Tips From McKenna Ryan's Design Studio

Take Time With Your Fabrics:

McKenna loves using batiks because of the saturation of color and their high thread count. With her method of quilting the appliqué’s don’t fray. Your art quilt will come to life when you take the time to locate that specific place on your fabric that offers the most color, texture and movement. McKenna “auditions” several pieces of fabric before she selects the perfect spot and color for each appliqué piece.

Concentrate on Cutting:

McKenna is known for her intricate trees, but don’t let them intimidate you! Remember trees don’t grow perfectly in nature so you don’t have to be so exact in cutting directly on the lines. Leave the precision cutting to where it really matters like bird beaks, antlers, and moose legs!

Mistakes…No problem!

When fusing your pieces in place, press lightly so you can pull them apart if you need to. Put your design up on the wall, stand back, and look at the over-all composition. If you are satisfied with what you see, you can go ahead with your final pressing.

Free Motion Savvy:

Quilting around each appliqué is part of the quilting process. Layer top, batting and backing. Attach a darning foot to your machine, lower your feed dogs, and free motion stitch around the raw edges of each appliqué.. If your sewing machine does not have the option of lowering your feed dogs, tape a playing card over them. McKenna likes to use monofilament thread on the top of her machine and a cotton poly thread in her bobbin.

On a multiple block quilt, start stitching around your appliqués pieces in the center block of your quilt. Your next step will be to stitch in the ditch around that block. Now you are ready to move onto your next block repeating this process. McKenna suggests that you iron your blocks from the center of your quilt outward during the quilting process to avoid puckering of the material. Knot your thread at the beginning and end of each applique by pressing your pressure foot quickly therefore eliminating the need to cut your thread after quilting each piece. After your entire quilt is quilted, go back and free motion quilt clouds, water, etc.

Remember to relax and have fun. Free-motion quilting is not as intimidating as it seems!