Oh yeah, I didn't notice that. Just goes to show you that nothing is new!!

Nancy, I just realized this pattern you posted is actually is the lower trim in the picture. The Romans just put 2 diamonds between each egg.

Great ideas, Rita. I haven't used stencils like these before so that would be fun and challenging.

Nancy, Yes, I can see using that in the inner border. Thanks!

Renata, Great blog! That has been what I have searching for--close ups of quilting on blocks. Perfect.

Thanks, everyone.

Wow, love all the ideas flowing here! And your quilt is very nice. I'm sure it will be even prettier when you get it quilted.

I have been fascinated by Greek/Roman architecture forever. I studied it a little in college. I like the idea of using it in quilting! Thanks for the ideas!

Geneva

Andrée,
I just thought about this blog that I started following very recently--it has some great ideas for quilting blocks and borders. Perhaps something to peruse through...

quiltmekiwi.blogspot.com/

Here is the egg and dart quilting that I was thinking of:



It's simple, but very nice and could add a nice texture to the inner border.

Lovely quilt Lorna. I like Nancy's suggestions too. Here's an alternative suggestion as well. How about a stencil, or even a couple of different ones in the blocks. The first two are more detailed but if you had the right size they would fill the entire block with an alternative pattern which I think could be quite nice.( I don't mean these specific stencils but ones of your choosing.) The third one, though a simpler pattern is more difficult because it is not a continuous line stencil so there would be a lot of starting and stopping.






My other suggestion is that you could do a continuous curve between the points of the little squares on-point on the Irish Chain blocks.
I love the egg and dart images you posted and I have never seen that particular one on a window, fence or anything before, so thank you for that. But I am not sure that pattern would show up on the wider sashing border on your quilt because of the fabric, unless you use a very strong contrasting thread. I have used that motif several times in my quilts and love it. You don't need a stencil for it to work, just a circle template the right size. If you need help figuring it out I can tell you.

Thanks Nancy, I was think the same about the quilting in the alternate blocks (straight lines and feathers). Also I like the idea of doing continuous curved quilting. It'll how up the pieced blocks well. Thanks!

Now egg and dart sounds really cool! I'll have to look into that. I've been sort of fascinated with egg and dart since I saw it in Houston and then you see what I saw in Rome!

The first picture is the first time I saw egg and dart on a quilt, this was at the Houston quilt show. I think this border is actually inked though.



The second picture are maybe the 'original' egg and darts! I took this photo on Palantine HIll of detail of ruins of one of the palaces there. It's near the Roman Forum

Great quilt and sounds like a fun process too!
I like Nancy's suggestions.

Barb

Great ideas, Nancy. Do you have a picture of the "egg and dart"? I'm not sure what design that is.

Hi Lorna -

How to quilt it partly depends on how densely you want it quilted. If you want to keep it soft and snuggly but still have nice quilting, my first thoughts are to quilt the blocks with continuous curves. (This is where you quilt from point-to-point in the piecing using a curved line.) I would still SID everything first because I think that gives a cleaner finish to the quilting. Then, in the setting blocks I would quilt a straight line through the centers of the little squares. Then maybe a feather motif in the blank triangles.

For the borders, maybe piano keys or beadboard or another straight line quilting in the outer border to continue the straight lines into the border. The most narrow border I would leave alone. Then the inner border maybe egg & dart to match the curves of the continuous curves and feathers.

Just a quick thought without thinking too much......

Your January finish is a fun quilt, great colors and crisp design, Lorna. Not sure what I would do with quilting the last one you posted but simple block quilting with a curved line design seems to talk to me for the different blocks.

I have nothing to contribute in the way of answering your question, Lorna, but I wanted to say Wowzers! What a beautiful top!

Lorna, That quilt is beautiful. I wouldn't want to do an all-over pattern on it either. I think I would do the individual blocks in a way to enhance each individual design of the block and something more uniform in the rest of it. This is where I always get stumped too. Although I must say its getting a bit better for me. I'll be eager to hear what others have to say. Good luck.