Quilt Reveal – Para Para Quilt #2 – Violet Sky Fabrics
She’s done!! I feel so good about this one. It’s very rare for me not to have some changes I wish I had made on fabrics, but on this quilt I really love all the fabrics used and how they look together. I did get creative with my free motion quilting too and that’s what I was wanting to talk with you more about.
Before we get all chatty, I just wanted to remind you in case you missed it, we are currently having a quilt along for Para Para. You can find all the posts here. And all the bundles we offer for it here. You can sign up for the quilt along just below. 🙂
Sign Up for the Para Para Quilt Along!
I used this fabric bundle for my second version of Para Para.
As you may know, I’ve been trying to work on my free motion skills. I’ve been doing a meander with variations here and there for over ten years, but late last year, particularly after taking a class in Paducah, I decided I wanted to be able to do more designs. So with each quilt, I’ve tried to do something different, usually.
I think Para Para is a really great quilt for lots of different designs because it’s a sampler quilt and the blocks are mostly bigger and for some reason it makes it feel a bit more do-able.
For a really long time I’ve felt that quilting a variety of different designs on a domestic machine was too hard to bother with, but I’ve found that hasn’t been the case at all. Sure, it’s going to take me longer, but it really didn’t add so much that I felt overwhelmed. Plus, it’s been fun!
You can really see that my designs and stitches are a bit wonky, but they are good enough to be pleased with. I drew out that flower in my center block of the Fading Light star on paper and then I stitched it onto the quilt. It’s not perfectly placed in the square and one side is a bit bigger than the other, but so what?! I was tickled that it even looked like a flower.
One thing I do want to make a mental note to myself here is that I do wish I had stitched in the ditch on the center seams of my hourglass blocks. I think doing so would have made them look a bit better, but lesson learned.
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I am just dying over all the yummy texture that was added by doing some extra quilting. The hardest part was figuring out what designs I wanted to use and how to execute them. I’ve heard from many of you that you have the same questions.
So I’ve been cooking something up. I had mentioned I wanted to do a series on free motion quilting at the beginning of this year and I think by taking you along with me I will feel pushed to explore more and try harder. So that’s what I’m going to do.
I want this to be more of exploring than just teaching, but I will be doing videos so you can see how it’s done on a domestic machine, and hopefully even tackle it yourself. I’ll be getting with my testers soon and hopefully get this going by early next month. I’ve written a few really cool block patterns that would make nice pillows and make it easy for us to practice the quilting on.
Quilt Details:
Pattern – Para Para
Size – 80×80″
Blocks – 6 different sections
Top Fabrics – Main: Violet Sky bundle Background: Black Stars – Darlings, Metallic Gold – Brushed, Fairy Dust, Honey Bears, Moons, Roses, Grid in Cotton Candy, and Jolly Dots.
Backing Fabrics – Vintage Embroidery Blue wide back
Binding – Grunge in Antique Rose
Batting – Warm and Natural batting by the Warm Company
Thread – So Fine by Superior in Blizzard
Techniques Used – free motion quilting on a domestic, wall basting, and ditch binding
Quilt Label – from my shop here, tutorial for how to install it here
Skill Level – Intermediate
Availability – This quilt is for sale here.
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Everything you need for Para Para in one place!
Thanks for reading along today! Let me know if there is something you are most curious about or have questions on when it comes to the FMQ tutorials I had mentioned. Maybe we could work through it together. 🙂
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At Home by Bonnie + Camille
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂
Oh yes! Anytime I do free motion/custom quilting, I try to anchor every block! Even stitching within it first to keep everything stable before the fancy-fun stuff! That’s with my longarm or domestic machine. You are on your way. And the ideas are the challenge. If you can figure out some new designs, you have it made. I love the way you Para Para looks!
Thanks, Deborah.
I would love to participate in a FMQ series!! I took a few classes a few years ago but still don’t feel confident enough to do my own FMQ. Also, love your finished version of the ParaPara quilt!
The Para Para quilt is beautiful – love your fabric choices! Re: the FMQ – I would love to see you do it on your Juki (I have one) or another straight stitch only machine.