greaterexp

I'm making this for a BIL and his girlfriend. I'm nearly done with the top, but have no idea what color thread to use, nor how to quilt it without taking away from the batiks. I'm a weenie still with free motion quilting, so it will have to be fairly simple. You all are wonders with your helpful ideas. The pattern is "Eclipse."

Pinkiris

No quilting advice from me, but it sure is beautiful!

Freaky_Quilts_Dragon

Very nice! The colors and arrangements of blocks is very striking.

Since you have mostly cool shades, I'd go with a light gray/silvery thread. A cool beige would also work well. A contrasting thread like black or rich gold would look great too but any FMQ goofs will show markedly. What colors do you BIL and his girlfriend like?

Claire123

I would take it into a local quilt shop and see what thread and quilting design they suggest.

Jane Quilter

I think I would pick sage green thread and quilt loops or bubbles.

Melspoon

I agree with Jane Quilter--sage green and a loops or bubble pattern---BTW your colors are great; my favorite combination!

Tartan

Pretty blocks! I might use a pale mauve thread to quilt. If you don't want to FMQ, you should be able to follow the gentle curves with your walking foot. I would do meandering paths on the diagonals across the quilt following the designs.

Bree123

Another vote for light-medium grey in a 50wt thread -- Aurifil is a great option because it is 2-ply (most threads are 3-ply) so it shows up even less. It will blend in the most & not show much (which seems to be what you want). If you want the quilting to show, I'd go with a bright orange to create a triad color scheme.

I'm not sure if your comment means that you don't want to do much FMQ & need to keep it simple -- in which case, I'd suggest either a basic meander because no one will even know if you mess up since it's meant to go every which way, or you could just do a stitch in the ditch following around the pieced curves. As long as it doesn't bug you a lot to ccasionally have a stitch or two outside the ditch, I must say that I personally find FMQ "in the ditch" to be probably the easiest stitch pattern there is for FMQ.

If you are completely opposed to ever trying FMQ, you could try going slowly & following the curve with your walking foot. You might even try a zig-zag stitch so you don't have to be as precise. Or, you could do a wonky crosshatch where you quilt through the center of the "pie piece" the one direction & quilt from the edge of the curve to the edge of the curve the opposite direction. Quilt the solid squares in a traditional crosshatch or however you like.

DOTTYMO

I'd try to find a colour that compliments all the colours eg grey( would need to see next to colours to make a definite comment).
I wanted to quilt round the circles and 3/4 circles to emphasis them.

quilterpurpledog

Perhaps you could use more than one color. Use a soft green on the purple and a color of purple on the green. Consider using 40/3 thread such as Superior's King Tut or Sulky. Maybe even variegated threads. Your quilt will be very pretty. Simple quilting will be very pretty. Curves using your hopping foot or walking foot would be very pretty and very complementary. Please do not meander as it would be distracting from the lovely organized curves in your blocks.