Block #63 in the Machine Quilting Challenge

Good Afternoon,

Sorry this is late in the day, but I was lucky enough to have my old assistant, great friend Judy visiting for the day and helping me get all of the packaging ready for shipping close to 100 quilts to my publisher for my upcoming book - what a job! And there's still more to send!

Here is today's new stitch-out. I call in Curly Cat Hair, and I should know - four cats and there is always cat hair on everything!

We have used this movement before, in the curvy E's and along with swirls too. Here, it stands alone which would make it seem simpler, but it can be a little difficult to fill all the space and get your curves to curve in different directions. You may want to doodle it out before you start stitching.

Begin in the center of the block and stitch a curvy, quarter moon shape that is about 3/4" long. Double back and echo the first curve with a second one that is about 1/8" away from the first one and a little longer. Make two to three more quarter moons that hug the first one. When you've stitched the last layer, make a new 1 1/2" long quarter moon next to the first one then stitch two more inside the first one (moving in the opposite direction as the first set you stitched). Now you've nested smaller moons inside a larger one and have echoed larger moons around a smaller one. Doing this in both manners will allow you more freedom to fill in all of the space equally. Keep stitching sets of quarter moons, trying to keep the same distance between layers and between sets, until you have filled in all of the space.

This is perfect for animal hair or fur of all types, but it's a wonderful filler design too!

Enjoy,

Till Wednesday,

Heather