Hearts, Flowers, and Swirls - quilt finished!

Just a quick picture with my pocket camera, so I could show you how it came out. For quilting, I ended up stippling the background of the smaller hearts, and using multicolor thread to quilt swirls on the striped border. Now off to finish the pattern.

Hearts, Flowers and Swirls - quilting progress

Just a few quick pics to show you the quilting I'm doing....

I decided I wanted the hearts to have feathers around the edges, but it needed more... I tried just stitching just inside the edge, but it wasn't enough, so tried a row of loops, and really like them! There was too much open space left in the center, so I decided to use leaves to fill up the space. They're a bit irregular and wonky, but this is a FUN quilt, designed to be fun and easy, not precise! I'm really trying not to quilt as close as I usually do, because this is a lap quilt, and I want it to drape over the person using it.

For the swirls, I stitched twice near the edge, in a kind of sketch-like way, and began the flowers in a similar way, but added a couple more rows inside the petals, and a swirl for the centers. The background fabric design looks like tendrils found on some climbing plants, so I decided to use a larger version to quilt with, but didn't want it to stand out too much, so it may be more difficult to see.

Once the background is complete, I'm thinking of stitching in the ditch, between the decorative (loose) dark pink flap, and the striped border, and then maybe I'll use transparent thread to quilt over the stripes, so as not to detract from the piecing.

Hearts, Flowers and Swirls

pattern is coming soon! It's a fun, colorful quilt designed to be quick and easy with a one piece background, simple strip piecing and fusible applique. (I wish I knew how to add that little accent mark on top of the "e" in "applique", but can't seem to find how to do it with blogger.)

I've been using Misty Fuse lately, and although it does take a step or two more than using the paper backed fusible web (I've been experimenting different ways to use it), the designs don't need to be reversed before tracing, and I do love the way I can layer appliques without them getting too stiff.