SharonAnne

I am glad for this discussion because as a new quilter, I have been baffled about the quilting part. Granted, I have yet to take a class, but I have done a lot of looking at pictures on this board. I love each and every one of the quilts/projects I have seen, and the quilting of feathers, curliques, etc is exquisite, but still, I am afraid to do it. As an example, I am attaching a picture that I still do not know what to do with. I think it is beautiful "as is" and am scared to ruin the simplicity and beauty of the cat by running thread all over him. Small projects such as potholders and placemats can "take" and often demand a lot of stippling, but I want this quilt to be natural. So, my dilemna is - should I or shouldn't I do anything but SID on this one. Can't make up my mind, thus this has sat as a UFO since February, 2010. I don't need it until Christmas, so I still have some time to deal with it. And this is my problem with all my projects. Is less more? Is more too much? Does this come with experience or is it a personal like/dislike thing? Thanks for listening and for your potential comments. Oops, how do I put my photo here?

Maggiemay

I enjoy the piecing part of quilting the best & tend to want that to be the main focus. I don't send my quilts out to be quilted so my (very amatuer) quilting designs let the piecing be the focus. I love your avatar quilt!

Scissor Queen

Really old hand quilted quilts are quilted 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch apart over the whole quilt. Batting was originally just handfuls of carded cotton laid cross ways to each other on the backing. The only way to keep it from bunching up was to quilt it very close.

RST

I like a lot of quilting, but since I'm both the piecer and the quilter of all my quilts, it's certainly not about one-upsmanship. I don't find that my heavily quilted quilts are stiff at all, at least not after the first washing. A lot depends on the fabric choices and on the overall style of the quilt. I've never been fond of all-over automated quilting when it doesn't relate to anything else going on it in the quilt. Nor do I like a grid that's just there, regardless of the piecing or fabric pattern -- if I wanted to look at randomly placed grids, I'd display a mattress cover.

SharonAnne --- everyone will have their own take on it, but in your piece above, I do think that the pale green squares would look great with a free motion tropical leaf design. I'd do maybe some matched thread loose stippling on the purple flowers and animal print, or wavy lines, and then outline the two leopard figures, again in matching thread, but otherwise just SID or simple grid to keep the focus on the dramatic images.

RST

SharonAnne

Thank you for your response, RST. I like the sounds of what you said, and I do not think that would be overkill. I want to dramatize the cats, not diminish them, and your idea fits the bill. I'll be sure to repost when I get all that done. Looking forward to other comments, also. Nice to have more than one opinion, although then I have to make decisions or combine each idea into one finished product.

Sadiemae

I would do something like this also.

Borntohandquilt

And I love to do it in a similar way, although it is not longer necessary when using our today's materials like needle punched battings etc. It's wonderful to touch these densely quilted quilts and they have a beautiful drape.
For me the longarm quilted items are a totally different thing in every way. I really admire and respect that kind of work, but I must admit that sometimes it's "too much" for me. Some of my quilting buddies from here visited the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK, a few weeks ago and they all told me that there were only very few hand quilted items to see. That really makes me sad. I hope that all techniques and all styles of quilted work can stand side by side in an eqal way - and in an equal number.

campion

I don't like too much quilting and as there are not too may LAQ's in England it gets expensive,also if there is too much quilting the quilt becomes very stiff.
Everyone to their own I suppose.

SueDor

I long arm my own quilts, not that I am really good at it, and I use pantographs. I agree with you that not every inch has to be quilted. My motto is "Less is better." I want people to see my quilts not the quilted design.

campion

Yes I agree ---we went to a very small show at Whitby in North Yorkshire even there, there was a lot of LAQ or machine quilted quilts. This made me sad too.