Welsh Quilting Tutorial

 Hey there! Do you want to have a quick Welsh Quilting tutorial? I want to take a break, so here it goes. First you need to own the Book "Welsh Quilting Pattern & Design Handbook" by Marjorie Horton. It is difficult to find, but I have been emailing back and forth with her and I think I have convinced her to have it re-printed. Isn't that thrilling? I think it is. I have learned so very much from this book.

You will also need a circle (or a half circle). Before I found this "Circle Cut" I was just flipping my mixing bowls upside down and tracing them onto butcher paper and using them as templates. This circle tool is neat because you don't have to have a pile of ratty looking papers cluttering up your sewing room. I found it at Hobby Lobby. Oh and you need a chalk pen or a regular pencil to mark your arcs. For this demonstration I used the chalk because the strip I will be quilting is black.

 Find the center of the area you want to quilt. I only mark the section of the quilt I am getting ready to work on. I don't mark the entire quilt at once. The chalk would just all shake off anyway.

 Mark your first arc.

 Mark the arcs on either side. I like to make a little dash where the center of the circle are. That will help with the next step.

 Now you chalk in the overlapping arcs. That is all I mark. I will now quilt them down.

Quilt one line right on your chalk arcs, then quilt another line right under the first line (about a quarter inch space between lines) This outline or Echo is important. It makes a frame to keep all the detail controlled.  I know this isn't perfect. But I love the imperfections of this. I am not a computer. Thank goodness!

 Now quilt the design of your choice in the arcs or windows.

And before you know it you are all finished! It looks difficult, but it is really quite simple. Look at it like layers of quilting.  You can mark your design in each window, but I just freehand it.

Good luck! I would LOVE to see how you go if you try it.

xo,
Tia