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How do you choose a design for quilting on a quilt?
In a way it’s like choosing the fabric for your quilt.
Even when you get a quilt kit with all of the fabric chosen and cut, there are probably fabrics in the box you would rather not use in your quilt. Maybe you even switch those patches with other fabric, so you will love the quilt when you are finished.
Choosing quilting designs is somewhat the same thing.
When you buy a quilt pattern, often there is a suggested quilting design. Sometimes it is just perfect – in your view. Other times, you wouldn’t even consider quilting the quilt that way.
The quilter who designed the pattern thought it was perfect, and therein lies the point – it’s personal preference. And that is why when you get a quilt pattern, it often says “quilt as desired.”
Early in my quilting days, I found some quilting design books. They contained tons of patterns in all different sizes, and served as guides and inspiration for quilting ideas for my quilts.
Most of these designs are taken from vintage quilts. Another perfect place to get ideas.
When you are at a quilt show, take pictures of the quilting designs – whether the quilts are vintage quilts or ones made last week. As you look through books, make notes (or copies) of quilting designs that interest you.
And invest in some quilting design books. Today’s books are much easier to store, since they are smaller in size (mine are about 11 inches by 17 inches). You simply copy the designs and increase or decrease the size to fit your quilt.
All that said, here are some hints to help you choose your design:
* How much is your quilting design going to stand out in your quilt?
* How formal or casual is the quilt?
* What style is the quilt – traditional, contemporary?
* How much do you enjoy quilting?
Part of your quilt is planning for the quilting design, and if you don't have an idea about how you will quilt your quilt, the first question often is - how much quilting do you really need to do?
It's a good question, and one with one of those rather frustrating answers - "It depends."
So, what does it depend on?
Aside from creating a special look for your quilt, one of the most important considerations is the type of batting you have in your quilt.
In the days of 100% cotton batting that included the sticks and seeds, quilting should have been done no further apart than 1 inch.
Quilting further apart than that allowed the batting inside the quilt to shift around during washing, and even as the quilt was used. That resulted in gobs of batting in some places and zero batting in other spaces. Not the most desirable outcome.
Polyester batting just naturally stays together, therefore doesn't require as much quilting. Some manufacturers say that their polyester batting can be quilted up to 6 inches apart.
That makes polyester batting a great choice for a quilt that is tied or when you don't want to do much quilting.
When manufacturers began adding polyester to cotton batting, the requirement for close quilting stitches began to fade away.
Another improvement was when manufacturers started adding a "scrim" to batting.
A scrim is a thin layer that is glued to one side of the batting and helps hold the batting together.
In another improvement, manufacturers began to needlepunch their batting. This also helps keep the batting together, and allows for wider distances between quilting stitches.
The other reason for quilting on a quilt is to make a great design and enhance the beauty of the quilt. (The first reason is to hold the layers of the quilt together!)
When you have a solid fabric or a relatively simple quilt design, having extensive quilting adds a lot to the quilt.
Quilting to Highlight a Design
If you have an interesting block design, or if you are doing appliqué, your quilting stitches can make something either stand out or fade into the background.
This leads into the second question: What kind of stitching can be done on a log cabin quilt?
Like so much in quilting – you can do pretty much anything! But, that’s not really too helpful.
The thing about log cabin quilts is that there are tons of patches – which means lots of seams, and usually fairly small expanses of fabric. Generally the logs in a log cabin are 1- 1½” wide, which doesn’t leave much space for fancy quilting designs without crossing a lot of seams.
While stitching across seams is not difficult, sometimes it interferes with the flow of the quilting design.
To keep it relatively simple, on log cabins, stitch in the ditch.
Sometimes I have added a second row of quilting 1/8” – 1/4 ” away from the first row. Or, if your log cabins make a definite design, such as a heart, you could quilt around the pattern, leaving the actual pattern unquilted so it will stand out.
Then quilt fairly heavily between each of the patterns, so they recess into the background.
EQ7 - Design Made Simple
TIP:
To see what the fabric will look like when it is cut
into small squares, cut a 2" square in the center of a
piece of cardboard or white fabric.
Take it to the fabric store, and then lay it on the
fabric, what shows through the center is what your squares
will look like.
Change the size and shape to match your project (for
example, if you are working with 4" squares, cut the
center to be 4;" if you are working with triangles, cut a
triangle the exact size of the finished piece).
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