Doodling With a Sewing Machine?

Happy Summer!  Doodling in colouring books is all the rage. It is said that colouring is relaxing and therapeutic.
I think summer is not only a time to relax and reflect, but sometimes that reflection can lead to more creative, outside of the box thinking. So why not doodling by machine?
  
I made arrangements with a friend (Marg) to get together and try a new technique that I am calling " Doodling".  You could call it "Zen doodling" by machine (it was fun and zen relaxing) and then you add colour to it.
This project has repetitive patterning somewhat similar to Zen Tangling in pen and ink.  
Today I am going to share what I did, see below.

Draw your thoughts /doodle, designs, daydreams on 100% white or light cotton "quilt top" using a frixion pen (it heat erases with the iron)

Sandwich your quilt top with batting and backing at this point, make sure to baste your layers!

Free motion doodle on top of your drawn lines with a heavy weight (40wt or heavier) black cotton thread, Free motion foot on and feed dogs down.

As you can see some of my pen doodles I did not like so I did not doodle them in by machine **Caution -use removable ink like a washout marker or frixion (heat erasable pen) to mark doodles on your fabric

Black thread doodling completed!

Time to add Colour!

I used fabric pens and intense pencils, check out the resource list at the end of this post for where to find supplies

more colouring...

Check out my crazy backing fabric. Its effective at hiding all the dense black stitching! So very recommended

I added a black binding as it frames all the crazy colours, designs and allows your eyes a chance to rest

TA DA! My finished Machine Doodled Quilt!

"My Secret Garden" 18 x 21"

Resources (what I used):
Black thread from Connecting Threads
Inktense Pencils
Aloe Vera Gel (to spread out the ink from the intense pencils (use small paint brushes for this)
Frixion Markers (to draw the designs on the fabric)
Fabric Markers
80/20 Batting (2 layers recommended but well basted, makes your project have great texture)
505 Quilt Basting Spray

Additional Resources Needed:
An iron (used to remove any unwanted Frixion Pen lines)
A ruler for grid patterns in the background
A Sewing Machine in good working order (feed dogs down)
A free motion foot
Some Free Motion Experience
A creative mind
​Allow yourself the time to do this!

In the end it was a very enjoyable technique and I am sure I will try this more.

I hope you try it  (if you do send us your pictures to show and share) and have a wonderful week! ❤️