How should I quilt this?

[Nancy R.]

The decision of whether to ditch or not depends on the look you are going for. If you want to emphasize the piecing, then ditch stitching is the place to start. If the piecing is off by much, then ditching can emphasize that, too. If you get a quilt professionally quilting, then it will most often not be ditched unless you are paying for fairly high custom because ditch stitching takes so much more time. There are ways to highlight the piecing without ditching by doing things like "continuous curves", where you sew a curved like from point to point rather than following the straight ditch. You can also get a cool, contemporary look by ignoring the piecing completely with your quilting. It really all depends on what you want your quilt to look like and how much time you want to spend quilting it. As with all parts of quilting, there are no rules (except to put in enough quilting to hold the quilt together).

[Susan B.]

Like

[Betty J.]

I really like all the suggestions here for you, but I just wanted to say that I started out not liking the quilting as much as making the top and now, though I like top making just as much, I think I enjoy the quilting more. It took me a while to get to that point. It's all a matter of practice and figuring out the kinds of quilting you like best. Nothing wrong with nice walking foot quilting...sometimes it is just what is needed.

[Deborah W.]

Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate it! I am ready to tackle this project and think I will do the ditch and echo quilting with my walking foot. You are all so encouraging and knowledgeable. I think my biggest quilting fear is that I will destroy a project that I have worked on. BUT I will never learn if I don't try...so thanks for all the suggestions.

[Deborah W.]

Debbie, I'm wondering how your table runner turned out?

I am just sandwiching a full sized quilt and was thinking of asking my TQS gals for advice on the quilting. It will be the FIRST time I will machine quilt a full sized quilt. I know how you feel about not wanting to spoil a project you've worked on.

Thanks to all the encouragement here on TQS, especially with my mug rugs, I am going to do this. I just have to keep thinking ' I'm not an idiot, I'm not an idiot, I can do this...etc."

I signed up for a Craftsy class on machine quilting with Wendy Butler Berns and she says to SID the main sections - maybe about 8 inches or so, depending on the pattern, and along the borders etc. She doesn't say ESS.

I have to buy more pins because I have used over 100 on just a third of the sandwich - is that too much or just enough?

The pattern is Churn Dash, so I was thinking of SID around each 12 inch block, then around each churn/monkey wrench pattern. Then try my Walking Foot for cross hatching the background. Then I read on this topic that if you have geometric patterns, you should use curvy quilting.
Any advice? Would a wide Baptist fan look good?

[wendy w.]

Blooming heck Terrie you certainly have your mojo back. All those mug rugs and now a full sized quilt!

[E.M. T.]

Terrie...if you like cross hatch...then do cross hatch !! There are no rules !!! Absoutely nothing wrong with that !

[Sherry B.]

Debbie, your runner is beautiful! Quilting is the most challenging part of any project for me! This is one when I would probably stitch in the ditch. You might consider using Monopoly from Superiors Threads with Bottom line in the bobbin. I use my edge stitch foot (Bernina #10) to help me stay in the ditch.

[Nancy R.]

Hi Terrie -

If you pin too much, the quilt will get too heavy to move and you'll have difficulty getting half of the quilt under the machine to quilt the middle, which is generally the best place to start to avoid puckers. The rule of thumb for pinning is approximately 4" apart, about the width of your hand. You could need more if you have slippery fabrics or some other complication like that. It also can depend on your quilting style, and that will just come with experience. I don't know the size of your quilt, but say you have a quilt that is 80"x80". If you are pinning 4" apart, you would use about 400 pins.

As for quilting design, you are free to do whatever you want. This is your piece of art. The only rules are to put in enough stitching to secure the layers through washing or whatever plans you have for the future of the quilt, and keeping the density fairly even to keep the quilt from getting wonky (unless wonky is what you want -- it's your quilt). I've always disagreed with Cindy Needham's ESS stitching. You want to do SID in all seams that you want to be viewed as seams. You don't want to stitch seams that you don't want to emphasize, like seams where you had to connect your background fabric pieces together around you pattern (hope that makes sense). And if you're doing an all over, like Baptist Fans, then, in my opinion, SID would fight with your all-over texture.

