Day 288 – Star Flower

Here’s a design I can’t wait to share with you! Sitting at the kitchen table, I often doodle and draw, coming up with new designs. Last winter I created this design after a snow. I kept drawing star shapes until this Star Flower came together:

For some reason this looks very seasonal to me, but maybe I’m biased because I designed it in December. I wonder how this would look stitched on an ornament or a holiday quilt?

Today’s design is sponsored by my DVD Free Motion Basics for Beginners. 

Difficulty Level – Beginner. This is surprisingly easy to stitch! First just start with a + shape, then an x shape on top to create a very simple star. Now all you have to do is stitch around this star with flame petals, then echo around until it’s as big as you like.

Oooo! This would look really cute on a smaller scale in a row! Must try that next!
Design Family – Center Fill. Most flower designs start in the center of your quilting space, then radiate out. It’s a bit different from most free motion designs and because of it, these designs work best in open areas where they can really branch out and show off.

Directional Texture – Center Focused. Flower designs always attract attention. They’re fun, pretty and can make your quilt stand out of the crowd.

Suggestions for Use – Like I said before, this design is making me think of Christmas in June! We might as well get a head start on our holiday quilts and gifts, so try stitching Star Flower in a simple block, then trim the block into a circle to create a pretty ornament or coaster.

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.

8 Responses

  1. Jacquie says:

    I think this would like really pretty quilted on a nice red fabric for a holiday cushion or on a few to toss on the beds at Christmas time. Love the design.

    Jacq

  2. Rachel says:

    It definitely looks seasonal, it looks just like a poinsetta, which are BIG christmassy plants here in Oz.

  3. Kari Nitzel says:

    Its funny that you mention it looking holidayish, because I thought 'what a pretty poinsettia' when I saw the picture before reading your post. I'm going to have to try it. Thanks for the inspiration!

  4. Judy says:

    What a great design! I thought Christmas quilt when I saw it, but you could slightly modify the center to work with a different flower. Thanks for the inspiration!

  5. VickiT says:

    What a beautiful design. I really love your videos because you've removed the machine sound making your voice stand out so nicely. Great job.

  6. Leah, beautiful design. You have inspired me to branch out from plain stippling. Now I have 4-5 designs I'm comfortable with and looking to do your pumpkin patch next. Question though… What is your needle tension for fmq on your Juki? I have one too and it is so diff from the Usual 0-9

  7. Leah Day says:

    Tulip Patch – On my juki I literally had to adjust every single day. While most of the time, the tension stayed in the middle, I did have to do a bit of adjusting every day to get the quilting to look perfect. Just keep working with it!

    Cheers,

    Leah

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