39. Learn How to Quilt Universe Spiral, Design #396

Are you ready for some fireworks? It’s nearly the 4th of July, which is America’s Independence Day and I’m celebrating with this funky design:

free motion quilting | Leah Day

I used this more than a year ago to quilt the background of James’s little space wall hanging:

free motion quilting | Leah Day

It’s definitely a cute design and I think it could easily pair with hot fix crystals for a neat effect! Let’s see how it’s stitched in Express Your Love:

Difficulty LevelIntermediate.

Design Family – Branching.

Since I mentioned it in the video, here’s the link to pick up the printed quilt panel from Spoonflower. You only need 1 yard of fabric, and my favorite is the Cotton Poplin.

I also had a lot of issues with excess fabric in this section. Mostly this was down to the choice to use extremely puffy batting. I really need to sit down and do a batting test before basting a quilt because once it’s basted and the quilting started, you’re stuck!

Even with the batting causing issues, I’m super happy with how all the designs are combining on the surface. We’re going to continue learning new designs in this version, but next week also start constructing a brand new top. If you follow on facebook, you might have seen some glimpses of this version coming together already!

free motion quilting | Leah Day

That’s it for today. It’s nearly July 4th which means it’s time to relax, kick back by the pool, and grill out!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

7 Responses

  1. Reena says:

    thanks for the tutorial- I love your explanations and visual work- makes it easy peasy to try out. Also so happy to see you dealing with the puffy area- I have a quilt set aside that has some of this and I was hoping I could "quilt it out"! I'm a gonna try anyway… Thanks so much.

  2. Marcella B. says:

    What is the best way to free motion quilt a one piece painted quilt. The piece is quite large 4' x4'. I use a 1/4" Warm and Natural cotton batting. Your work is beautiful and I love watching you quilt.

  3. Leah Day says:

    Marcella – One of the tutorials this year was quilting over painting. You can find it here: http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2013/01/5-quilting-over-painted-fabric.html

  4. Nancy says:

    Where can I find the Hot Fix Crystals stitches you mentioned in this emailing? It sounds really interesting!
    Thanks,
    Nancy Kelly
    graphicgranny

  5. Kuhane says:

    I'm kinda lost! you are actually making 3 different quilts? , I'm sorry but I watched all the vids today hahah and I got a bit lost! beautiful work by the way, I might buy a sewing machine and start making my own quilts :D! thanks for the inspiration and for your great heart and soul! namaste.

  6. Leah Day says:

    Kuhane – I've actually made 3 different versions so far. This is an open quilt along – use the free pattern and whatever designs you like and make your own creation. I'm not spelling these out step by step, but using the design as a base we can all work with and use for experimenting and trying new techniques, colors, and designs!

    So yes, there are 3 different versions of the quilt now. By the end of the year I will likely have more than 5 in progress. I've already decided to extend this project beyond 2013 so feel free to jump in whenever you like!

    Cheers,

    Leah

  7. Lynne Casson says:

    Leah. Thank you for generously sharing your videos for quilting. I am a visual person and get great benefit from watching how it is done. I will try different designs now and advance from stippling. 🙂

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