Zentangle Quilting for Animal Rescue

This month's Free Motion Quilting Challenge is very similar to zentangle. The goal is to combine a number of different filler designs in one quilt to make it visually interesting. I've been drawing tangle-like designs for years, and have been wanting to try something like this. I was glad to finally have the chance. I'm not sure how cohesive the whole thing looks, but I sure had a lot of fun stitching it.

All of the blankets I've created in order to practice FMQ will be donated at the end of the year to help abandoned cats at a local animal rescue organisation. Visit the Snuggles Project to find out how you can help.

These are the flannel pieces that I put together for this blanket:

I started out by drawing a feather on each side, and then divided the area into sections by drawing random lines starting from each tip. Feathers are the quintessential quilting design. Mine aren't quite there yet, as you can see below, but with regular practice they've improved immensely since I stitched my first one in February.

With a dozen sections defined, I got to work filling each one with a thread design. I used loops, zippling, pebbles, echoes, and a whole bunch of line combinations. The largest area in the middle is dedicated to 'circuit board', which I learned in this week's Free Motion Quilting Project exercise. I did ok with the rows of basic "L", "4", "E", "F" shapes, but my spatial perception skills need work before I can do a proper "H". I enjoyed a lot of these designs and will be using them again (though probably one at a time).

Here is a look at the finished blanket:

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