Is it absolutely necessary to quilt around each applique piece? I have a quilt that has a "zillion" small pieces. I'd rather get to the design quilting.

I think I'd have to see the design to be sure, but I don't think you would need to.

I don't think you'd want to, if there is a zillion!! Just the larger pieces?? Make them pop?? Can you post a pic??

I'm making a large, heavily appliquéd quilt, with many smaller parts...I'm planning to quilt around it all because I want them to "pop" and I feel the quilting will give the design more depth. Do you HAVE to? I wouldn't think so, not if it's not what you WANT for your quilt.

I do a lot of applique work with pictorial quilts. In October, I had a few of them judged. The main comment was to make sure there wasn't more than the width of your hand in between quilting. So, depending on what your project is and how you want it to pop should determine how and what you quilt. :)

Nothing is absolute when quilting...whatever you want to do is okay.

your appliques really have nothing to do with your quilting. the batting you use tells you how close you have to quilt, if you are using warm & natural you can have up to 10" apart in your quilting, so you would not have to quilt around any little appliqued areas. some people do not quilt around appliques at all, but only in sashings & borders. it is your quilt and you can do what ever you want, you only have to pay attention to the properties of the materials you are using. some battings say you need to quilt every 2"...read the packaging and choose the batt that will work for your project

I want to see a pic of it anyway! :D Please post one! :thumbup: