Baptist fan quilting by hand

[Juliet W.]

Two photos, one of the front and one of the back. The photos really bring out the reds in the quilt but they are not as shocking as they look, I am actually quite pleased with the result considering I didn't agonize as much as usual! Thank you for the help Margo, I had to print out the Tips for the Forum and then slowly go at it, I couldn't see how to get a photo out of my Picasa file but had to use boring old My Pictures instead. In the preview I see that if you click on the photo it gets bigger which is quite helpful, don't know if this will happen when it's posted though. Here goes!!

[Rita C.]

Well it seems to me that you could mark up your centre panel to begin with and take it from there. Start at one side and mark the whole centre and then you can start the stitching from the centre. But I am not an expert at all - just very opinionated :lol: I am sure there are lots of other quilters with a ton of hand quilting experience who could probably advise you better.

[Margo C.]

Margarita, I'm not sure this is what you had in mind, but when I saw the back, I immediately thought that this clamshell/fan would work great there. Because you said that you wanted it done quickly, I would just do a simple cross-hatching in the center of the quilt. From the front it will probably be a simple task to just quilt diagonals across the piecing. Hope this helps!

[Juliet W.]

What a clever lady you are Margo! I love your idea, so simple and quick but effective. As for being able to draw lines on the photo I am more than impressed, I suppose that is a computer program you use?
The back panel has nothing to do with the dimensions on the front, I just loved the fabric and wanted to use it up here and never gave a moment's thought to the quilting. Next time I will know better, why do I have to learn by huge mistakes?!!

This is the quilt I got on the forum for help with centering the front and back and that's when I learned that really I should have basted red thread through the crosslines to see better. The chalk and the markers just didn't work for me on batting. However, I am pleased to say that the back panel meets perfectly at the short ends with the outside edge of the first border. Lengthwise it is a different story, 2.5 inches on one side and 1.75 inches on the other into the first border.

I think I can cross-hatch the central front panel and the next border and then put the clamshell/fan in the outside border. The last two borders measure 10 inches together which I think is enough for the clamshell/fan. What do you think?

[Margo C.]

Because the fabrics on the front of the quilt are so busy, your quilting will not show up much anyway, so why not quilt it from the back? It will be lots easier to see your markings there!

As for drawing on the picture, it just so happens that TODAY (March 3, 2012) is the first day of an on-line class by the Pixiladies about how to do this using PhotoShop Elements! The class is offered by Carla Barrett's Step on Pins web site and you can probably still sign up if you are interested:
http://moodle.steponpins.com/
(There are several TQS members taking the class!)

I work on a Wacom Bamboo Touch/Pen tablet that came with PhotoShop Elements software.
http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Bamboo-P.../dp/B002OOWC3S

[Juliet W.]

My poor husband, I cannot spend any more time quilting!! How interesting, I thought it might be photoshop - probably because that's the only one I have heard about! I shall quilt from the front as I can use the block lines for masking tape and the two skinny borders will give it some order then clamshell/fans in the outside borders. Thank you so much for all your help, I appreciate it more than you can know down here on Planet Venezuela! However we do have supermarkets and I think I had better get out and go to one.

[Juliet W.]

You can do a similar thing in Windows Paint, just be careful to change the title of the file/picture after your alterations!

[Juliet W.]

Thank you Posy P, I shall have a look at the Windows Paint thing when I get a chance. I love your half triangle quilt, what vision!

[Juliet W.]

Thank you Posy P, I shall have a look at the Windows Paint thing when I get a chance. I love your half triangle quilt, what vision!

Why, thank you.

Sometimes you just see ideas in the minds eye and know that they will work. For this one I saw the borders, then with help from my friends here, went looking for patterns that were built on hsts and when I couldn't decide between the final 2 decided to use them both. But I was not able to go completely random with the colours - it didn't 'taste right' to me.