Quilt Whisperer Wednesday #2

Time to see more quilt designs and how I would approach them both.  First up is a quilt pieced by Barb for her new granddaughter, Kelsey:

If Barb wanted a custom job, and perhaps this was going to hang on the wall as a decorative quilt, rather than used as a utility quilt, here would be my quilting:

Again, the above quilting would reflect what I might do if Barb told me this quilt was going to be an heirloom wall hanging, then I would quilt some fancy quilting.

Be sure to notice the border quilting, sometimes it is fun to play off the fabric and use the fabric as your quilting lines.  The other design elements play off of the border fabric, too.

Thread: While the quilting looks busy in the drawing, by choosing thread that will not have any contrast, it will enhance the piecing and add lovely texture to the piece.  For that reason, I would take the time to use threads that match where I am quilting, for instance, the green border would use that shade of green, each flower would be quilted using different colors of thread, and the backgound fabric color would dictate the thread color used in that area.

Here’s a different  plan: Another way I would design this quilt is using a technique borrowed from Suzanne Earley called meandering magic.  This is how it would look used in the background as a filler:

I drew up a few other quilting ideas for this quilt, but I liked the two above the best.

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Remember this quilt from last week for Maggie?  Here it is again to refresh your memory:

I wanted more information before I could suggest some designs. so now I’m ready to suggest:

From a quilting standpoint, a custom quilting job would not show, so I would not suggest it for this quilt.  It is tempting to quilt a large zebra on this quilt, however it would not show, too.  Just for fun, I decided to show you a large zebra and I added some black sections of the quilt so you could see parts of the design:

Obviously, you would not want to quilt a large zebra on this quilt because it would not show.   So what would I suggest?

#1- Panto  or Edge-to-Edge (E2E) that looks like zebra stripes.   Here is a rough drawing to show you:

Another idea if you wanted to practice an all over texture is a different Suzanne meandering Magic using ferns to suggest zebra stripes:

or soften the piecing by quilting rounded swirls on the piecing:

Finally, the quilting I would choose if I were to quilt this quilt would be #1 above, the large faux zebra-ish stripes E2E.

As for thread choice, you could choose a value in between the black and the white, but also be bold and audition red, lime green, or other bright thread or rainbow.   Take the thread off the spool and drape it around both the light and dark areas of the quilt.  How does it look?  This is how I chose my thread colors- using the audition method.

Sit down quilters (Domestic machine users):  The E2E zebra stripes would be the method I would suggest for you.    If done large enough, you could use a walking foot.  If dones smaller, free motion quilters could also create the pattern.

Keep watching!  Each Wednesday I will post an unquilted quilt top and suggest quilting designs.   Regards, Carla