Custom Quilting a Quiltworx Bali Wedding Star Quilt

Quiltworx quilts can be a complicated business.  But this one is not much more complicated than an original wedding ring quilt.  When dealing with these quilts I like to use my Quilters Block Checklist, if you're interested in this FREE little tool to help inspire ideas for custom quilting you can find that here:

Quilter's Block Checklist

You can also find the full YouTube video here:

YouTube Video

Back to my story, I looked at this Bali Wedding Star table topper and what inspired me most, which is no surprise was the negative space.  I also knew that I was going to be quilting some traditional bumpback feathers, they suit this style of quilt, and Marg (the maker) and I were still getting to know each other.  Another technique that comes as no surprise to anyone who has been reading or watching me for a while, is that I was going to use some ruler quilting to help separate the free-motion designs. 

With this basic idea in my mind, my plan came together quite quickly and I jumped straight into marking.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the markings but all I marked were the stems of the curvy feathers and an outline along the outside of the quilt to keep my feathers contained and uncompromised when the binding was added on later.  You can see that line here:

Doing these curvy feathers within the 'ring' part of the quilt helped me avoid endless stitching-in-the-ditch.  Ditch stitching is difficult on paper-pieced quilts (which this is).  This is because the seams go every which way.  I think this is why Quiltworx pushes people to use busy batik fabrics, to hide any shadowing from darker fabrics.  Anyhow I still had a whole bunch of SITD to do.  

I like how the feather motif and the curvy feathers complement each other.  Notice the double outline separating the free-motion from each other.  I decided not to fill in the background anymore because I thought it would be a little too distracting from the pretty feathers. 

I decided to make a LONG VERSION of this video this week to accompany the shorter more edited version.  This wasn't a very large table topper so it only took me about 3 hours or so to quilt.  I have been playing with the idea of doing voiceovers for the long videos giving design insight in real time as to why I'm making the decisions I do.  Kind of like Stitched By Susan's reality quilting show, but for custom quilting.  I wouldn't be able to offer these videos on YouTube, but I could set up a membership situation and have a Q&A section.  It would probably run about $15-$20 a month.  Let me know in the YouTube comments if this is something I should pursue, or let me know if this isn't up your alley. 

I used my charming ruler a lot on this quilt.  This ruler is by Silly Moon Quilt Co.  If you want this ruler use my code for 10% off.  creativecurve2024

I like the simplicity of this quilt, it isn't all crowded in with pebbles or overly complicated.  It's a good solid design.  Here in the next photo, you can see how I did pay attention to how my curvy feathers were flowing.  I spent quite a lot of time getting the stems curving in a pleasing direction.  

As I said above, although this isn't the most ornate Bali Wedding Star Quilt that I've ever quilted I truly love this clean feathery execution. 

Thanks for reading, watching, commenting, and sharing.  I truly appreciate your support and look forward to the next one.