jmoore

I just put a twin size quilt on a LA yesterday that I rent by the hour (until I can find the space for my own) and my LQS told me that the rule of thumb is "the size of your fist" as far as FMQ spacing. I did a simple meander stitch with this in mind and was pleased with the outcome.

RST

I've got quilts that have very dense FMQ all over, and they have a lovely soft drape.

I agree that the batting choice and the thread type have a lot to do with it. In my experience, hobbs 80/20 and aurafil thread are a nice combo if you like a lot of quilting.

I'd also say that your choice of backing and the piecing play a big part--

If your backing fabric is stiff, your quilt is going to be a lot more stiff. If you pick something with a lot of drape and softness and don't stretch and pull the backing during the layering step, that helps the finished quilt be snuggly.

If you have a heavily pieced pattern with many small pieces and a lot of weight in the seams, you're going to have a stiffer quilt than if you are using larger pieces or a whole cloth approach.

cathyvv

What I've observed is this: the batting and the amount of quilting both influence how stiff a quilt is.

For baby quilts, I use the thin fleece that you can get at Walmart. The quilts turn out soft and drape well - plus they are very lightweight. I generally quilt them with a medium sized quilt design because I expect them to get hard use. The medium quilt ensures that the quilt will stand up to abuse and that the quilt has a soft feel to it.

The quilts I quilt for guild charities use a poly cotton blend. It tends to be stiffer than the thin fleece. I do a medium to large meander quilting on them, mostly because of time issues. The larger meander ensures that the batting is quilted securely, but it's not a tight quilting. It meets the requirement for the most fragile bat, which is quilting no more than 4" apart.

For my own quilts that are less than 55" wide, I like to use a heavier neutral colored fleece. It's soft and the quilting shows nicely on it. Sometimes I quilt them tightly and other times I use the larger stipple. It depends on what I think will look good on the quilt and who the recipient is.

I don't make too many bed size quilts, but when I do, I use an 80/20 cotton poly blend bat or a 100% cotton bat, and quilt at least as densely as the bat requires on the label.

I used to use fusable batting, but it seemed to make the quilt stiff, so I don't use it anymore.

Carrie in PA

I'm new here but i can say that you have to consider frequency of washing. My Daughter has a quilt that was made about 16 years ago. Even though it doesn't get washed as often now, it so soft that it will puddle on the floor if you drop it. It is all 2 inch squares, was made without starch and i remember how stiff it was at first. It was made with thicker batting then what i use so i would say it is medium loft or density. I've been considering a lot more stitching for the quilts that i know will be used a lot.

lclang

I like medium amounts of beautiful quilting. If it is too dense it feels like a mattress pad to me. Soft and drapable is my preference.

LITTLEOLDME

It depends on the quilt pattern used for the quilt as how much I use.

athomenow

This topic is interesting to me because I've noticed since I started using the Hobbs fusible my quilts aren't very soft. I've never done any dense quilting so I didn't think that was it. Maybe it's the batting? I'll have to go back to Warm and Natural or Hobbs 80/20 if that will make a difference. I also tried the Elmer's glue yesterday and it worked great. No need for the fusible maybe.

feline fanatic

If it is my quilt, the quilt and batting requirements will dictate the quilting for me. If it is a client quilt, the clients wishes and budget get mixed into the equation.
If the piecing and fabrics are busy ornate quilting will not show anyways so I would do looser quilting like an all over or Panto. I freely admit I am a HUGE fan of dense, elaborate quilting ala Green Fairy or Angela Walters style, especially when there is a lot of negative space like a light colored background that reads solid. Usually I use dense quilting to get other motifs to pop like a trapunto style. So say I have a feather I want to emphasize, a lot of tight background fill will get that feather motif to pop right up off the surface. Same if you want to emphasize a bit of applique.
I agree that the batting will dictate stiffness more than density of quilting. I have seen art quilts very densely quilted, practically thread painted, but with wool batting that were very soft and drapey. I also agree thread choice will also make a huge difference.
So even though I love dense ornate quilting, I certainly won't use it on every quilt. The quilt and the batting decide density of quilting foremost.

sewnsewsue

I have used lots of Warm and Natural and think my quilts are heavy and don't drape well. It is cheap,and I can buy it near home. I do love it for tablerunner, placemAts and purses because it is so stiff and flat. I heard people raving about Quilters Dream and finally bought some. I bought the Quilters Dream Request which is cotton. I found that the quilt was SO soft and drape able. You could hug it and it wasn't "hard". I also think the wool is a dream but for me, drying is a problem. I also bought some Warm Company polyester and it was great feeling, just a little puffer than I like. I have been using microfleece on lots of baby quilts(and more) with no batting. It quilts up nice and is very drape able and soft.

Boston1954

I tend to be moderate in my quilting. I am not a stippler. My sister and I went to show back home, and saw a quilt that was greatly stippled. The information card said that the lady had used 3 MILES of thread. Yikes!