Over the millennia and different cultures, people have created labyrinth designs on walls and floors. This ancient tradition endures in new buildings, parks, computer games and from today also in quilting! 😉
The design Labyrinth is an edge to edge design that can be quilted any size you want. My lines are spaced roughly 1/4 inch apart in this sample but I have doubled that for larger quilts.
The design creates movement and adds a lot of texture. Think of the design as based on concentric circles. The quilting line travels along these concentric circles, moving up and down these circles. There is no need to mark your fabric, you can do this freehand. Any wonkiness will add to the texture.
Start the design with an open / loose spiral. Echo around the shape until you reach the starting point of the spiral.
Move into the next concentric circle and echo around the shape for a bit. Jump into the next concentric circle and go on for a little bit. Then move back down a circle again.
If this seems confusing, think about the shape you are creating as a mushroom or a very wide letter T.
Add as much of these ‘mushrooms’ / letter Ts as you want around your spiral. Move away from the spiral / labyrinth shape to add another loose spiral.
When you come close to an already quilted area, echo around the other shape for a bit before creating a new loose spiral. You can see this last bit better in the video on YouTube. Don’t forget to leave some space so you can ‘move out’ of the design!
Take your time drawing out this design on paper so you grasp the elements that make up this pattern. Then have fun at your machine!
Hugs
Esther
ipatchandquilt 