Day 147 – Overlapping Petals

I hope ya’ll aren’t tired of all the variation designs I’ve been working through lately!

This variation uses a wobbly wiggly shape that reminds me of flower petals, hence the name: Overlapping Petals.

Today Josh and I had a wonderful date while James was in preschool. We drove to Gastonia, NC and went to one of the best places in the whole world: Mary Jo’s Cloth Store.

This is not just any fabric store. Seriously, the 100% cotton quilting section takes up almost half the store and they carry more batiks than any other store I’ve ever seen.

The problem with Mary Jo’s is not NOT finding the fabric you’re looking for, it’s finding 15 different possibilities and trying to choose just one!

When quilt friends come to visit I warn them to bring multiple fabric swatches and a very clear idea of what they’re looking for. It’s VERY easy to get overwhelmed with so much choice and selection.

But I’m not complaining! I picked up a nice variety of batiks in colors I’ve rarely used: light greens and pastel blues for my next quilt Shadow Self.

I’ve decided that I need to make this quilt first, then I will go back and restart My Cup Runneth Over. Or maybe I’ll work on both of them at the same time! There’s no rule that says I can’t.

So while I head off to start the prewashing process for all this new fabric, check out how to quilt Overlapping petals:

Inspiration – I really like playing with the wiggly “m” shape that I first used in Butterfly Wings and I find myself making any excuse to invent new designs that use it.

While I really like Boomerang, I think I like this variation the best so far.

Difficulty Level – Intermediate. This design can be a bit challenging to keep the shapes pivoting and moving consistently around without getting big and unwieldy.

Design Family – Stacking. This design is created by stacking the “m” shapes on top of one another and pivoting around in a swirling, inconsistent manner.

Because it’s so free form, you can really fit this right up against complicated quilting motifs with no problem at all.

Directional Texture – All Directions. This is a perfect design for creating loads of beautiful texture and movement to your quilt.

Suggestions for Use – Do you have a flowery applique quilt to work on? Try using Overlapping Petals to fill in the background areas around your applique shapes. It will fit in the areas beautifully and really make your flowers POP!