WHY: When you’re machine quilting, if you sew in one continuous line from one design to the next to the next without stopping, you have far fewer thread ends to deal with when you’re done.
HOW: Select the designs you’d like to use, arrange them to your liking, then join them up with a line so that when you sew you’ve a continuous line. These connection (or transitional) lines form part of the overall design, but the eye sees them less than the designs.
If the connection line always starts at the bottom of the design, things will look like they’re standing on a surface, or flowers like they’re growing from the ground.
Once you’ve selected your designs, you can construct a scene from separate elements, such as the one with the cat below. Once you’ve got each bit in place, add connection lines for continuous sewing.
BORDERS: By using only one design but varying how you position it, you can create a border quilting pattern that’s unique to your quilt, yet straightforward. The leaf design below was created using only one leaf (shown in the centre).
Free Printable Continuous Quilt Designs (.pdf format):
• Leaves, Grass, Trees
• Sun, daisy, leaf
• Three Cats
• Scene with Sun, Daisy, and Cat
