Monday, July 21, 2014

KISMIF 20--Sea Kelp

I know what you're thinking--Sea Kelp?  A free-motion quilting thread-path?  Are you nuts?  Yep, temporarily--or simply dealing with heat-exhaustion of some kind.  We've had several days of 100+ Fahrenheit degree temperatures and many weeks of 95+.   We went boating last weekend and although I covered my pasty-white body with sunscreen, I am sunburned!  So...I thought an aquatic-thread-path would be appropriate for today.  So...let's "Keep It Simple and Make It Fun" (KISMIF)!

As you can see, this Sea Kelp motif when done on sashing is actually very striking.

This is a customer's quilt which she named "Aquatic".  This was my first time seeing the folded-curve piecing technique, and she wanted custom quilting to preserve the 3-D effect this created.

She chose varigated thread for the black back-ground.  It really made the quilting stand out.  The Sea-Kelp motif is shown down the center sashing.
This quilting motif is really forgiving.  Unlike most vines, there is no need to mark a center line or arc.  Why?  Simply think of the gentle swaying motions of sea kelp in the surf, a gentle, yet un-predictable arc is all that is needed to create the swaying motion of the kelp.  Also, there is no need to re-peat the pattern at predictable lengths.  It's very free-form.  KISMIF!

For variety, even swirls can be added.  This motif looks great done in a specific area such as sashing, an edge-to-edge motif or even "driven off the seam" to fill specific areas.  I love doing quilt motifs "driven off the seam".  If you'd like me to share with you that technique in the future, just leave me a comment.

Now it's your turn to share!  What have you been working on this week?  I'd love to see any of your projects and blog posts relating to the home-arts!

Modern Tradition Quilts