My local modern quilt guild, Las Vegas MQG recently teamed up with the Orlando MQG to do a modern member mini quilt swap. It was So. Much. Fun! Each team leader from both guilds assigned us someone to make a quilt for and we were given an interest sheet about what our partner liked and didn’t. We made a mini quilt for one person, but then received a mini from a different partner (scroll to the end to see the awesome quilt I received from Rene’!)

Skullduggery by Christa Watson, 15″ x 17″

So here’s the quilt I made for Frank Palmer of Full Frontal Quilt and Dyeworks, who thinks “Black is fabooshalicious and red is a neutral.” He also loves “odd and unusual things and skulls and tattoos.” (As a side note, Frank was a guest on the Crafty Planner Podcast earlier this year so I knew I needed to make him something that would fit his fun personality!)

I stitched in the ditch using the BERNINA dual feed, which acts much like a walking foot.

I pieced the quilt from solid black and red squares, so that it would retain the pixelated look. Then I stitched in the ditch around the major skull sections to outline the design and anchor the quilt for additional free-motion quilting.

Free-motion quilting wtih the BSR, using matching Aurifil thread – #2250 Red.

Next, I free-motion quilted a wavy flame design in all of the red areas. I thought the look of the flames matched the feel of the design quite nicely! I used a matching Aurifil 50 cotton weight thread in red. I quilted it using the BERNINA stitch regulator which helps my stitches stay nice and even. Though truth be told, I can quilt just as easily with or without the regulator. I love using the open toe so I can see my quilting stitches easier.

Finally, I quilted the background with a dense pebble texture, using one of my favorite neutrals – Aurifil #4241 Very Dark Gray. It’s not quite black so it actually shows up on black fabrics better than straight black does.

Like all of my quilts, I created this design using EQ7 software so that I knew exactly how to put it together before starting. As an added bonus for my fellow EQ7 users, I’ve made the file available for you if you want to make your own version (just be sure to credit me as the designer if you do).

Click here to get the Skullduggery EQ7 file download.
Note, this link will only work if you have EQ7 installed on your computer.

If you make a version of this quilt or any of my other patterns, please be sure and share it in my Facebook Group: Quilt with Christa. 🙂

This is the quilt I received in the swap. I love solids and black and white so this suits me to a T!