Walking Palm: Aurifil Color Builders 2022
As we continue the Aurifil Color Builder series for 2022, the Walking Palm is the first rectangular block of the year. This month’s appliqué pieces are layered for a beautiful dimensional effect, and the two variegated threads are perfect for quilting the negative space around the palm. Let’s take a look at some inspiration for quilting the Walking Palm block.
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As a reminder, this year’s Aurifil Color Builders block of the month, Flora, is designed and developed by Aurifil’s own Kate Brennan in partnership with graphic designer Christina Weisbard. Patterns are centered around flora-themed appliqué, allowing each featured monthly plant to take center stage. Flora is a celebration of Aurifil’s variegated thread. Aurifil produces 36 variegated thread colors, threads that contain multiple colors or multiple shades of one color. Twenty-four of these shades are represented in the 2022 program.
The March 2022 featured plant is the Walking Palm, an extremely tall (up to 75 feet) tall tree in Central & South America. It’s stilt- like roots are thought to help the tree “move” to more fertile soil.
I am a student of appliqué right along with many of the Quilting Rockstars this year, and Frangipani is my first full, start-to-finish appliqué project. You can catch all of the videos of me working on my blocks inside the free Quilting Rockstars Facebook Group. It’s also a great place to ask questions if you’re new to appliqué or free motion quilting!
Video: Quilting the Walking Palm
Quilting Plans for the Walking Palm
Important, quilty note: If you’re waiting to put your block of the month together into a sampler, then you probably don’t need quilting plans yet. But, it’s always fun to start planning!
Let’s take a look at the steps I took to finish my block:
First, in between fusing my appliqué and quilting, I “painted” my raw edges with thread using Barb Persing’s method and the darker of this month’s two variegated threads. If you’re not familiar, be sure to download her free workbook here. Remember to use a light weight stabilizer under your block for edge painting!
Then, after basting, it’s time to quilt. With these appliqué blocks, the flower or plant is the star of the show, so I only chose a background fill motif. I started by stitching the fill, then finished by stitching in the “ditch” around the flowers and leaves to help them “pop” from the background.
Plan 1 is a simple meander— adding gentle texture to the background so the flower shines
Plan 2 uses paisleys to give the generic idea of surrounding flora
Plan 3 uses a combination of swirls and wobbly switchbacks to create a “scene” for the tree, perhaps along a body of water or in a clearing
In all three instances, it’s important to realize that quilting with Aurifil 50 wt creates a much finer line than my digital drawings!
Resources
I will continue writing blogs with quilting plan ideas for each of the Flora blocks. Here are some other resources you may enjoy as well:
Quilting Rockstar Band Camp: Appliqué Edition — 4 hours of high quality fusible appliqué education on demand from multiple instructors
Blog: Quilting Plans for Frangipani (January 2022)
Blog: Quilting Plans for Negative Space (February 2022)
Free Download: Confident FMQ Workbook
