Can you picture the swirling colors of oil based paints floating on the surface of the water? It’s just ready to lay a piece of paper or fabric on the surface to collect the spontaneous design. That’s what I thought of while drawing this swirly, and very versatile design. It will become one of your favorites. It’s already one of mine! I recommend sliding the pattern for alternate rows although it can be rolled straight down.
If you want this pattern now, it is also available as an instant PDF download for you to print (click here), plus you get it for 20% off the price of the paper roll!
Add some fun to your quilts with Neon thread and a little Black Light flashlight.
How did I get started on this “Black Light” jag? My friend and customer Julie Lucht sent me pictures of quilts she was making for her grandchildren. They were stitched with MeadowLyon designs and highlighted under “Black Lights.” Check these out and you’ll see why I was so excited!
Wow, I was motivated! I could do that for my grandchildren and pass them out at our family reunion this summer!
I wouldn’t have to “piece” the quilts – just use uncut pieces of fun fabrics. Hooray!!
Here are the 11, and almost 12 quilts I’ve made so far!
I’ll include links to the pantos and some pix of the original fabrics.
As Julie was sharing her photos she mentioned that they were not all stitched with “Neon” thread. So I did some experimenting also!
Here are some things I learned:
At first, I ordered machine quilting/embroidery thread. I would say to quilters, “Don’t bother.” It was too thin for a strong statement on the quilt. See how it turned out on the Dino-babies quilt back. On the front of that quilt I used a heavier thread. I wish I’d done it all in heavier weight.
I also found that heavy thread from varying companies was successful. Unfortunately, some the threads I liked best were discontinued spools I had on hand. I loved some of the colors of Superior’s Brytes and Highlights. Neither of which are still available (except on my shelf )
Another that was successful was Linda Taylor’s Neon thread.
A strong heavy weight “white” thread is always successful.
To begin, I shone the black light flashlight over my thread racks to determine the strength of various colors.
Before stitching out a quilt I laid the backing fabric out and draped various threads over it- lighting it up with the black light flashlight. That way I could adequately see which thread showed best! Sometimes it was a surprise. Once I thought I had found a green that was good, but when I stitched it out on the space quilt, the “Earth” did not show up at all!
Back to the Spacemen quilt again (many disappointments), there was a heavy white thread that showed up great, but as it was in the bobbin, the top thread kept breaking so I had to switch to a less heavy white. It still showed, but not as good by comparison. On that same quilt the neon green I used does not show as well as the ordinary white. Humpf!
Hot pink and hot orange and bright gold were all super! And a heavier lime green was wonderful too.
All my backings were dark colors; Black, navy, dk brown, hot pink, and royal blue. Interestingly the pink shows as dk. blue with the Black Light!
My successful colors in plain lightWith Black light!
Linda Taylor’s Thread by Design Tex 4; Fluorescent Orange, Highlighter Yellow, Psychedelic Green
Superior Highlights #731 Neon Green
Superior Brytes Neon Green
Sulky Poly Deco
YLI Jeans Stitch Tex 90; White & Hot Pink
New Brothread Glow in the Dark Embroidery Thread Tex 30; It’s not as thick as I would like.
Julie suggests trying Glide #10002 Super White!
Aurifil’s Everglow from Tula Pink looks promising, but it does not specify thickness.
There are others online that look promising.
What about “Glow in the Dark ” Thread?
What’s the difference between Neon and Glow in the Dark? Glow in the Dark actually retains light for a period of time. The claims are it will retain “glow” for 3-8 hours. This shows brightly after 3 hours and there is a very faint glow after 8 hours that the camera couldn’t pick up, but could be seen.
The best that I’ve found is the big one – BulingBuling TMLuminous Embroidery Thread. It is still a thin embroidery weight.
In this picture is the Brothread Glow in the Dark thread I purchased. It is the one I decided was too thin. But….Maybe it would be a great alternative to carrying a Black Light flashlight.
