Day 77 – Elodea

This design is also featured in the DVD Beginner Free Motion Quilting Fillers, as well as the ebook From Daisy to Paisley.

Way back in college when I was stumbling through life as a haphazard biology major, I used to experiment on this freshwater seaweed called Elodea.

free motion quilting design elodea

In all honesty, I think the quilting design looks better than the real plant, but maybe I’m biased.

Of course, my college days have come back to haunt me! My husband recently set up a new fresh water tank in our bedroom and stocked it full of, you guessed it – Elodea plants!

Inspiration – When I saw the new plants go into the tank, I was reminded of Fern Filler, a design we learned way back on day 8.

I’m thinking there will be a lot more plant inspired designs in the coming weeks as they make terrific texture no matter where you place them!

Design Family – Stem Centered. With this design, you first create the stem, then branch out with long leaves to fill the rest of the space.

Because of how it’s created, I feel that this design will work great in any area of your quilt, especially if you’re wanting to cover a large amount of surface area very quickly.

Difficulty LevelIntermediate. The design itself is not terribly hard. The biggest challenge is maintaining an even distance and size to your leaves.

Directional Texture – All directions. The texture seems to fill from all different directions so make sure to place this where you want loads of movement.

Suggestions for Use – I could see this playing a beautiful role around appliqued flowers, almost like a trumpet vine. Come to think of it, Trumpet Vine would make a great filler too! Must go quilt it!

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.

4 Responses

  1. Ethne says:

    This is like looking down on a millapede – another great on Leah

  2. SewCalGal says:

    Another beautiful design. Thanks for sharing.

    SewCalGal
    http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

  3. Wendy says:

    Yep, I see lots of possiblities with this one… It looks like a vine that could have almost any shape leaf coming off it. Rounded, oval, pointy, etc.
    I love it!
    =-)

  4. Kim says:

    You have a great imagination….I love looking at these everyday. You did bamboo stalks how about bamboo leaves? and of course then there is a tons of different leaves to choose from after that :0).
    You make this look so easy Leah…..how many hours do you think you have practiced machine quilting?
    How large are these squares you show us everyday?

    Happy Sewing

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