Day 185 – Starfish

Yay! It’s Totally Filler Tuesday and let’s learn how to quilt another awesome new design.

I realized recently that of all the shapes I play with a lot: spirals, teardrops, circles, and hearts, I use stars the least.

So let’s start experimenting with this fun, angular shape! Here’s Starfish:

I suddenly realized yesterday that NEXT WEEK is North Carolina Quilt Symposium! Whoo Hoo!

I’ve been ready for this retreat since January and I’m getting really excited at the prospect of taking 3 days to attend classes and do nothing but quilt, eat, and sleep.

But this also means I need to get my act together! There’s so much to do: getting materials together for the classes I’m taking, packing, and maybe sewing a new skirt to wear while I’m there.

Just in case you missed registration for NCQS, don’t worry! You can still attend the Day of Fun, attend the quilt show, vendor mall and 1 hour lecture for just $25.

And speaking of retreats, if you’re looking for a fun one to attend next year, consider Myrtle Beach Quilt Party in January 2011. I’ve heard great things about it every year and this coming year I’ll hopefully be teaching classes myself!

Inspiration – We actually have several real starfish in Josh’s fish tanks, and as I was walking by the other day I looked in and thought “that could make a good free motion design” and off I went to stitch it.

Difficulty Level – Intermediate. This is a finicky little design when stitched small, but I think it will work much easier and prettier when stitched on a bigger scale.

Design Family – Echoing. This is a design that’s created by first stitching the shape: a star, then traveling a short distance away and surrounding the whole shape with 1 line of echo stitching.

In this design I surrounded the stars with only 1 wiggly, curving line, but you could easily change this design by stitching multiple wiggly echoes.

Directional Texture – All directions. The stars really produce a very interesting texture with their sharp angles and straight lines next to their wiggly echoes.

Suggestions for Use – This strikes me as a perfect design for a kid quilt! It’s fun shapes and produces an interesting texture great for boys or girls.

Chances are you’ve drawn star shapes like these before, so this should stitch up pretty fast once you get the hang of it.

Back of Starfish
Feel free to use this free motion filler designs in your quilts,