Rural Squirrel in Cotton Couture

Round and round and round they go....

These squirrels are playing in the snow!

A rare sighting indeed. I was particularly surprised to have been able to capture the Rural Squirrel frolicking in it's natural habitat. A contributing factor may be that it has been an unusually mild winter this year. And that my previously unwilling quilt holder finally gave in.

This Rural Squirrel in Cotton Couture quilt has been generously sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics. The quilt top is made entirely of selections from the Cotton Couture collection. And the backing is from the Nature Walk collection by Tamara Kate Design.

It was such a pleasure to choose from this glorious selection of Michael Miller Fabrics Cotton Couture solids using this handy Color Card. You can read more about how to get yours here.

Fog and Ozone squirrels are frolicking among a grove of birch trees. 

One squirrel is running up a tree on the left.....

One squirrel is running down a tree on the right.....

And one squirrel is running across the ground on the bottom.



I was a little disappointed that I could not see the difference between the Fog and Ozone, but I love the finished squirrels just as they are. Those Caribbean birches contain patches of Lime, Apple, Meadow, Orange, Tangerine, Turquoise, Mermaid and Isle, along with highlights made from the Bright White background.

I made a matched seam for the backing, which is Stepping Stones in Mineral from the Nature Walk collection by Tamara Kate for Michael Miller Fabrics. This print ties in nicely with the main aqua and grey theme from the front. And I love it! I used Clay for the binding to make a slightly darker frame to hold everything in place.

I shared a photo of this quilt in process in my Let's Bee Social post and also on Instagram. There were a few who questioned how I performed this organic wavy line quilting. If you are a regular around here.... You are well aware of how much I love to quilt using this method. This time I changed things up a little and had a lot of fun with it. I used plain white Gütermann polyester thread. And quilted using my walking foot with a 3.3 stitch length.

I pin baste and then roll up the sides of the quilt. Standing at the end of my kitchen table, and starting in the middle of the quilt, I quilt from top to bottom. And then begin at the top again, quilting another wavy line to the right of the first, and continue in this way until I am finished with the right side of the quilt. Then I turn the quilt around and continue quilting the left side of the quilt from where I started in the middle.

How close I make those wavy lines depends on the project and the desired result. I like to keep the lines more widely spaced on larger quilts. And quilt more densely on smaller items like table runners. Usually I make the lines meet at regular intervals. But this time I was groovin' pretty good and really had fun with it, making them more irregular.

My advice to anyone who would like to learn how to quilt like this is: Just do it! Get your walking foot on and just quilt. Use quilting gloves and keep your hands on each side of the needle, keeping the quilt taut and flat. While quilting, wave the quilt from side to side to create the desired waviness of the lines. And just have fun with it. It takes practice to get a feel for it. To be comfortable and to relax and enjoy the motion. It really is so easy. Truthfully, I feel like I'm cheating on the quilting because it really is so, so easy.

If you are looking for more ideas of how to quilt your own quilts using your walking foot, please check out this tutorial called Quilting With Your Walking Foot.

A couple weeks ago, I announced the pattern release for the Rural Squirrel, showing a sneak peek of the Rural Squirrel in Northcott ColorWorks Concepts version. He's coming home from his QuiltCon adventure soon and I am so excited to be sharing the full reveal next Friday! Last week I shared the second version of this quilt, Rural Squirrel in Brown Neutrals, which was made entirely from my stash.

Rural Squirrel in Brown Neutrals

Now this is the third version I have made using the Rural Squirrel quilt pattern. This quilt is made using traditional methods and is not paper pieced. The pattern provides material requirements, cutting instructions and detailed step-by-step directions.

"Rural Squirrel" in Cotton Couture finished at approximately 50" x 60"

and was the 82nd use of my 100 labels

ordered from Ikaprint.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday with 

Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

Keep On Quilting On!

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