how would you quilt this?
 

I made a "Vertical Visions" quilt from the book Batik Gems. I want to FMQ it, but I don't know what to do. I think a vertical design, along each of the sections would be good, but I can't figure out a design to use. (Note the picture is sideways, so I'm looking to quilt in the horizontal sections, in this photo) I definitely don't want feathers, although I've seen them done nicely in this format. Any ideas or suggestions for me?

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Here is just one suggestion for you.

There is a product called Quilter's Preview Paper made by Quilter's Touch @

http://www.quilterstouch.com/previewpaper

It isn't really a paper as much as a roll of thicker plastic with black borders at top and bottom. The idea is to put this on top of your quilt and use a felt tip pen to draw your quilting design. The black borders are to prevent you from drawing on your quilt. You can easily wipe off the pen drawing and start again. This way you can play around with what you think you like best on your quilt. Once you try it you'll love it.

ali

I think that a stipple stitch (or meander) would work well :)

Beautiful colors!

Thanks for the suggestions. I have some transparencies, so maybe I'll try sketching a few things and see if that inspires me. All I can think of is vines & leaves - I was hoping someone here would be more creative than me :) I really don't want to just do a meander - that's my "fall back, I don't know what to do" stitch, and this quilt is for a gift so I don't want to take the easy way out.

I agree. Great quilt.

Maybe a leafy branch design that matches the border print.

Very pretty quilt!

How close/heavy do you want to quilt?? If you want to do a lot of quilting .....

I think I would handle it like I would handle a sampler quilt and treat each 'block' differently. I'd try to mix curved lines and straight lines as much as I could.

Check out Leah Day's site ... thinking designs like Swirling Water, Desert Sand, Ocean Current, Pebble Paisley, Fiery Commet ... in some rectangles, and straight line designs in a few of the others to break it up/mix it up.

I would put a circular pattern in the square patch blocks - something like her Sea Oat Flower.

I would SITD around the black bars and around the square blocks in the borders.

The borders I think Leah's H2O design of lines with circles would unite everything together.

Love this quilt. Can't wait to see how you quilt it!

Thanks DogHouseMom. I don't want to quilt it too heavily, but maybe I can get some inspiration from those pages and come up with something light to us.
tesspug, I like that idea, if I can figure out how to translate it in thread.

I don't have any suggestions, but I love your quilt. There is something intriguing about it. I keep going back to take another look at it.

Forest Quilting Master List FREE Patterns


I am not sure if this will link or not, but their website has lots of free patterns and ideas. Good luck, love the quilt top.

Going against everybody, I think I would quilt rectangles like the ones you have, only offset so they look like shadows. Transparencies are a great idea!

Can't help with the quilting but I just LOVE the colors in your quilt.

You can go to a hardware store of W-M and purchase some clear tablecloth plastic and draw on that. It is easy to erase and use over and over.

As you indicated that you want to do something in the vertical of the bars, have you considered doing a larger vertical and not quite so "viney" version of the vine and flowers that are in your border fabric?

Well, I took the plunge. Loaded the top last night, and started quilting after dinner today. I combined a bunch of your ideas, and came up with tall curvy spikes in the rectangles, outlining the black bars and border squares, and spirals in the 16-patch blocks. I couldn't make the tree/vine and flowers work out in a way I liked, so I had to pass on that. I hope it looks good when I'm done.

I noticed that leafy branch in the border too. It would look great as a free motion design.