Day 27 - Lightning Bolt

So what happens when you take a popular filler design and turn all the curves into sharp angles?

You go from McTavishing to Lightning Bolt! This sharp angled fill looks terrific and quilts up just as quickly as McTavishing.

Here in NC, we've not had rain for several weeks, but last night the weather finally broke. I'm enjoying a cloudy, cool day, and hoping for more rain, and maybe some thunder and lightning tonight.

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Inspiration: I've been working on a new challenge project for my local Thread Benders group. In this challenge piece, I used Art Nouveu inspired motifs, but wanted to use some new fillers to really make the designs stand out.

Playing around with McTavishing just seemed like cheating (yes, it's my favorite filler by far), so by giving the designs some sharp angles, I felt like I was quilting an entirely new design!

Difficulty Level: Intermediate. McTavishing is a very fun, free form filler and Lightning Bolt is just the same. You will have to practice to get your lines perfectly parallel, but the texture is worth it!

Design Family: Branching.

Directional Texture: All Directions. This fill really creates some interesting movement and texture because the sharp angles and straight lines are coming in from all angles!

Suggestions for Use: This is a very versatile background filler design. You could easily use this over a large area because Lightning Bolt can cover a lot of space very quickly. This would also look very interesting placed with smooth flowing motifs because the designs would contradict one another.

Back of Lightning Bolt

Feel free to use this free motion filler designs in your quilts,

and make sure to tell your friends where you learned it.

Click here to support the project by visiting our online quilt shop. 

Happy Quilting!

Leah Day