Quilt Along #31 – Get Flowing with Lava Paisley

It’s time for the Free Motion Quilt Along and this week we’re moving on with more Pivoting Designs!  Last week we took a look at Paisley, so this week let’s take that same tear drop shaped design and make it super wiggly and wobbly like this:

 I’m calling this design Lava Paisley, but Josh liked the name “Sperm Count” a bit better.  I didn’t think that would be something many people would want to stitch on their quilts, though I can admit I can see the resemblance.  Now let’s get our minds out of the gutter with the video tutorial!

Free Motion Quilting Settings and Tools

1. I don’t drop my feed dogs or use any special “free motion” setting on my machine.
2. Instead I dial down the stitch length on my machine to 0.  Note: I sometimes forget to do this but it doesn’t hurt anything because my free motion foot sits high enough that the feed dogs don’t impact my quilts at all.
3. On my hands I use Machingers Quilting Gloves to grip and move the quilt and maintain more control over my stitches.
4. Under the quilt is Free Motion Glider, a slippery sheet that helps the quilt move more easily over the surface of the machine.
5. Inside the bobbin case I have Bobbin Washer which helps the bobbin spin more evenly and results in fewer thread breaks and birds nests.
6. Speaking of thread, I stick with one type, one brand, one color in both the top and bobbin of the machine at all times.  For this video I was using Isacord Silky White.

All of these tools and materials improve the quilting setup in small ways.  Combined together they make an enormous difference!  Even now after years of quilting, I really can’t quilt as well without these tools.

Now let’s get back to Lava Paisley on the Batik Beauty Quilt.  You can see the different textures these Pivoting designs create:

When it comes to quilting Lava Paisley, the rules are very simple: stitch super wiggly tear drop shape.  Pivot and echo this shape as many times as you like.  Branch out in another direction with a new wiggly tear drop and surround it with echoes as well.

The tricky part with quilting pivoting designs is getting them to fit consistently within your quilt.  Often in the video you saw me travel stitch into new areas, or around previous shapes, before branching out with a new tear drop.

Don’t worry if you can’t visualize the design and how it will best fit in your space right this second.  Just stitch it and play with it wherever you want to use it and understand that the more you use a particular design, the more you will understand how it works and where it will fit best.

Let’s go Quilt!

Leah Day