Tuesday, July 15, 2014

KISMIF 19--FMQ Ballet Shoes

Hello, welcome to my weekly linky party where I share with you a new free-motion quilt (FMQ) quilt path.  When it comes to FMQ, my motto is "Keep It Simple and Make It Fun" (KISMIF).

Today, I"d like to share with you some ballet shoes.

Yes, i know this looks complicated, but it really is deceptively simple.  Can you draw a kidney bean?  How about an oval?  If you can do that, then yes, you can quilt a ballet shoe!

I did this on a customer's quilt a while back.  She wanted red thread so the ballet shoe would stand out.

Here is the customer's quilt.

She had a lot of hand embroidery on this quilt and chose a simple back-ground filler to not detract from the embroidery--the leaves compliment it nicely.
So...how do we make a ballet flat?

STEP ONE: Thread-line in and make a kidney bean shape.
STEP TWO: Make the foot hole inside the kidney bean.
STEP THREE: Be creative here, do some ribbon vines.
STEP FOUR: Make a loop and mirror image the ballet shoe.  Do a  back-wards kidney bean, then fill with the foot opening.  Then ribbon away to your heart's desire.  KISMIF!

Note, this is an advanced thread-path.  I had to sketch it over and over for an hour before I dared do it on an actual quilt!  However, it turns out cute and fabulous!

Now it's your turn, what have you been working on this week?  Please feel free to share anything from the home arts.  Also, share the love--take the time to comment on some of these other awesome blogs!  :)

Modern Tradition Quilts