sarahrachel

I've completed 2 tops for my boyfriend's parents as Christmas presents. My problem is how to quilt them. I know I could sitd, which I don't know if I want to do that. Other thoughts are to do a diamond pattern or a 1/4 inch on each side of the seams. I'm not confident in my free motion skills to attempt that. Any thoughts? Also, when using fleece as a backing, should I lengthen my stitches?

sarahrachel

I can't figure out how to post the picture from my tablet, here's the link to the pattern

https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2014...-tutorial.html

sarahrachel

Figured it out!

Feathers-N-Fur

I would do diagonal cross hatching. Lovely quilts.

QuiltnNan

if your machine has the serpentine stitch, it is very forgiving. I use it a lot for both diagonal and 'in the ditch', I lengthen the stitch to 4 or 5.

janice1120

What does the serpentine stitch look like, I probably have it on my machine. Thanks

Tartan

Rows of serpentine stitch can really look cute on a quilt. The serpentine stitch on my machine looks like a zig zag stitch except it has 3 stitches in each zig zag. When I increase the stitch length it makes the serpentine stitch.
Angela Walters has YouTube videos on FMQing the continuous curve or orange peel design that makes a good pattern for use in squares also.

bjchad

If you are using fleece backing and no batting you don’t need the quilting to be close. You could do a cross in each square or continuous curves in each big and little square. It is easy to do and there are lots of tutorials available for it.

sarahrachel

I think I might do the serpentine in the ditch on the minnie one, maybe some echo quilting on the patriotic one. Thanks for the suggestions everyone, and I will be putting a layer of muslin in between, the fleece pattern shows up on the white blocks, but that won't affect my quilt spacing, correct?

Mkotch

There is really nothing wrong with a simple grid. Pick a diagonal and use painters' tape to make a straight line. Then decide how far away you want to make the next lines (3-4"?). Repeat going the other way. It looks fine and holds up well.
You might also enjoy Leah Day's book on walking foot quilting. She has some interesting designs that work quite well and reduce stress (IMHO!)