Baptist Fan would look wonderful on a traditional pattern like Churn Dash. It might be a more difficult pattern to try on your first big quilt because traditionally this pattern is quilted from the outside in or from bottom to top, but you have to weigh that with what moves you for this quilt. Cross-hatch would also look wonderful. You could cross-hatch the whole quilt or you could decide to break up the designs and cross-hatch the centers of the churn dashes and do something different in the bars and half-square triangles and something else in the backgrounds. You could alternate designs in every other block. The sky's the limit! Sometimes doing the same thing in every block can get boring while you are doing the quilting, sometimes changing things up can be overwhelming while you are doing the quilting. That depends on your personality. One rule of thumb is that if you are using several different quilting motifs, try to reuse elements in other parts of the quilt to unify things. So, if you have cross-hatching in your blocks, you might want to quilt piano keys in the border to repeat the straight lines. Like you say, it also adds interest to combine straight lines and curves, so that's something to look at. Could be curved quilting to contrast with your straight lines in the piecing. Could be swirls in the block backgrounds to contrast with cross-hatching in the block centers.

It all comes down to -- do what makes you happy. If it makes you happy, it's the perfect design choice. Enjoy the experience. Don't stress over perfection. Whew, sorry this got to be so long!!!

[Nancy R.]

Thank you so much for all the information. Based on what you say, I think I should spread out my pins a bit more. I just went to the big box fabric store and bought 300 more for this project. Maybe being a beginner, I'm over-doing it? lol

I know it all comes down to what makes me happy, but right now what would make me happy is if I got this machine quilted and it would be my first big machine-quilted quilt. Not so particular about the design, but I want something doable, and that wouldn't intimidate me more than I already have been.
Many thanks.

[Nancy R.]

The other thing you might think about is the fabric. I haven't seen it so I don't know what you used. If you used your beautiful modern fabrics (I know you have them -- I've seen them in your beautiful mug rugs!), then I would think about doing something modern, like not-so-straight lines down the quilt ignoring the piecing. This would be simple, especially if you make sure to weave a little and space the line irradically so it looks totally improvisational. You would still get the experience of wrangling the quilt through your machine. But only if this appeals to you and matches the feel of the quilt.

Otherwise, is there a particular quilting design that you feel comfortable with? My first machine quilted quilt was a king size basketweave. I didn't know to be afraid, so I just went for it. I did SID between the blocks, but not inside the blocks. Inside the blocks I ignored the piecing and did a simple freehand flower like a 3-year-old might draw ('cause that's the level of my drawing skills). In the borders I quilting a curvy line with leaves coming off because I've always been really comfortable with leaves. I had 3 borders, so I alternated the direction of the quilting in each border. I still love that quilt. And it turned out well because each motif was something that I was comfortable with. Just throwing out some more ideas for you.....

[Nancy R.]

My tuppence worth - use your walking foot for any SID work as well as anywhere else you can use it.

[Rita C.]

And my tuppence worth - if you SID around each block remember that you are then only ever working on a block at a time when it comes to any other quilting, which is not so daunting. Also, think about drawing an imaginary couple of lines through your quilt to create 4 quarters and only ever work on one quarter at a time that way you will never have more than half of your quilt in the harp space of your machine at one time. If you decide to do hatching you will need to draw your grid lines carefully so that they don't get out of whack between the blocks but once that is done then you can use your walking foot. If you decide to do FMQ, work on one block at a time but make sure you do some practice on a practice sandwich each day before you go near the real thing. But whatever you decide to do take your time and enjoy the process. Good luck and I look forward to seeing a photo of the quilt when you finish it.

[Susan B.]

Terrie, if it's not too late, FWIW, I wouldn't unpin just to move pins. It's too hard on the hands. Just take out the pins as you go.

[E.M. T.]

Can't even imagine what that must be like !! I'll never complain about a piddly
few inches again ! We are expecting a few more....but might be
mixed with rain at this elevation....with all the ice..might not be a lot o' fun ! :blink: