suehenyon wrote:
You wil over and over again see that types of quilting thread, patterns and density of quilting is a personal taste. But if you look at it this way: If you want something to stand out, an applique f ex, if you quilt around it it will stand out even more. Depending on what batting you are using it can get a trapunto feel to it if densly quilted. It does not need to be some spectacular type of quilting, but in the same color as the backgound fabric. I have even changed color of a fabric that didnt work well using dens quilting :shock: If you are unsure make 3 sandwichs ( 7" sqs should be enough!) , draw a circle on each of them and quilt with different denseties on it and you can tell what will work for you and the quilt.
But; as I alway say: The most important is to have fun while doing the FMQ!

Rosemary, I've also thought about this subject. Certainly the accepted current tread is for the quilting to really steal the show when it comes to show quality quilts. Not to say that the piecing skills or designs aren't valued, but a winning quilt now has to be stupendous in both areas, or at the least, in the quilting area. The video on the Daily blog with the quilts from Road to California shows this on many of the quilts. Isn't that Lord of the Rings quilting something ?!
Quilts of long ago, however, had quilting to hold it together--the quilting was a more subtle design element and there for a purpose, but not meant to be the star of the show like now.
I love all the breathtaking designs, the shine, the artistry of the winning show quilts. But I don't think you'd want to sleep underneath one---I imagine it would feel like corrugated cardboard.
So, at least in my perhaps over simplistic mind, there is magnificent quilting for show, wall or art quilts, and less dense quilting meant to be pretty but not so dominant for our bed quilts that we want to be cozy.

Here's a thought - How about a block of the month 'quilt' that is exactly that a QUILT :shock: , either 'whole cloth' or 'quilt as you go' with no piecing (except construction seams) or applique.
We could even try to organise a round robin design team
Lets get the quilting back into the quilts

yours in the cause

Rosemary

Amo, Quilter's Newsletter Magazine published an article re how quilting makes the quilt and had several good pictures of sam e block but with different quilting designs...I believe the article discussed tips on how to get to the final design stage also. This article was published a few years ago....

Most of my quilting tends to be sets of parallel lines- something very close to "echo" quilting. I haven't seen a lot of other quilts by which to guage the density of my quilting but I tend to think of mine as moderately dense. I also use a cross-hatching technique whereby the quilting creates a grid-like pattern; I usually use different colors of thread depending on the direction of the quilting as a way to subtley highlight the pieced pattern.

Isn't the density of stitchiing a matter of personal taste?

Ooo Posy, that is soooooo spooky! I was thinking along similar lines just a moment ago. :shock:

Last night I was hand quilting at about half an inch.
This morning I watched a Pam Holland video and she does minute stitching at about a sixteenth.
I have just been upstairs on the Bernina doing random meanderings on a tool roll I'm making for Daughter at about quarter inch and I was thinking that if I was doing this downstairs on the Nolting the lines would be at least an inch apart!!!

I know the closer they are the less drape there is and I was wondering if I was doing it too close for the tool roll to roll nicely.

Perhaps it has something to do with the speed and scale of it all in the head. Fast machine under your nose, pack it all in. A bit further away and swoop it across the fabric. Slow and steady by hand and just relax.

Having just followed the links on this thread - which are great - I was struck by just how dense all the stitching is! especially when compared to antique quilts. Now I know that they are hand stitched and this is a machine stitching thread, but what is it about machine stitching that seems to make it necessary to stitch the quilt to within a 1/4 inch of its' life, instead of giving the lines of stitching some space to breath and the wadding(batting) a chance to do what it wants to do, which is to bounce up and trap air.

Is part of the answer to do with the fact that most pieces appear to be for hanging on walls instead of draping over beds? I don't know - does anyone else have a theory about this?

yours in the cause.

Rosemary

Try going to 365 days of machine quilting blog:

http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

Oooooh, aaaaaah, I loved that video! If you had the sound on, notice the surf crashing & birds singing in the background -- inspiration! Now, how to translate that drawing into a quilt . . . Kathy B.

I am just learning to machine quilt... I have collected a large number of books about the techniques and various patterns. I have also been watching several machine quilting DVDs... Patti Thompson and Karen McTavish being the best.

I have been practicing on a panel quilt my daughter made but I finished. I am kind of quilting all over just to get my movements down no real pattern just following lines on the panel.

For my pieced block quilts right now I am quilting using MARY MATCHTUA's method with modification... she was featured on one of TQS's season showing us how to make contact paper patterns then to quilt around them using a walking foot... I do the pattern but I usually use my quilting foot..... It seems to work pretty good.

So far I have not used a commercial quilting pattern cause my main interest right now is just gaining control of the quilt top under the machine.

I'm also pretty left-brained and have a hard time imagining or drawing ideas in my head. But I'm a good copier !

And I do know what will "fit" or what I like when I see it. I borrowed a book from the library I've never heard of which has many quilting designs, most of them would be applicable to individual blocks:

1000 Great Quilting Designs for Hand or Machine Stitching, Luise Roberts, Reader's Digest, 2004 ISBN 0-7621-0490-2

If nothing else, it will certainly give you some good jumping off points.

Sue

You know, now I think about it most of my quilts are using no-mark filler patterns that I make up as I go along. Let the quilt talk to you. Use different patterns behind motifs here and there, and vary the patterns in different areas to create areas of interest. Repeat them again here and there to create some sort of order.
I'm not an all over panto girl at all...I prefer custom quilting for each quilt.
Each area of the quilt might suggest different things to you if you listen carefully to the quilt. Some areas that have heaps of geometry will look lovely with curved line quilting, and areas with curves will look great with more geometric lines- its all about contrast.
Its so much fun to decide what to do where.
One thing I do that can make life MUCH easier if you can't decide what you want to quilt, is to take an overhead projector sheet and draw the design you are considering onto it with a fine permanent marker. You can also get different coloured markers to give you an idea of how it will look when quilted up. Once you have the design on acetate you can easily place it over the quilted area and see if you like what the quilt design will do to the top or not.
Its no drama to do this with many different designs until you discover just the right one for the quilt!

[/quote] It's all your fault that I have been zentangling all weekend.
Karen[/quote]

I think that's a good thing, now you'll be making fabulous art quilts with free-motion quilting! I think this has great potential for all of us.
I agree, doodling is fun