This past May, I was able to attend an in person class at the Fiber+Fabric Festival to make Ozzie Cardinal, a collage pattern designed by Lynn Christiansen of Emerald Falls Quilts. She has a digital pattern available through her website, but I had so much fun learning with her in person!

This was my first time making a collage quilt. I really enjoyed the process, the economical use of small scraps, and found joy in the details and color of my fabric choices.

Once the collage part was finished, I decided to add texture to the background through free motion quilting. I chose the technique: doodling, which is just like it sounds. When you take a blank piece of paper and a pen and start to let your creativity flow, it is immensely enjoyable. You do the same thing to doodle while free motion quilting with a sewing machine and thread.

Doodling is helpful in improving your free motion quilting skills because it doesn’t need to be perfect and the imperfections only give the piece more character. In the end, the texture in the background fabric is exquisite.

If you want to try your hand at doodling, check out my more of my Doodle Fun on Instagram.

In it, I give you a simple way to start free motion quilting and build your doodle muscles.

For some more inspiration, head over to my tutorials.

Until next time, keep on doodling <3 Kate