How to choose a quilting design for your quilt?
We had a program at quilt guild today. She is a long arm quilter but also quilts on her DSM. She tried to explain how she chose the quilting patterns for her quilts. I can't really describe those, but there were other hints. She does use many straight lines in her modern quilts and many circles and swirls, For her traditional appliques, she often crosshatches right over everything. It does not detract at all from the applique. And not too small or too large in the crosshatch... 3/4 to 1" apart. She rarely uses variegated threads unless you want it to show, like on a dark background. Her thread colors often match the background and you'd be surprised how they just fade over the other colors. Her favorite disappearing colors are gray, tan, and army green. She also said that she crosshatches over redwork since the muslin is usually quite old and probably needs stabilizing. Also, even though the batting may say 10" apart, she never quilts farther apart than the palm of her hand. The larger spaces do not look that well after washing. Also, if the quilt is hung for any period of time, those larger spaces make the quilt shift and droop. I hope some of these hints help.