Welcome to the sixth post of the Orange Peel Quilt-A-Long! The final linky party doesn't start until August 23, so
you STILL have plenty of time to try orange peels out and whip something up! See here for everything about the QAL, including the
three categories (quilt, quilt top, minis), prizes, and Viewer's Choice contest.
Pinterest Inspiration Board - in case you need some inspiration. I will keep adding to it throughout the QAL!
Please share this button on your blog if you are participating!
Thank you so much to the wonderful QAL prize sponsors!
The only rules are:
- Orange peels of any kind must be a main design element of your project.
- This will be taken into account during judging.
- You may link up one entry per category (via blog or Flickr). Please include dimensions when you post!
- The three categories are quilt, "just the top," and mini - see the official page for details.
- Your project(s) must be made in 2014.
- Have fun!
Share your photos and thoughts!
- #orangepeelqal on Instagram - share your design, progress, and finish photos - this feed is so fun to scroll through! People are really getting their orange peel on.
-
Flickr Group - share your design, progress, and finish photos. Also, chat with other participants!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of weeks ago, my friend
Ashley wrote up
this fantastic post on machine applique. That is certainly one awesome way that applique can serve as your quilting lines, too! Today, I'll share a few more ideas with you.
Two things to keep in mind:
1. Your quilt design is ultimately going to depend on
your quilt. Trust your gut and go for it!
2. If you use fusible interfacing like I did, be aware that you'll have a little resistance if you quilt on top of your orange peels. In Scatter, I only top-stitched around the peels and quilted around them.
Now for some ideas:
1. Ghost orange peels: you could mark them or just go for it! I did this on my
Scatter quilt and made tiny dots with a washable pen so that they were fairly accurate. As I was quilting it just came to me to try it and I'm really glad I did:
I love how "ghosties" create a strong extra element to your quilt. It makes people look a little bit closer. That's one of my favorite things about creative quilting.
2. Walking foot quilting: Whether you have followed a more traditional orange peel layout
like this or you have made a more improvisational quilt, you can use your walking foot to make straight line cross-hatches across
the quilt. Or quilt straight lines up and down or across. My friend
Mel of Melintheattic has an
exciting tutorial on creative walking foot quilting that you should most definitely check out - if not for this project, then for the future! I especially love the idea of woodgrain quilting with orange peels. For some reason I feel like that would really make a statement.
3. Free motion quilting: For
Scatter, I chose a bunch of my favorite designs for the low volume background and changed at will. Since I'm more comfortable with FMQ than straight lines, this was my choice. Or, you could free motion
some kind of design on the actual peels, mixed with straight lines elsewhere. Below, I've scribbled on a picture of Scatter to show you what I mean:
Okay, so those are more "organic" than straight line but hopefully you get the idea. ;) I think it would be cool to quilt different designs inside the peels! Also, I tend to quilt densely so maybe you want to leave the background of the peel unquilted for effect. Up to you.
If you've never tried free motion before, DO IT (I love
these tips from Oh, Fransson!). You'll love it. My final suggestion for free motion would be to take a picture of your top and doodle over the picture to solidify your ideas! Many of us use Instagram already so why not post pictures of your attempts? (#orangepeelqal). Feel free to search around my
Pinterest Inspiration Board for more ideas, too!
This week I'll be sharing a NEW orange peel project I'm working on (already a few pictures are on Instagram - @quiltyhabit), plus some reminders about the QAL! Just a couple of more weeks - we are in the homestretch! And yes, there IS time to make something completely new (especially if you enter the "just the top" category ;) )!
----------------------------
Schedule:
YOU ARE HERE -->August 11: Other quilting ideas for orange peels
August 23 - September 8: Final Link-up!
September 9 -September 16: Voting for Viewer's Choice prize