Thursday, October 29, 2015

The quilting

I was quite happy when I walked by the quilt and saw...

the quilting that was showing up because of the light coming in from the window. I knew what I wanted to quilt in the dark triangles ...
 

cross hatching using the width of a ruler and ...
 

the same but less lines in the smaller triangles. 
 
But when it came to those beige rectangles, I wasn't so sure. I could have left them as is or I could have quilted straight lines diagonally across to form a large X.

But then I thought I could use one of my quilt stencils. I love using just parts of them - they are so versatile.

After placing each one on top of the rectangle, I decided on this one. It was the correct width.

These are my marking tools. Pencil crayons and a ruler - if I need it.
 
 Placement wasn't hard since the edges of the stencil were about the width of the block and I just had to make sure that the centre of the diamond lined up.

So, that was finally decided and done. It took me a couple of days to think about it since I really was just going to quilt straight diagonal lines to make a long X.

I think the double diamond will add a little more interest. Doing anything fancy is a waste of time and effort when you're trying to quilt on a printed piece of fabric. It just won't show up so hopefully, this will help.
 
BTW, I use a polyester batting so it's nice and light in weight and the quilting shows up wonderfully. Flat batting just doesn't do it for me and I find it hard to quilt through. The lines of the pencil crayons fade during the quilting process and what remains doesn't really show. I've never washed a finished quilt because I don't use anything on them that I need to get rid of. I like the look of a newly quilted quilt.

9 comments:

  1. That stencil is so right for the beige, are you quilting this by hand? Lovely colour combination, it shows off the blue so well.

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  2. Hand quilting looks so great here. I too use polyester batting in my quilts, it is what the shops have to offer here. I just don't want it too thick because I use my sewing machine for quilting.

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  3. Hello Dolores,

    Gosh you do a lot of work on your quilts, hand quilting is just so beautiful, you are to be congratulated on hand quilting.

    Happy days.
    Bev.

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  4. this is certainly NOT instant gratification ! If I were to ever attempt to make a quilt It would take me fifty years.

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  5. LOVING the quilting, Dolores. I like poly batting for loft and being lightweight - the two comforters I have on my bed both have poly. I also like using a flannel sheet for batting, it gives a nice vintage look and isn't hard to quilt through - great for a lighter weight quilt when you don't need so much warmth. But my favorite is Warm and Natural.

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  6. Oh...I LOVE this quilt...and your quilting is going to be the icing on the cake!!
    P

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  7. Dolores, thank you for sharing your methods and so helpfully with photos. When it comes to quilting the quilt, I need all the help I can get and what you've mentioned is very true to what I've found through experimentation. Lovely work you are doing.

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  8. Good choices for your quilting on this one.

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  9. Love this post and seeing your tools and stencils :)
    Enjoy your quilting!

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