Sunflower Illusion by Quiltworx

Thank you so much to Marg for sending me this gorgeous quiltworx quilt top.  I love the contrast of the jewel-tone purples and sunshine yellows.  The colour is the first thing that I noticed about the top and I wanted to let that inspire me. 

Check out the YouTube Video

I knew that I wanted to use a contrasting thread on this quilt top but I also didn't want to get too wild as I wanted to add to the quilt, not try and overtake it.  My original design was a curving feather around the border.

But after I had the quilt mounted I realized that the fabrics were just a little too busy and I needed to simplify the design a bit to stay within the border so I could keep track of where my stitches were landing. 

I incorporated a pearl chain into the feather spine and added piano keys around the outside to aid in squaring up and binding. 

In the video, you will notice I used a ruler to try and create more even spacing for my feather spine.  It was reasonably successful but took a lot of extra time.  I'm a bit of a stickler with my spacing and like to get it right.  When I freehand such a long spine I struggle to keep my lines perfectly parallel, that's why I use a ruler.  If you ever try this give freehand a go first and see if you are steady enough.

  I like this border and will give it a try again in a future quilt. 

As for the paper-pieced blocks, here is where I brought in some fun thread!  I simply continued the circle shape (which I do a lot on these style quilts) and added some minor details.  I brought a couple of feathers and a pearl chain into the block to make the quilting design cohesive with the border. 

I love how pretty the yellow thread looks on the purple!  I stitched everything in the ditch to make the seams lay down and filled the background with a swirl filler.  I think this filler was named by Leah Day as cucumber vine (which sounds cooler than swirl filler).  

If you haven't tried this filler design before it's a great one for working into nooks and crannies (like the places we find on quiltworx quilts).  Just remember to curl one way and then curl the other way, doesn't matter what size just go the opposite direction, otherwise, your design starts to look weird and not as organic as it's supposed to be. 

This design might be one of the simpler Quiltworx designs but I find it quite striking.  I've quilted many before but I  really enjoyed this particular colourway.

Now for a short plug! 

I am finished editing the videos for my Modern Quilting with Rulers course!  I've even got it all loaded up onto the website!  I'm working on some graphics and downloads to accompany the course videos but I am finally going to put a launch date of.... about a month on this thing!  I have been editing this course for a YEAR!  It is huge.  There are 7 hours of awesome video instruction that cover piano keys for beginners to ghost quilting.  I show you how to mark 20 fresh fun quilt blocks and 8 borders using straight rulers, round rulers, and curved rulers.   The 77 videos are short and can be watched in 15 minutes or less.  You can buy a panel to quilt along or draw out some quilting spaces on an old sheet for practice.  Or you can just watch and take the ideas to your own projects.  This course will be 'watch at your own pace' and available to you forever (so you can watch it again and again).  Make sure you are on the email list for a special launch price 

Get on the Email list HERE