I’ve done a few baby quilts with these flowers and it’s so fun to do…so I snapped a couple of close ups to show. Once I practiced a bit, quilting these flowers was even faster than stippling.
Disclaimer: When I first started my flowers looked like this:
Uh-huh…bad. Aaaaaand, as you can see…I left it. It adds "character".
But after a few bad ones they started to look like this:
It resembles a flower this time!
Here are some step by steps…it’s a little tricky to follow the thread but hopefully you’ll get the idea.
(camera in one hand + quilt in the other = fuzzy picture...sorry)
Basically you are making 2 figure 8 designs, then the last loop or petal, and you move onto the next flower. I drew it with pencil a few times before I tried it on a quilt…it obviously didn’t help as shown by the bad flower picture up there…but with a little practice they now look semi-good. Try it!
Kat
Super cute! And gives me hope about learning curves :-)
Die Fischerin
Wow, i love it
claudia
Nature doesn't have perfect flowers...or should I say natures flowers ARE perfect and yours all look just like natures!
What you call "BAD" are actually just character.
Jennifer Scantlebury Vienneau
Very cute! Thanks for sharing!
Mae
Thank you for this blog. I am just beginning fmq and live your statement that"bad ones" add character
Deborah Hamilton
Those are very pretty flowers. Thanks for the tips.
Elaine M
Thank you for showing the steps. Great pictures. I've been wanting to try something new. Fun!
Kristan
How cool! I recently did this same quilting in the borders of a table runner, and I had the same "bad flower(s)" at the beginning. http://www.flickr.com/photos/doodledodesigns/8580545989/in/photostream
auntreeniequilts
thanks for posting this, i will try it. really trying to get out of stippleland.
Erica
Thanks for sharing this. I have tried flowers a couple of times but have had to pick them out because they looked much worse than your "bad" example :) I did mine a little differently though and this looks much easier.
Also, I just saw your new fabric line on Windham's website. It is GORGEOUS and I can't wait to get my hands on some :)
jennifer
Fun! I don't think I've tried flowers yet, but I have done stars in my quilting. I'll have to remember to try this on my next one.
Allison Hazel
They are great. Thank you for showing. Is it hand or machine sewn?
Johanna
Figure 8s, that will work better than the way I was trying! I need to practice that. I am stuck quilting these darn straight lines! I was going to practice FMQ at least once a week when I got my new machine, that was a year and a half ago!
Happy Cottage Quilter
I love making these flowers, especially for baby girl quilts.
Linda
HI! I like it! I'm going to try it too! Something about the '8' loop makes FM easier;probably because we've made so many '8's' in math.
THANKS ♥
msstitcher1948@yahoo.com
Linda
Hi! Me again! I just saw your new fabric line on Windham>WOW! Know it will do well!
msstitcher1948@yahoo.com
Schulz Family
I love the flowers and the details there are so good that I think I could do it. I would have made the flowers a different way but your way has a much better flow. thanks
ThirdMargaret
That's a darling way to quilt; I will give it a try. Thank you for the how-to!
CaroleM
Super cute!! Nicely done!
grapes and hearts
Looks great! Thanks for sharing, I'm surely going to try this soon!
Jennifer
Thanks for sharing! I have only just started free motion quilting and always looking for new designs.
✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾
I'm going to try it! What size quilt have you done it on? I get nervous fmqing anything bigger than a toddler quilt.
Erin Quinn
Thanks so much for showing htis. When it's broken down, it's not as daunting. I'm about to strat my first ever attempt at FMQ and am completely scared. But I can draw a flower!! So surely I can sew one! :-)
E xx
Jocelyn
Your quilting is so pretty. I've tried to stipple & all I get is a pointy mess of uneven stitch lengths. Very discouraging & stressful, I must say.
Erica
Thank you for the explanation and for taking the time to take photos - it helps a ton! Your quilting looks great.
Angela T
Even bad flowers are pretty. Thanks for sharing.
