This fall I have been exploring a variety of flower motifs. After finishing a rather challenging “Three Red Poppies” art quilt, I decided to experiment with a very contemporary garden quilt design using the reds and greens from the poppy quilt combined with an orange/pale green background batik. As I’m sure I’m mentioned in previous blogs, I get bored easily, and that includes making new but similar quilts of past designs. So I wanted to depart from the green/blue background motif for the red flowers which I had used in three previous quilts. This background batik certainly mixed it up!
I made very simple flowers, stems and green for the surrounding leaves.
To enhance this quilt beyond the ordinary, I did a few different free motion stitching designs. First for the sections of green I used two different designs, alternating on each flower. But the really fun stuff was stitching in the background above the red flowers, creating additional “flowers” on curvy stems, reaching out beyond the red pieced flowers. Some of the free motion quilting I do is a specific “pattern” or design while others I morph from suggestions and ideas I see used by others. Free motion quilting is like doodling with thread….but that is another blog!! Stay tuned!