33. Learn how to Quilt Ribbon Stage, Design #390
Well, it’s officially the last day of school! This week has been super busy and filled with running around in all directions, but after today all that will be done and *gasp* I can finally let out the breath I’ve been holding all week and relax.
In the spirit of relaxing, lets learn a new design that’s sure to create a soothing texture on the surface of your quilts. This is called Ribbon Stage:
This is basically a variation of Desert Sand with only the small additional rule to hit the points as you quilt through the space. Hitting the same spot repeatedly builds texture and creates an interesting extra effect on the surface. This particular combination of flowing lines made me think of the ribbon stage you look for when making hard candy.
But it’s still super easy to quilt because you can basically bounce from point to point. Check out the video to see what I mean:
Difficulty Level – Intermediate.
Design Family – Foundational.
As you can see I used Ribbon Stage in the water section of Express Your Love, but where do you plan to use it? This simple foundational design will work in just about any area. So long as you set your foundation first, echoing and hitting points repeatedly is all you have to do to fully fill the space.
Now with it being the last day of school, I’d better take advantage of the last quiet day to quilt. I’m thinking it’s high time I jump on my Bernina and do some piecing. I crave piecing only about twice a year, but it’s an urge I’ve learned not to ignore!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah
Omg, that photo nearly took my breath away. Just gorgeous!!!
Hi Leah I am such a fan of yours from a long time ago but I am still having problems with making circles little ones or big ones, I just cannot keep them consistent they are wobbilie and just not circles at all. Do you have any tips for me. Yes I am practicing these but I may get a good one and then 8 wobbilie ones…help please
Sharon – Circles can definitely be hard to master, especially if they are tough for you to draw freehand too. Try this: mark 50 circles on a quilt and quilt them all by following the marked line. Much like learning to draw by tracing, learning to quilt these shapes by tracing a marked line will help you gain some muscle memory for the shape. I can't promise you will be perfect at quilting circles after 50 – you might need more practice, but it's definitely how I would get started!