Day 195 – Pebble Maze

We’re back for another More Fillers Monday! I don’t know about you, but I’m craving a really complicated design with loads of circles.

And whenever I start thinking of circles, I start thinking of Pebbling! Here’s a combo of pebbling and closed spirals to make a Pebble Maze:

Whoa! What a wonderfully productive weekend! I got loads of work done, finished the Beginner Filler Quilt (yes, it still needs a name) and started working on a special area of the site that will accompany the DVD.

Today I’m working on the DVD covers and the intros to both discs. The hard thing about the intros is knowing what to say about anything extra I add to the end of the discs or the special area of the site, both of which are not yet complete.

One side of me wants all that stuff done first, but in truth, it really should be done today while James is in preschool. Grrr! In a perfect world this would not be so complicated!

So while I run off to plan and hopefully shoot these intro videos, you sit back and enjoy learning how to stitch Pebble Maze:

Inspiration – I’ve been wanting to capture this type of design for a long time, but every time I sketched it, I’d get stuck somewhere in the design and not be able to keep it continuous.

It’s funny how designing like this works. You’ll get stuck on a problem for a long time then suddenly an “Ah HA!” moment happens and everything clicks and the design suddenly works.

Difficulty Level – Advanced. This is a tricky design that is stitched in 2 parts. First you start with the pebbled area, then fill the open spaces with closed spirals or echos.

The tricky part really comes from the large amount of travel stitching and planning that goes into this design. If you have to, mark the initial pebbled pathway all around your space, then fill as you go. It’s not too difficult if you take your time!

Design Family – Foundational. The foundation is the pebbled pathway that is then filled with the spiral shape. This design can go anywhere in your quilt so long as the pebbled area fits inside it.

Directional Texture – No Direction. This is a highly textured, extremely attention getting design, but pebbling really doesn’t have a direction. It’s very flat, but also graphic, so make sure to place it where you want it noticed!

Suggestions for Use – I’m starting to see Pebbling in more quilts and I think it’s an absolutely lovely design.

But it’s also very time consuming. Next time try Pebble Maze instead of Pebbling and see if this design moves a bit faster, but still provides a lovely, organic texture.

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