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Free Motion Quilting: Stippling and MicroStipplingStippling is to quilting like lipstick is to cosmetics! You can't go to a quilt show and not see stippling or microstippling in at least half of the quilts. Because of this, stippling is starting to get a bad wrap with quilt judges who are looking for new, innovative free motion quilting designs. Stippling and Microstippling have simply been overused to the point of exhaustion, and just like hearing the same song on the radio over and over, the more you experience it, the more boring it gets. But Stippling will always have it's place in the quilting world and certainly should have its place in your quilts. Knowing how to create this filler design is much like knowing how to piece, it's a necessary step to becoming an experienced quilter.
Once you get the hang of quilting Stippling on a large scale over your whole quilt in All Over Style Quilting, you can then try shrinking the design down to create Microstippling. This tiny design is perfect for quilting in tight, complex areas of your quilt like around tiny appliques or quilting motifs.
Of course you don't want to MicroStipple across the whole surface of a bed quilt! That would result in a quilt the consistency of cardboard with the comfort quality of a concrete floor. Microstippling is best used in specific areas to flatten the quilt surface and draw attention to other quilting motifs, appliques, or design elements. This is especially effective around areas of Trapunto where the quilted motifs are raised with two layers of batting and the surrounding areas are flattened with very dense quilting. Once you learn Stippling and Microstippling, you'll be ready to learn a whole host of new designs! Stippling is the mother of all Independent Designs All of these designs wiggle around independently of everything around them. Hence the name Independent Designs! They're all very easy to stitch and look great when quilted on a large or small scale over your quilts. Here's a few Independent designs you might want to get started with first: Even if you can't quilt Stippling perfectly, try these designs and see if they work better for you! Learn how to quilt the 4 most popular quilting designs! Click on the links below:
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Day Style Designs: Free Motion Stippling and Microstippling
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