Quilting...can it be overdone?
04-20-2012, 03:57 AM
#21
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Northern Wisconsin
Posts: 7,991
I prefer heavier quilting. There is something about the texture of it after it is washed. I could run my hands on it all day long. Some of my smaller projects, I purposely quilt really heavy just so I get that. If the thread matches the quilt, it doesn't take away from the quilt itself. That's just my opinion. 
04-20-2012, 07:19 AM
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 862
Oh, yes, it can be overquilted. If you overquilt, you lose the loft and thus the warmth of the quilt. Not an issue if you want say, a coverlet or a wallhanging. Lots and lots of quilting looks fabulous, but unless you want a summer quilt, you have to do less.
I have seen some very heavily quilted quilts at quilt shows and I can't say that I've ever seen one so quilted that you can't see the pattern of the quilt. Maybe it was the quilter's thread choice rather than the quilting?
I have seen some very heavily quilted quilts at quilt shows and I can't say that I've ever seen one so quilted that you can't see the pattern of the quilt. Maybe it was the quilter's thread choice rather than the quilting?
04-20-2012, 07:23 AM
#23
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Keene, New Hampshire
Posts: 4,211
Many,many of the long arm quilting I see on the Board I'd call way overdone.
It looks like quilting for the sake of quilting - having no relationship to the quilt pattern itself.
I've yet to see a handquilted one that I'd call overdone.
It looks like quilting for the sake of quilting - having no relationship to the quilt pattern itself.
I've yet to see a handquilted one that I'd call overdone.
Last edited by gollytwo; 04-20-2012 at 07:35 AM. Reason: amplification
04-20-2012, 07:37 AM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Jozefow, Poland
Posts: 4,474
I think it's like all things with quilting, to each their own. I don't do lots of fancy quilting just because I do it on my home machine and because I want the quilt really soft. I admire those "fancy" quilted pieces but just don't have the skills, or really the desire to try it.
04-20-2012, 08:42 AM
#26
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY
Posts: 10,590
This question is like asking can a quilt have too much blue? Everyone has their own feelings of what they like or don't like on just about everything, including quilts.
Heavy quilting in itself is a matter of opinion. I suppose the quilts I have posted here would be considered overquilted but I spend a great deal of time studying any quilt before it goes on my rack. I always try to acheive a look that compliments the piecing.
However, like Heather, I love the texture and the look. I am drawn to quilts where the quilting is that something that makes the piecing just shine. Or picks up on a motif in a fabric. I love the kind of stuff Green Fairy does, like that horse quilt with the compasses quilted, that to me was beyond beautiful but I suppose to others it was considered overdone.
I also think that business about a quilt becoming stiff as a board due to being to heavily quilted is hogwash. The batting is what causes the stiffness with heavy quilting. W&N is notorious for losing its drape when heavily quilted, so use a different batting.
Heavy quilting in itself is a matter of opinion. I suppose the quilts I have posted here would be considered overquilted but I spend a great deal of time studying any quilt before it goes on my rack. I always try to acheive a look that compliments the piecing.
However, like Heather, I love the texture and the look. I am drawn to quilts where the quilting is that something that makes the piecing just shine. Or picks up on a motif in a fabric. I love the kind of stuff Green Fairy does, like that horse quilt with the compasses quilted, that to me was beyond beautiful but I suppose to others it was considered overdone.
I also think that business about a quilt becoming stiff as a board due to being to heavily quilted is hogwash. The batting is what causes the stiffness with heavy quilting. W&N is notorious for losing its drape when heavily quilted, so use a different batting.
04-20-2012, 04:13 PM
#27
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Indiana
Posts: 450
Just quilted a baby quilt and used a much denser edge to edge pattern than I ever have. For me, it is way over quilted. But, if feels a lot like the baby quilts my grandmother made my children. I think I will stick with less is more for me personally.
04-20-2012, 05:33 PM
#28
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Kentucky - Live in Iowa
Posts: 1,168
yes, a quilt can certainly be 'over-quilted' if the quilting over powers the quilt-
quilting should enhance- not take over- and sometimes people seem to just get a bit 'carried away' and they fill a quilt up with so much quilting that it winds up being stiff as a board- and the quilt itself is lost somewhere under all that thread.
but it is a personal choice too- some people like very dense quilting- others like a large--easy quilting style-
but no matter what kind of quilting a person likes it should enhance the quilt
quilting should enhance- not take over- and sometimes people seem to just get a bit 'carried away' and they fill a quilt up with so much quilting that it winds up being stiff as a board- and the quilt itself is lost somewhere under all that thread.
but it is a personal choice too- some people like very dense quilting- others like a large--easy quilting style-
but no matter what kind of quilting a person likes it should enhance the quilt
04-21-2012, 03:04 AM
#30
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,135
Yes..I am working on a quilt now and am not happy with the way it looks..so I am going back to take some of the stitching out...bummer...having said that I have to agree with everyone else and say it really depends on the piece you're quilting...some just call for alot...some call for alittle...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
craftybear
Links and Resources
0
02-11-2011 09:55 PM
