- Hey everybody, it's me, Angela Walters from quiltingismytherapy.com. And welcome to the fourth video in the Floral Frames Free Motion Challenge Quilting Along video series. Throughout this video series, we have been learning some
of my favorite designs for quilting the borders of our quilts. We've talked about motifs, we've talked about turning the corner,
and now we're gonna focus on one of my all-time
favorite border designs, the swirl chain. It can give your quilts
such an elegant look. It looks so difficult, but
it's actually the same shape repeated over and over again. In this video, I'm gonna
show you how to quilt it. I'm gonna show you how to
embellish it a little bit and how you can highlight it or hide it with the
designs you put around it. And just as I've done in all
the videos in this series, I'll be demonstrating the designs on a sewing machine and a long arm. So let's get to it. If you haven't seen the
previous videos in this series, you can go ahead and visit my website
quiltingismytherapy.com or scan the QR code. So starting towards the
center of my border, I'm gonna quilt that
first elongated swirl. Now, don't stress out too much about the shape or the placement. Just try to quilt it so it
fits towards the center. And then we're gonna echo, echo, echo. (upbeat music) Then once I'm ready to add
my next one, I'm gonna echo around that swirl out in front
and quote that same shape that faces the opposite direction. So if one is pointing to the left, the next one will point to the right. And this just helps
them fit together nicely and helps it progress. Then once I have that shape,
well, you know the steps. I'm gonna echo, echo, echo. (upbeat music) And I'm gonna keep echoing
until I get to the point where those two swirls
face away from each other. So this one's kind of facing to the left and this one is facing
away, and that's kind of like the V and that V is where I wanna be. So I can add my next one. The next one is gonna go the
same way as the first one echoing around facing
the opposite direction from the prior one and then echoing. So there's that same basic shape that makes up our swirl chain. And then I'm gonna echo,
echo echo until I get to where those two swirls
face away from each other. So as I'm echoing, I'm looking ahead of the needle in the direction I'm heading and trying to move in a smooth movement. I'd rather have lines that are
smooth than perfectly spaced. So just try to keep a nice momentum going and nice smooth movement and just know that once you're
done, it's gonna look fine, I promise. The trick here is I can't
judge how it's looking at this moment 'cause I'm gonna
have to come back eventually and fill in those gaps in
between the swirl chain and the edge of the area. But if I'm gonna quilt this design so that it wraps around the quilt I'm gonna need to know
how to turn the corner. I'm gonna imagine that
there's a line connecting that inner corner and
that outer border corner. Once my design crosses that line, I know that the next one is gonna
go in the opposite direction. Thankfully, we can fill in any weird gaps with echoing and I promise
it's gonna look fine. (upbeat music) So this particular swirl
has crossed that line. I'm not gonna stop though. I'm gonna keep echoing and doing everything I've done before. (upbeat music) But when I'm ready to add my next one, it's gonna echo around, extend out, and go the opposite direction. Sure, it might look a little
weird while you're doing it but as we finish the design and fill in the rest of the
area, it's gonna look fine. (upbeat music) And once I get to the point where those two swirls
come away from each other, I'm gonna do the same
thing I've done already, echoing around that swirl,
extending out in front of it and facing the next direction. One of the benefits to
quilting this design on a sewing machine is that I can easily change
the orientation of the quilt and for this particular
shape, I prefer quilting it so that I'm moving my
hands in a vertical motion. Now when it comes to filling in the gaps in between the design
and the edge of the area, I could go ahead and
pull my whole swirl chain and then come back and fill
in those areas all at once or I can do it as I go. That means while I'm right here, I'm gonna go ahead and fill in that gap with whatever design I wanna
fill in and then move on. Again, it's totally up to
you and your preferences. I just prefer handling any
of those unquilted areas while I'm there. Now what you put around
your swirl chain is what's gonna determine whether it's gonna
highlight it or hide it. For instance, if I've
quilted my swirl chain and I don't want it to
be such a main focus of the quilt or I'm not super
happy with how it turned out, I can just add more echo
lines to fill in those gaps. The result is gonna be a nice, consistent, beautiful texture that's just
gonna let me see a little bit of the movement without screaming,
"Hey, I'm a swirl chain." So just echoing around the shape and then using traveling along
the edge to maneuver around as the areas get filled in. The trick is to try to
keep the spacing consistent between the echo lines and the swirl chain so that it all kind of
blends into each other. But if you want them to
stand out a little bit more, maybe you love the look of them, or you wanna create more of
a wow factor for your quilt, using a fill filler that contrasts around it is really gonna make them pop. So when I talk about contrast,
I just mean different. Different shape, different
