How many starts and stops make a quilt ?

This is an amazing quilt. Raw edge applique with 20" blocks...truly a work of art.
The pattern is Dear William by Michele Hill.

Lynne Hartman is the talented appliquer. A true treasure Lynne calls "A Day With Dear William". And the William Morris Fabric she chose is simply beautiful. So much work and precision went into her vision, it is really an honor and I am so thankful she chose me to machine quilt it for her. 

You have heard me say many times, sometimes a quilt deserves more! Well Dear William you got it!

Dear William Pattern from Michele Hill Pieced by Lynne Hartman
Machine Quilting Design by Sally Terry

Dear William Pattern Block from Michele Hill Pieced by Lynne Hartman
Machine Quilting Design by Sally Terry

Dear William Pattern from Michele Hill Pieced by Lynne Hartman
Machine Quilting Design by Sally Terry free motion feathers between the block's applique.

Free Motion Quilting in and around all those small areas was made easier using Free Motion Feathers. In fact there was very little marking. The main design in the blocks alternated with stitched circles and squares around the center circled motif. 

Dear William Quilt Closeup from Michele Hill Machine Quilting by Sally Terry

Because Lynne wants to enter her quilt in Quilt Shows, there are many many starts and stops to accomplish the proper machine quilting to complete her vision. Couldn't even begin to count how many. Dear William was on the frame for 5 days-- starting and stopping took a lot of time. I used 5-6 tiny stitches in a row to secure the quilt threads, in tighter places I stitched over the original stitching several times. Everything was Fray Checked as well.

To make it easier, chose traditional cotton thread matchine the white background fabric that had a little bit of fuzz to it and a fine cotton bobbin thread that would grab the fabric making starts and stops less noticeable since the threads grabbed thread and fabric at the same time. Imagine how many hours it would take just to bury threads for one block....I can't even think about it.

It is a great quilt Lynne, beautifully appliqued. Watch for it at the upcoming shows, this is stunning. BRAVO!!!

When planning free motion feather placement I often do this...

When planning to machine quilt free motion feathers I like to use lots of wiggle room so I don't have to be perfect.

Wiggle Room 1 - Draw around a shape you want to fill with free motion feathers. 

Here I use a circle template. In case I put 2 feathers in one shape and 3 feathers in another, the outside of the drawn around shape stays consistent, not the feathers.

Wiggle Room 2 - Offset the circle or shape. 

In this case I placed the circle over from the pivot point. This way the feathers would be less symmetrical and not perfectly perfect which takes the fun out of it.

Wiggle Room 3 - Offset the center of the circle and use a portion of the circle like 1/3 or 2/3 and ignore the center. 

We are so programmed to be perfect and everything lining up, we often forget to arrange things in a more interesting way.

Play with your arrangements, you never know what you will come up with :) And it is a lot more fun!

Pattern used is the 6" Terry Twist(R)