A customer brought me a quilt made from striped fabric.  What design to quilt over all those lines? I used a variety of motifs when free motion quilting striped blocks. I was worried that the navy blue thread would be overpowering, but from across the room it blends nicely.

Echo Stitch around Applique

In the corners of the quilt, the customer placed applique leaf clusters that she had drawn herself.  Sometimes applique need some stitching on top as well, but these shapes were small enough to do without and the customer preferred the puffy look, so I just echoed around the stems and leaves, and added some wavy lines in the background.

Free Motion Quilting Striped Blocks

Then I faced the challenge of choosing a motif for the striped blocks.  I wanted to use several designs, so I started with basic spirals following the lines in the fabric.

I embellished a bit with a loopy meander that spiraled to the center.

Free Motion Quilting Plus Shapes

Some of the striped blocks were turned so that the fabric stripes formed a plus instead of a square.  I followed the lines in these sections and ended up with a quarter square design.

I used my favorite Flame Flower too (read more about this design here)

Free Motion Quilting Pebbles

The pebble block had me worried since it is very bold quilting in contrasting thread.

I created a new spiral variation with spiky lines as shown in the green block at the top of the photo.

I wanted to lighten the pebble design so I spread it out into single lines, which I call Infinity.

Once you start free motion quilting, you will be surprised at all the variations.  Combine shapes, such as loops, with the basic form of a square or spiral to see what new designs you can create!