Free-Motion Square Motif from Shape by Shape, Collection 2
Posted by Angela Walters on May 19th 2017
This design, from my book Shape by Shape, Collection 2, is all about the echoing, making it a really forgiving design. When in doubt, just add more echo lines. The dense quilting is perfect for drawing your eyes to the blocks you want to highlight. It doesn't matter if you are quilting larger or smaller blocks; this design works well in both.
1. Starting from any corner of the block, quilt an elongated swirl that ends toward the center of the block. Echo back to the starting point. I tend to make my swirls look like a question mark.
2. At the bottom of the swirl, quilt a paisley shape and echo around it once or twice.
TIP: To make the paisley petals fit the area, quilt them so that they are “merging”into the swirl.
3. Continue working your way around the swirl, quilting paisleys and echoing until you get to the center of the swirl.
4. Echo along the swirl, returning close to the starting point. This allows you to quickly and easily move on to the next block.
TIP: Remember, the answer is almost always echoing. If the design doesn’t fill the area as much as you want or if you find yourself stuck, just echo around the petals.
VARIATION
Quilt the design in smaller blocks,rotating the placement, to create a repetitive look.
Try quilting the pattern in a set of adjacent blocks.
