how to decide???
 

How do you decide what design to use when doing your own machine quilting? I find that there are little or no guidelines for this. Lots of hints and tips for everything else but not this. Right now, it's a multi-coloured bright wonky log cabin that is sandwiched and awaiting my decision as to how to quilt. Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

There's a really great book by Melody Crust entitled A Fine Line; Techniques and Inspirations for Creating the Quilting Design. It teaches you many strategies to use when deciding exactly what quilting pattern will take your creation to the next level. It's truly a great book...I loaned mine out two years ago and haven't seen it since. :(

You're right, it is hard to find any guidelines, and I think that is because there are no right answers to this question. It's a matter of artistry to decide what to quilt. There are books that show the same pattern quilted different ways, or that show lots of patterns, and there are classes that are designed to help you be better able to pick out designs, but still it's all up to you. Think of it as if you are looking at a canvas and deciding what kind of picture to paint, but someone has already painted a picture (the quilt) on the canvas, so you are adding to it.

Thanks for the tip! I just ordered that book - used - on Amazon.

How about the square dance pattern Charisma showed us a few days ago?

I wholeheartedly agree with Dunster. There are a few books that might help, but I find looking at quilted tops at quilt shows and online and finding what I think looks nice helps me more then anything. Asking myself questions like: is the quilt for a boy or girl? It is a traditional pattern? Modern pattern? Will it be used a lot, washed a lot or hung up as a piece of art?

I find that sometimes the quilt will tell me how to quilt it......I know, that sounds weird, but the quilt pattern or design in the fabric will often give me an idea how to quilt. For instance, if I have a bright, fun, funky little girl's quilt, I'm not going to put a traditional pattern like clamshells or baptist fans on it, I'm going to use something like funky flowers. But I won't put those funky flowers on a quilt made from civil war reproduction fabrics - then I'd use the clamshells or baptist fans.

So first look at the fabrics used, and think about who the quilt is going to be for, since you probably don't want hearts or flowers on a quilt for a man. And decide if you want to do custom quilting or an overall design. If the fabric is busy and the quilt is meant to be dragged around and used a lot, an overall design will probably work fine. If there are lots of open spaces of plainer fabrics, or lots of applique, then custom might be the way to go.

The other thing that has helped me tremendously in knowing what to put on a client's quilt, is studying other quilts at quilt shows, in books, and online. I spend a lot of time looking at the QUILTING, not just the piecing or colors, to find what works and what doesn't work. And as someone else said, there is no right and wrong, it's a matter of individual preference. Some people love feathers, others don't really care for them, some love dense quilting, others think it's too much.

If you can post a photo, maybe we can help you with some suggestions.

me too. I've been eyeing it for awhile. This thread made up my mind. Thanks ;-)

Thanks to all of you! I will check out that book. In the center of my wonky log cabin blocks, I have wonky houses. I have machine quilted around them but still don't know what to do with the "logs" ...especially since they are of various widths.