direction, different density and one of my favorite ones to use here is like a little itty bitty
wishbone in those gaps. But if that seems like too much to do, you can use a smaller filler or you can even use denser echo lines. This is gonna be something I'm gonna do in much larger borders where I
have plenty of room for that. But the great thing is
whatever you put around it is gonna help determine
how much it shows up in the finished product. (upbeat music) If you run out of room, just travel along the edge until you have
room or add more echo lines. (upbeat music) That dense wishbone is
really gonna flatten down that unquilted area and make
that swirl chain pop out which is the effect I'm going for. (upbeat music) And once I filled in that gap, I can resume quilting my swirl chain. (upbeat music) It doesn't matter what size
you quilt your swirl chain, as far as how long or wide it is. Try to keep it a size that
you're comfortable quilting. It's the spacing between the echo lines that
will determine the density of the design. Now, even though I like
echoing and filling those areas as I go, if you're newer to this design, it might be easier just to focus on quilting that swirl
chain, then come back later and fill in those gaps with the echoing. But like I said, it's totally up to you. I'm using this very dark
green contrasting thread color so that you can see what I'm doing. However, if you're quilting
this on an actual quilt, we really want the beautiful texture of the quilting to show. So try to opt for a thread color that
blends in with the background. If you purchase the
coordinating thread collection, the linen thread color
would be gorgeous here. Now, if we're quilting that swirl chain around the whole quilt,
eventually we're to come to a point where we need to
connect the start and the end. So for instance, right here
where I started quilting, I mean obviously they're
gonna have to hook together if that's the effect I want. So I'm gonna position myself down here and I'm just pretending as though I've worked my
way around the border. As I approach that starting point, I'm gonna quilt my swirl chain so that it stops a couple
inches away from that point. I don't wanna run it all the way up to it 'cause I'm gonna use echoing
to kind of glue them together. So once I get to that point where now
I need to connect them, that's where echoing is
gonna come into play. I'm gonna echo around both sides, echo back into that first swirl chain. (sewing machine whirring) And keep on going until it
looks somewhat continuous. (sewing machine whirring) And then I'm gonna use filler
to fill in any of those gaps and then move on. And even if we're looking at
this is a contrasting thread, you might be like, oh, it's super obvious where that happened. I promise. If you're using a matching thread color and you don't point
out where they connect, it's not gonna be noticeable. Another little trick that I use
to help hide that transition or that connection is I try
not to have them connect on the corners or in the
very center of my border. I tend to think that people tend to look at the corners or the center first. So if I kind of offset
it just a little bit, it might keep it little hidden. But remember just using those echo lines, it's gonna help it kind
of all pull together. It's gonna look nice. Now that we've seen how
to quilt that swirl chain on the sewing machine, let's
look at it on the long arm. What makes this design so versatile is that you can easily embellish
it with other designs. Not only will it give the swirl chain an even more custom look, it can also help fill in
bigger borders easier. (sewing machine whirring) First, quilt the swirl
chain sections as normal. Once you're finished with one section, quilt a different design before moving on to the next section. It could be a single leaf or
a small feather, a paisley. It's totally up to you. (sewing machine whirring) Add any echoing or
embellishments that you want. Then quilt the next section as normal. (sewing machine whirring) Once the swirl chain is finished, fill in the rest of the
area with a dense filler to let your amazing swirl chain shine. (sewing machine whirring) (upbeat music) (sewing machine whirring) Or if you want a simpler
version of the swirl chain for thinner borders,
leave out the echo lines. You'll still quilt the elongated swirl. Then echo around it to
add the next section so that faces the opposite direction. (sewing machine whirring) Continue quilting the
swirls along the border and turning the corner just as
we did on the sewing machine. (sewing machine whirring) Whether you quilt a
large ornate swirl chain or a simpler version, the
result is a beautiful, curvy swirl chain that will
look amazing on your quilts. Okay, now it's your turn. If you're quilting along with me on the custom panel I
designed for this challenge, go ahead and fill in that
border highlighted in red with the swirl chain design. You can embellish it,
you can leave it plain or you can come up with
your own variation. It's totally up to you. And don't forget, I have the free downloadable
quilting diagrams and tip sheet if you need
help with the design. And for even more help, you can get the expanded resources PDF with even more step-by-step instructions. It's really gonna help you
master that swirl chain design. And I'll be back soon with the next video in the series where we're
gonna leave the borders behind and talk about quilting the flowers in the center of our quilt. Until then, happy quilting. (upbeat music)
