Quilting Froggy

One of my favorite new patterns is my frog pattern, which will be released this October just as soon as the covers are printed.

The frogs have been hatching all summer and the quilt has finally made it to the quilting stage.
After layering, pin-basting and otherwise getting the quilt ready I was trying to come up with an interesting quilting design.

I decided to frame an orphan block, using the same fabrics I used for the setting of the original quilt, to practice some of my quilting ideas on a single block.  First I used my walking foot and with a light grey thread stitched around each frog block.
In the blue background I quilted a random circle design which could either represent pebbles on the bottom of the lake or bubbles in the water.  I quilted the bubbles in random sizes and shapes, some are oval, some round, and some are connected with multiple lines.

I wanted to come up with just the right quilting design for the frog background and of course the frogs themselves. A line of wiggly free-motion quilting with intermittent fly or bug swirls seemed appropriate for hungry frogs waiting for insects.  The frogs themselves were outlined as much as possible to keep them from moving.
The alternate Lily pad blocks also got the fly treatment, applied horizontally, although I used less flies and more plain wiggly quilting lines.
Last not least I quilted swirly eyes and a mouth on the frogs, which gives them a silly look.  Another fun option is to sew on embellishments to make the eyes more prominent.  Buttons can even be stacked for extra dimension or large beads can be used to make the frog-eyes.  This is better for us grown frog lovers, however, since we don’t want little ones to pick off and swallow a button or bead.  Keep an eye out for the pattern, which will go up on my website:  www.southwindquilts.com just as soon as it is available.