Quilting Motifs
Though fabrics are the stars of my quilts, I do like to add thoughtful stitched motifs to the compositions. Here is one of my favorites and two variations on it.
These patterns feature a combination of right-side up motifs and upside motifs connected by a couple of loops. For all three quilting motifs, I start at the bottom left corner of the quilt sandwich, quilt the bottom row first and move up the quilt, row by row. As the rows all connect, theoretically the quilting will be one continuous line of stitching covering the entirety of a quilt (assuming I don’t run out of thread). Every row has the same number of motifs and to make the pattern work, this needs to be an even number.
Loop de Loop Stars
I start the first (bottom) row by stitching an upside down star in the lower left corner of the quilt sandwich. The pattern then moves from left to right. With an even number of stars, the last star in the first row will be right-side up and from there you can start the second row. You will complete the second row by moving right to left. The third row will build from left to right, etc..
You can click through the slide show on the right to see the pattern take shape, step by step using a Sharpie on paper. In this example, every row has only four stars but your rows could have six, eight, ten or any even number.
Loop de Loop Hearts
This is similar to “Loop de Loop Stars,” with right-side up motifs alternating with upside down motifs that are connected by a couple loops.
Unlike “Loop de Loop Stars,” however, the first (bottom) row of the “Loop de Loop Hearts” pattern starts with a right-side up motif and ends with an upside down motif.
You can click through the slide show on the right to see the highlights of this pattern done with a Sharpie on paper. In this example, every row has only four hearts but your rows could have six, eight, ten or any even number.
Loop de Loop Houses
This too is similar to “Loop de Loop Stars,” with right-side up houses alternating with upside down houses that are connected by a couple loops.
Also similar is that I start sewing in the lower left corner of the quilt sandwich and use an even number of motifs in each row. And similar “Loop de Loop Stars,” the first row of the “Loop de Loop Houses” pattern starts with an upside down motif and ends with a right-side up motif.
You can click through the slide show on the right to see the highlights of this pattern done with a Sharpie on paper. In this example, every row has only four houses but your rows could have six, eight, ten or any even number.
