It rolls around every October...International Quilt Market! I usually go with my daughter, Bonnie Christine, to both fall and spring markets, but I'm sitting this one out because Bonnie has a new baby girl! That aside, we (Bonnie, Sarah and I) still made lots of projects with her new fabric line, Forest Floor, for her booth with Art Gallery Fabrics. It will begin shipping in January, and I think it just might be my favorite line yet! I thought I'd share the quilt I made with you today. I've named it Forest Floor Path, and I'll release the pattern to coincide with the fabric launch, which I'll post here at that time, in case you're inclined to make your own!
At about 50" x 65", it's perfect for the sofa or chair!
The piecing was easy as pie, and the design left lots of negative space for quilting. It stitched together quickly and it was on the longarm after just a couple of days at my sewing machine! Now the big question of how to quilt loomed overhead. In usual mode, I made several printouts of the quilt and went to town drawing various free-motion quilting designs on them. This gave me a good start, but I always change things when I'm actually at my HandiQuilter.
The blocks were fairly easy to quilt with a geometric design in the plain corner patches and a grid in the cross. I discovered that the 4" HandiQuilter circle ruler fit in the center of the block, and the largest one fit around the outside of the 9" square. So the design just naturally grew from the way my rulers worked with the blocks. Sometimes quilting just happens, one design at a time!
While the circle didn't fit over the block, the 2" line fit perfectly on each side of the block. I quilted all four sides independently with the ruler and filled the arcs with circles and ribbons. Recently, HandiQuilter offered a new channel lock for their line-up of non-computerized machines. I can't tell you how much I love this option! It makes stitching straight horizontal or vertical lines and grids a breeze!
If you haven't tried quilting in negative space, I hope this encourages you to give it a try. Let it happen one design at a time and see what happens! Thanks for visiting! Happy sewing and God bless! Maxie
