designs I created back in 2009 and it remains one of my absolute favorites.  The flowing, growing texture is the perfect addition to quilts of all shapes and sizes.

Let’s learn how Tree Roots works by stitching a few simple rows, then expand with a totally random, free form version in this video:

Here’s a photo of all the different versions and rows of Tree Roots stitched in the video:

Really, there’s no right or wrong way to practice any design.  Generally this year I’ve found that by teaching the simple, repeating rows you’re able to see the basics of the design and get the hang of the movement.  Then once you try the totally random, totally free form version of the design, it’s a lot easier to remember the steps to keep the design working smoothly.

Instructions for Linking Up Your Blog:

1. Write your blog post. Publish it on your blog.

2. Copy the link of the specific blog post. This is not just the link to your blog itself (www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com), but the link to the specific post: https://freemotionproject.com/2012/01/quilt-along-2-quilting-in-rows.html

3. Click the blue link up button above and paste your link into the box.

Keep in mind that you’re posting your progress from LAST week on THIS week’s post. This way you have time to watch the lesson, play with the ideas, then post your progress to the next quilt along. I hope that makes sense!

Let’s go quilt!

Leah Day