Tulle overlay for portrait quilts? Need advice!
 

This is my first portrait quilt and I am quite pleased with how it looks so far. With that being said, I am scared to death to quilt it!

I watched a Youtube series by Lea McComas and she adds a tulle overlay before she quilts, her rationale being that she wants to avoid fraying while she sews down the small pieces. I am just not sure about the tulle overlay though- it kind of blurs the portrait and makes it seem less striking.

I took two pictures.... the first with no tulle and the second with a light silvery gray tulle overlay. I don't know if you can see a difference or not, but does anyone have any opinions? Tulle or no tulle? And if anyone has ever completed a portrait quilt with/without tulle, I would love to see a picture, if you wouldn't mind posting one. Thanks in advance :)

Wow that is amazing for a first portrait quilt, on my monitor there is not much difference! Great first quilt!!!

Anxious to see when finished!

Lovely portrait quilt.

As for the tulle - I took a class with Bonnie McCaffrey where we used tulle to cover the quilt before quilting. She did a demonstration about how different color tulle can make a huge difference in getting the look you want for your quilt.

A black tulle or another color may make your quilt pop even more. The silvery grey may not do that. If you can take your quilt to a place that has a lot of tulle colors you can try different ones.

I was thinking that a dark purple may be interesting!

Is oi ever goling to be used, or is it a wall hanging? If its going to never be used ie wall hanging don't use tulle. Otherwise use tulle.

Where you heavily stitch the tulle will disappear. If there are areas that you don't plan on a heavy stitch you can cut the tulle away.

fantastic, I've never done one, and yours is outstanding.
the second one looks slightly softer. I wouldn't have noticed unless you pointed it out.

gorgeous quilt

I agree with Go Sew - different colors of tulle will make a huge difference in what the portrait looks like! Do try out several different colors of tulle because I just know you will be surprised at the difference they make! Love your portrait!