3. Echo Edge Stitching, design #381
Now that we’ve stitched some beautiful words and expanded them with echoing, let’s tackle another foundational design. This time let’s find a foundation within a line of the quilt, then echo off it to fill the space completely. I’m calling this Foundational Design Echo Edge Stitching and here’s how it looks in the Earth sections of the quilt:
When it comes to picking your foundation, really ANY line can serve this purpose. Take a look at the quilt surface and see if there’s any lines or shapes that you like a lot. Pick that as your foundation and echo it many times with repeated lines of quilting to fill the space completely.
Let’s see how this works in the Express Your Love quilt:
Difficulty Level – Beginner.
Design Family – Foundational.
As you heard in the video, I’m not going to stick with Foundational Designs for an entire month as I’d planned because the fact is, this isn’t how I work in real life! When designing a quilt, I sit down and think about texture and what I want to see on the quilt surface.
I hardly ever stitch even 2 designs from the same family in the same quilt. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just not what I do! So I’m going to begin sharing designs as they come to me, as they flow onto my design pages, and as I pick and choose which textures to stick in the quilt in any particular place.
Now a lot of quilters have mentioned struggling to print out the free PDF pattern for Express Your Love. I’ve included some extra printing instructions on the download page and here’s some extra tips:
#1 – Download an updated version of Adobe Reader. Older version will not be able to handle printing a poster sized PDF.
#2 – Open the PDF and click “print.” A box will pop up and you want to look for “poster” or “tile pages”
#3 – You’ll know you have it right if you see the full image of the quilt split into 12 pieces
I hope that helps! If there is interest, I can check into getting large, poster sized patterns printed. Let me know in the comments if you would like to be able to buy the complete pattern in one big sheet for around $7.
Let’s go quilt,
Leah
I'm excited to try this on my quilt! It is basted and mostly ready to go (I need to do all the outlines still.) So maybe tonight I'll have enough time to fill in the world- really get started on the quilting, even if just a tiny piece.
Thank you so much for sharing with us! (Though I feel badly that your sharing EYL with us means you don't have time for your own projects. I hope Duchess Reigns doesn't have to stay on the back burner forever. That makes me sad.)
No Worries Jessim! Begin able to work on Express Your Love is actually almost as good, if not better than working on Duchess Reigns because I'm pushing my edge with her. Just being able to share a goddess feels so "right" you know what I mean? And no, Duchess won't be off the tables for long. Just until I'm about to get through these extra projects and get my head above water again!
I am in the same place as jasmine. I hope to have the edge stitching done and be ready to start my words tomorrow. Thank you Leah for the great video.
I've just pulled my fabrics to stitch the Goddess pattern on. I hope to catch up with you and start practicing these new techniques by the weekend. Glad I'm not the only one catching up 🙂
Thanks Leah for yet another great project. I've used different words though. The words you've used seem a bit personal. It did not feel right for me, so I choose another set of positive words: "Try and fail, but do not fail to try" . It looks good in my opinion, even the echo edge stitching in the world part of the quilt does not look to bad for my first time using this. I really enjoy this!!
yes, i am interested in a pattern…adobe up to date and no luck. I love the design and would like to participate. I'm new to this blog and finding it a gigantic resource – many thanks!
I haven't started this project, but I'm thinking about how I'm going to quilt a project I have that I want to do soon. So I find how you explain how you make decisions on which patterns to do where very helpful.
Leah, do I detect an upgrade with your video technique? I really liked how the narration portions had you shot against a solid black background with the Spoonflower cheater cloth version in view. Very classy!
Perhaps one day you would be willing to share what you do to create a video. What equipment? Lighting? Cutting the finished projects?
Gwyned – Yep, I purchased a second camera in December so I could shoot from 2 angles at once at the same time. It's making editing a bit trickier, but it's far easier to shoot and share at the same time. I'll definitely put together a video tutorial on making video tutorials sometime this spring or summer.
Leah, How do you get your design onto black fabric?
Leah, I just came across your newsletter on "Express Your Love" quilt. I am new to this, and I would like to know, once I print the pages how do I transfer the design from printed paper to the black cloth? Do I need to prewash the yard of the black cloth before working on it? Is the entire piece going to be painted?
I am anxious to start, but am at a standstill. Your help will me greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Linda
Leah, I would be interested in a pattern for this FMQ project.
Enjoyed what I've done so far, ready to attempt some free motion in the rays.. Not sure how to post a picture.
I'm working along slowly but having fun doing it. Next attempt will be in between the rays.