Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Squiggly Circle/Zig Zag Swirl

A few gals asked me about the free motion quilting I did on the Stained quilt I just shared with you.
I'm calling it the "Zig Zag Swirl."  Better than circly thingy.
Anyway, there a bad video that I shot that will give you an idea of what the movement looks like.  (Don't mind that I had to keep picking up the foot to go over the fabric.  My son glued some fabric in place for a pillow for my mother, so I was keeping it down with the quilting.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SYDkWeTa0Q 

Also, here are a few tips for you if you'd like to try it on your own:

You'll want to start from the center and work your way out.  Determine how big you want your circles and how small/tight or large/loose you want your zig zag to be.  Mine was less of a zig zag, more like a squiggle.  Okay, maybe I should call it the "Squiggly Circle."

Zig zag swirl quilting

If you get pinned into a corner like the one pictured below, you'll want to make sure that you make the circle the same size as the rest, so move your starting point closer to the edge, even though it will be cut off.  Go around until you can't go full circle any more.  Then you'll bring it to the side (where the pencil is pointing) and bring it down a bit, the same amount that it would be if you had gone around the whole way.  You want to keep the illusion that it's the same size circle.  Do that on the sides until you've filled in your space.

Zig zag swirl quilting

 Sometimes you'll only have to do that once, like in this pic. Zig zag swirl quilting

Hope you like it and let me see, please, if you use this. I'd love to know! xo

2 comments:

  1. Looks like fun! Thanks for the inspiration

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  2. I think you should call it the topographic swirl. :)

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