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My cousin Donna who lives in Alaska is a quilter…just my luck a quilter in a family and she lives so far away. We chat occasionally via facebook and she shares pictures of project that she’s done. Recently she asked if I would machine quilt a quilt she had just finished for her brother’s wedding. I said sure. Little did I know it was this?!?!
It’s beautiful and she’s done amazing work on it. Her seams are perfect…did I mention it’s king sized too??
I am at a loss on how to tackle the quilting. She’d like it to rise and fall with the design which makes perfect sense. I am nervous though as once the quilt is rolled, I can’t see the design.
Any advice from any machine quilters…I need a boost of confidence and some sound advice. I just don’t want to ruin this beauty for her.
I would be nervous also! Definitely needs something simple and it needs to “move” with the pattern to keep that gorgeousness going!
I’m not worried! I’m sure whatever you do will turn out beautiful and Paul will love it!
I would follow the lines of color with the quilting or stitch in the ditch which is probably a pain to do to keep the lines straight. Good Luck
can you pin it sideways on the quilting frame and have your design follow the colors as you quilt?
If so i would do white on white feathers on the white parts where they’ll really stand out, and follow the darker colors with alternating sets of diagonal waves and pebbles.
It would mean lots of stops and starts and changing out the top thread colors as you go, but the end effect will be sooo worth it.
You will do a beautiful job Jo, you are great on that quilting machine, we have all seen your work. Now for me, my son and daughter in law went to Montana on vacation and bought me this really expensive quilt kit, Holy Cow I am a newbie at quilting and have no idea where to begin with this thing, maybe in a year or so.
You go for it and it will be great.
Re: perfect seams
Well Jo, her Gma is Aunt Agnes. We couldn’t expect anything less!
Thats a beautiful quilt. I dont have any ideas but Im sure you will figure it and it will be great. Cant wait to see it when its done.
I recently did a similar kind of quilt for a customer – it was fun but challenging too! I would do three different designs on this baby – separating them out by the color value of light, medium and dark because you know you will have to be changing thread colors. The really light color (white, cream, tan), I would do a feather (because it shows up so well and moves!), in the medium browns I would be checking out Angela Walters’ Craftsy class, “Small Changes, Big Variety” and play with that in that section, and in the dark I would use one of Angela’s totally fun geometric, hard edges that move. I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose for this quilt!!!
I have done one like that. I quilted it diagonally with thread to match. it gives it depeth.
Does “rise and fall with the design” mean less quilting in the light color and more dense quilting in the dark color?
If you used white/ecru/tan thread throughout with this idea, would it give it a little sparkle in the darker colors but keep the paler sections light and airy?
Whatever you do, it will enhance this gorgeous quilt!!
(p.s. there are no quilt police!)
There is a bargello in an American Patchwork & Quilting magazine from several years ago. It was made by Maebeth Oxenreider. Hope I spelled her name correctly! The quilting was fantastic, some feathers following the strips, and some lines. Maybe you can find that magazine for some suggestions.
First, this bargello is fabulous. I made a superking for my sister in 2010 and appreciate the work and precision of such a beautiful piece. I see 3 color “paths” in this quilt.
Although I am not a feather fan….my first thought was actually the lightest white/ecru needs feathers to flow the entire length using a like-color thread so that if floats but is not ‘in your face’.
Leaves and vines with swirls could work nicely in another color ‘path’ and then a geometric in the 3rd ‘path’.
I wonder if this piece isn’t worth basting first. Then you can load that thread and do those feathers. Pull the zippers off and lay it out and see what speaks to you next. Once a particular motif is in place it may well lead you to the next.
This is definitely a piece worth some reflection and thought. Your quilting is wonderful Jo. I have complete faith that you will both love the outcome of your art :-)
You could do the same design all over and vary the scale as you move to a different colour. I think that would give movement, but wouldn’t be made too difficult by not seeing the whole quilt at once.
My only suggestion is to use your digital camera or phone and take photos of it all spread out, so you can refer to that while you have it rolled on the machine. It might eliminate having to remove from the machine for the three different paths. I would be asking for input and completely nervous, too. I think definitely some curvy quilting of some sort, but wowza! How to pick what to do.. . good luck and keep us posted! :)
Beautiful quilt! I made a similar quilt. My machine quilter quilted feathers down the lighter part, combining several rows, and a diagonal design on the darker rows. It looks stunning and I’m sure this quilt will too when you’re done. I wish Donna lived in my AK town so I could see her other quilts!
Wow… what a beautiful quilt! I do wish we could have seen how you ended up quilting it. I know it was spectacular.