Today I'm going to show some of my choices for free motion quilting. Before I did the free motion quilting I had pin basted the three layers (top, batting and back), couched the major shapes and straight stitched inside the major shapes to divide the area up. Below you see it with the pin basting done and couching in progress.
After this step was done it's time for creative free motion quilting!
Thread color choices:
A few years ago I bought some Superior Super Bright threads. They almost have a fluorescent appearance and I love them for areas that need to stand out. These are what I used almost exclusively on this piece. The bright color against the black background was necessary for the image to been seen from a distance. I found many other light and medium values did not stand out enough when I looked at it from a few feet away.
I had created a color plan and intended to use this as a guide for my stitching. I tested out two choices and preferred the one on the left, below. I deviated from this plan because I found that lavender and other purple colors did not stand out enough on the black background.
Below I show my criteria for free motion quilting stitch choices:
1) Choose a design that fits in the space well or adds a direction for eye movement:
I did this on the leaves. I wanted them to read like leaves, so I stitched directionally away from the center leaf vein. It also helped to give shape to the leaf.
2) Choose some designs because they are tighter and add more color:
Stitch patterns in the flower petals were done in a more dense fashion to make sure the color showed from a distance. I chose stitch patterns that are good fillers.
3) Choose some because they are fun!
I really like the alfalfa sprout-like stitch that I used on the head and on the front most petal. That is just a fun shape to me!
I'll be showing the background stitching in an upcoming post. Meanwhile, thanks for visiting my blog!
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