Glow in the Dark Simthread looks promising, too. It should”Glow in the Dark” glow for an extended period without black lights. I’m not sure the thickness of this thread from amazon. Sadly it did not have staying power. I returned it.
So get busy. Buy a Black Light Flashlight, Search your Thread Drawer and HAVE FUN!
Frolic feels delightful. It’s right on the edge of onomatopoeia. It is full of life and innocent fun. At my age I don’t think that I frolic much anymore, but I’d like to.
I remember in college “frolicking” at a leadership conference at Fish Lake in the Utah Mountains. We were all a little dizzy with lack of sleep and exciting activities. Suddenly it began to rain. And all of us ran out to dance and frolic in the raindrops. That’s a freedom we don’t often allow ourselves as we become “grown-ups”, but the inner child in us wants to do so. We are tempted to run through the sprinklers, or in the fountains at the park, or in the rain!
Frolic with this new pattern as you dance and swirl across a colorful quilt. It is 10 ½ inches wide and 12 feet long.
If you noticed: this pattern has similarities to our very favorite “Psychedelic” pattern. I took one of the motifs from that pattern. But, “Frolic” has a shorter repeat and can roll straight down.
I always enjoy reading the top 10 lists that start appearing at this time of year. My family and I also always write a few of our own, remembering the best and worst experiences of the past year.
In that spirit of year-end reflection, I thought I should list MeadowLyon’s top 10 best and worst selling patterns of 2015.
Our best selling patterns are also 10% off this January. If you don’t have these yet, you will surely use them, so why not get them now?
1-Star Banner It is not hard to see why this one is so popular! All those waving stars and stripes- I love it!
2-PsychedelicThis pattern is so popular it is hard to keep it in stock. Go ahead and order it if you like it, I’ll be getting more soon.
3- Backwoods A cozy backwoods quilt, a country cabin, and a roaring fire- I guess I am not the only one who thinks that is the perfect combination.
4-Funny Bones Yes, quilters do have a sense of humor!
5- Ponderosa Pine Spray One of my favorites too! It looks great with everything!
6-Spinning Kokopelli This one is so much fun, it’s no wonder so many people love it.
7-Cloudy Skies This pattern is so easy and all-purpose!
8- Modern Squares I love seeing the modern masterpieces quilters create with this pattern.
9- Flowerburst This one is featured as the background of our website design. It is also available as a 15″ pattern and a PDF.
10-Maori Moko Maori Moko is such a lovely pattern, it is no wonder that it is always a favorite. It is available in multiple versions to fit any quilt design.
Of course even our “worst” patterns are still pretty amazing, they just may not appeal to as broad a range of quilters. Maybe our 30% off sale for these patterns will help them find just the right home and get them off this list for 2016!
1- Indonesian Puppets If you love Indonesian Puppets, you will love this pattern. Maybe more people should love Indonesian Puppets.
2- Didgeridoo If the Didgeridoo was just included in more orchestral scores or used in just a few rock bands I am sure this pattern would be much more popular.
3- Mayan Glyphs Any of you have any Mayan friends? I bet they would love this pattern!
4-Fleur-de-Lis Spread the word, the fleur-de-lis is not just for Boy Scouts! (What, you mean I was the only one that did not know that?)
5- Bengali Mosaic I am sure there is someone out there looking for just this pattern. If you meet them, please let them know it is here and on sale this month!
6- Ski Slopes Maybe not many quilters like to ski?
7- Egyptian Papyrus These pretty, modern, and stylistic flowers would work for so many designs, not just in an Egyptian themed quilt.
8- Geisha Gardens Doesn’t everybody need at least one Geisha quilt?
9- O Canada It’s pretty chilly up there in Canada and I bet they need a lot of quilts. This should be a perfect combination.
10- Interlocking Anastasia This one is so lovely, I think it just must be overlooked. You won’t pass it over, will you?
