Hmm…what would happen if I stitched Spiral Knots with straight lines? I’d end up with something like this funky Boxy Spiral Knots design!
When I first started quilting spirals, I’d always forget to leave space to get back out again and end up stuck in the center. This design takes what could be a mistake and turns it into an intentional design choice. Yes, it’s a bit messy, but it’s also wonderfully freeing to just overlap the lines and not worry about everything working out just perfect.
So like Spiral Knots, Boxy Spiral Knots is a great learning design. Instead of worrying about estimating your space and getting in and getting out, just worry about the first step – just stitch a simple square spiral.
When you’ve filled to the center of the spiral, pick a direction and stitch straight out. Easy peasy! See what I mean in this video:
Yeah, I’ve been missing my drop down of difficulty level and design type. Be sure to click the links to find similar designs! Difficulty Level – Super Beginner. This is super easy because there’s very little fuss with this design. Is there a perfect way to quilt it? Nope. Can you hide all your mistakes? Yep. So there’s nothing to worry about with this one!
Filler Family – Independent. This family of designs are all based on Stippling, but this design incorporates overlapping your quilting lines so don’t feel bad for stitching all over your boxy spirals – it’s absolutely necessary for this design.
Suggestions for Use – Just today I was tweeting with a quilter who is struggling to pick a design to get started quilting with. I’d say Boxy Spiral Knots is a great choice. Not only do you get a fantastic texture, you also can’t really mess this design up. It’s MEANT to look messy!
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.