Myra
Very nice! And thanks for showing how to do it! I'm gonna have to try those someday. :)
cambric cotton, pins and needles
As in nature not every flower is perfect but they are all beautiful. Lovely, thanks for sharing
Handmade by Hanki
Bad or good flowers they are all lovely! I have to try this!
Kate
I like it! One to keep for a future quilt I think :-)
Chris S
LOVE this!!!
Franziska
Feel hugged! I'd love to try those, too. And I'm so happy you did a brief tutorial. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
mareshavefun
Trust me, my "bad" flower would make your "bad" flower, look like something I want to aspire to ;-)Thanks for the tutorial.
Erica at Sew So Crafty
I've been dying to try flower quilting but have shied away from it ... now you've given me a bit of courage! Thanks ... and love your blog!
Rhona
Thanks for the little tutorial, that makes sense to me and it's one I'll certainly give a try. Looks like it might be a bit less time consuming than all over crazy stitching ;)
Cindy
This is really cute- thanks for sharing! Always nice to have new designs to try!
trish
Your flowers are adorable and this is a fabulous tutorial. I was curious, do you use the same sewing machine that you sew on? The "neck" on my Janome is on the shorter side. Trish
Wanda
These are very cute. I'm going to try them soon. Thanks for showing, fuzzy photo and all. I actually thought the photos were easy to look at and follow.
Kelly O.
this is super cute! going to try it today!
Grandmasewnsew
Thank you for making it look easy and giving me a reason to try these- very cute. I'm impressed by your even stitches!
CurlyGirlMom
Thanks for sharing your method. I will definitely have to practice doing this before committing to it on a large quilt. I've always been leery of those curvy lines before. Your little lesson gives me hope that I might be able to duplicate it. :) Thanks again!
kathy-o
Super cute! You do such a nice job on your domestic machine. Nice even stitches....darling!
Ruth S.
Thanks for sharing how you made these adorable flowers. I will have to try them.
Michele
All it took was a little practice. I'll have to try this one as soon as I get my new-to-me long arm set up in my studio.
Judy Deal
Love it! Thanks!
Floss
Very cute, I think I may be able to do them.
nclauri
I had to laugh at your post! I tried these flowers after watching Leah Day and must say my flowers were very similar to your bad flowers!! Thanks for reminding me of this quilting design I am going to practice it.
Beth
Love seeing the first flowers and know that with practice they do get better. No way to improve but to do it on a quilt. Love that design!
Denise Russell
I am so glad I am not the only one who leaves the 'practice' flowers or whatever on the quilt! Yours look wonderful!!!
Rebecca Grace
You know, I've seen a couple variations of meandering flower quilting designs, but I like yours the best! They are like lazy daisies. I'm definitely going to try this one! Thanks for sharing. Oh, and BTW, if I unpicked all of my "learning curve" quilting, I'd never get anything finished -- AND I would probably be so discouraged and frustrated that I would just give up and crawl into a hole! I'm all for character! :-)
Marie
I love this! I've only done stippling and I think I'll try this next. Getting tired of those squiggles.
Rita
Those fresh flowers look great! You should give yourself a pat on the back :)
*~TNH~*
Just curious but I'm a beginner quilter. I've read your blog front to back and over again. I love it. Do you have tips to pass along to a beginner you wish that you knew ahead of time?
Debbie
nice! Thanks for sharing!
Shannon
Thanks for the tute on the flower quilting. I was just thinking I wanted to do something like this on a quilt! Now if only I could remember which quilt!...
Christine Welsh
Very nicely done! Yes...the wonky flowers add character! Ask me how I know! LOL
Christine
- ChrisW Designs
Anna and Sarah
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Allison you did it again!!!! We found your fabric and your new patterns on Windham fabrics. We love you! Can't wait for the blog posts about them! You've been busy <3
quackadoodlequilt.blogspot.com
Anna and Sarah
junacreationsuk.blogspot.co.uk
I tried out flowers before and they didn't look great, but I like the idea of the figure of eight, it may be an easier way.... I think I'll give it a try when I get home. Thanks for the tip.
queridocrochet
Lovely! I will do it!!! Thanks :-)