Route 65 Shop Hop Quilt

Reflecting on quilts from the past...

Beautiful quilts are everywhere! Including many quilts I have had the privilege to work on over the years. Sadly I don't always have the time to blog about everyone of them.  I felt like this quilt had some great design elements that I really wanted to share with you.

It was pieced by the ladies at the Quilts and Quilts The Fabric Shoppe, located in Branson Missouri. In 2017, along with other area quilt shops, they created this quilt for the "Route 65" shop hop. 

The area around the applique was my biggest design challenge. Another longarmer had suggested chicken wire for the background filler. Hmmm I don't usually do that design because it is so time consuming but it would be perfect for this quilt.

I also did not have a chicken wire stencil. Not to worry! A few years prior, I created the 1'' triangle grid stencil and it is basically the same thing. When I started marking the grid in and around the appliqué, I kept getting confused on which lines to mark. So I added these sticker dots to make it easier.

While the quilt was loaded on the longarm, I used the purple air erase marker to mark each grid.

Call me crazy! Yes I bury all my starts and stops. The chicken wire design is all continuous stitching. The numerous starts and stops are from the inside of the applique.

When it comes to the blocks, I usually audition different designs using my clear plastic over the top and draw with a dry erase marker. This quilt had a farm theme so it really needed something different than the typical flowers and feathers.  I came up with another connecting design that reminds me of the barbed wire typically found on the farm. Then I modified the feathers to have a spiky feel to them.

My favorite way to quilt is with one color thread over the whole top, connecting all my stitching lines. It doesn't bother me if the fabric color changes and the thread becomes contrasting. I love the contrast! But because I wanted the quilting to just show as texture, that meant I had to change thread colors.

Yep! Spent way too much time on this one...but it was so worth it in the end! I Love Texture!!

Enjoy this little video, showing how the chicken wire is quilted. 

Please share with your quilty friends and leave me a comment if you were inspired by this post.

Forever Quilting,
Dorie