Have you tried wavy line quilting? Whats your thoughts pros and cons.
 

I'm going to be quilting 5 quilts soon. They are reversible with quilt tops on both sides. I'm thinking wavy line quilting might be the best way to quilt them. I have not used this method before. Have you? What was your technique? Did you quilt by top to bottom reversing direction? Waiting to hear your responses. Thanks in advance. Best place to find help is this quilting board!!!! I quilt on my domestic machine.

I used to do nearly all my quilts this way till I started FMQ. I used the "meander" stitch and a walking foot. You can adjust the width and length of the meander somewhat.
And, yes, starting in the middle of the quilt, sew top to bottom, then bottom to top.
I didn't mark the rows, just eyeballing the distance between, approximately 2". Sometimes it varied a bit, no problem.

Oh, and the big drawback for me was if/when I had to stop to change bobbin or something in the middle of the row, it was impossible to start sewing again and have the meander continue evenly. So there were jiggles and wiggles in some places. No one saw them but me, of course.

Wavy line quilting is my favorite method! I use the walking foot, and start my first wavy line in the middle of the quilt, going top to bottom. Then I work on either side of that line, sometimes rotating and going bottom to top, but always edge to edge so I don't have to bury threads. You can make the way lines random, or make some patterns in them with repeating consistency. This method is very forgiving, and I find it easier than just straight line quilting (which I also love) because variances in the width between rows or if one slants a little shows up more in straight lines than it does in wavy lines. Here are a few photos of mine.[ATTACH=CONFIG]594890[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]594891[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]594892[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]594893[/ATTACH]

I've done it using the walking foot and I used the walking foot to gauge the distance.
MY BFF did a baby quilt where she did a random wavy pattern instead of Stitch-in-the-ditch. Turned out great.

Next time I plan to use a wavy ruler with the ruler foot.

Oh thank you! It's good to hear all of your answers. Thanks for the pictures Jeanne. Love your quilts. This gives me hope!

Well trying to just draw wavy lines I find myself echoing the whole pattern, which is not particularly what I had in mind. I might have to have some help with a wavy ruler as in what Martina said. :)

My one & only wavy project was a set of 4 American flag placements. I was pleased with the results.

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I used a random wavy quilting line on this baby quilt because it had a little bit of a nautical feel and the Mom’s theme was whales. Did not mark. I was happy with it and so was she. Not heavily quilted but it did the job.

One of the guys in my QOV group uses the wavy lines almost exclusively and his quilts always look awesome. Unfortunately I don't have pics of any of his quilts.

I found it was really helpful to "mark" wide columns with blue tape to keep wavy lines from getting too sideways. When I tried it they kind of curved to the side. You can pull it off as you get close to them. It was fun to do.

Rhonda,

I have used these "leaves" rulers to mark quilting lines in a border. There are width and length measurements which help with marking lines or cutting. They are originally for applique and work well for different techniques.

http://www.suepellanddesigns.com/instructions/videos

Thanks for this thread all. I have been sitting on three quilt tops with that question mark hanging over my head as to how to quilt them. Now, I have a really good option that I have never tried. Yeah. This may be may holiday week-end project.

Rhonda K.....I took a look at the website you posted a link for. Nice templates, but I wish you could purchase just one instead of all three. :(

I like to do free form wavy lines - just need to have some kind of visual "line" every so often to keep things from getting too far off track. It's fun and easy and always looks great.

I love this idea. Thanks for the thread!

You can purchase one ruler. It's hard to choose a size though.:)

http://www.suepellanddesigns.com/sho...ry-cut-appliqu

How spooky is this that this thread should come up.....I was just thinking yesterday at work about trying this technique on the quilt I'm just starting to put together! Very timely indeed!

Thank you for this thread, it is just what I needed.

Has anyone used a flexible ruler to draw out their curvy lines?

I just started “organic quilting “ if you want to see lovely quilting, check out Sew Fresh Quilts. She starts in the middle and works to one side and then turns it around and does the other side from the middle out. It eliminates a lot of the bulk.
Happy quilting.

Yes I have used waves on a few quilts. One was a strip quilt with a sea turtle appliqué and I did them 3-4 “ apart and they looked like waves. I do mostly meandering and I do the waves on mostly strip or plain quilts.

I use this method a lot, especially on borders. I have even done a grid in wavy lines, first going up and down with wider (1-1.5") spaces between, and then going across the same way. I have also drawn a wavy line diagonally and then echoed it on either side. I love the look of Jeanne S's quilts, especially the animal one. Will have to give that a try, too!

I have done this several times and love the look and feel of the finished quilt. I have worked out my best way to stay on track is to mark the very top and bottom with hash marks every inch. Then I just do easy wavy lines and use the hash marks to stay on track. I start in the center and move the right going top to bottom and then turn it around and do the other side all in the same direction. Since there is no line crossing, it is not a problem.

It does take a lot of thread, but I love the results. Here is a medium close up of one I made from a free Craftsy class.

Thanks for the samples. What a cool technique! I will have to try it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! What great responses. Helps me to plunge ahead with what needs to be done.

Not only a great idea for quick quilting, but it also looks great. You did a really fine job!

I love the quilts and the quilting!

If you're doing it all over the quilt it will take forever if you make the lines really close together. Think of your quilting as if it were woodgraining. There are close and far apart areas and knotholes. That gives you a lot of forgiving options.

Yes, I love wavy lines. They are fast and easy and look great. Here's a baby quilt I did with wavy lines, but they run in the three directions of the sides of the triangles.

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Bonnie that baby quilt is so pretty. The wavy line quilting looks great.

Bonnie, your baby quilt is so cute! :)
I have used wavy lines a lot. I usually quilt diagonally, from corner to corner. Starting with a lazy, wavy line down the center, I just echo it, trying to stay about the same distance away. After finishing one direction, I start at the opposite corner and do the same thing...making a big, diagonal, wavy 'x' accross the quilt. But, I've never done a quilt larger than about twin size this way.
Just to change it up a bit, I tried a QAYG, and quilted the blocks with diagonal, wavy lines, using a wide and long zig zag stitch. (my walking foot has a wide opening, so this works with it). I really liked the effect.
Now, I zig zag a lot of my fmq...stippling, meandering, echoing, even bubbles and vines are fun with zig zag stitches.

I've never heard of wavy line quilting but I like it and think I'll give it a try. TFS.

Ohhh! Thanks for asking this question, I have a sandwiched quilt that is waiting to be quilted and this is just what it needs. Thanks everyone who have posted photos, inspiring!

Thanks for posting those pictures, Jeanne, Nesie, Monika, and SewBiz. They are ALL so pretty and inspiring!

I use this technique A LOT instead of quilting in the ditch. This is how I do it: Using my walker foot (not necessary, but nice), I set my stitch selection to #25 on my computerized sewing machine (Brother SQ915). I change the stitch length from whatever it says it is to the maximum, which is 4 and 7. (If you want a smaller wavy line, make the numbers smaller -I used 2.5 and 4.5 on a small item I was quilting. If you can select this "wavy line" on your machine, just take a scrap piece of fabric and run it at the length it presets to, then experiment until you find what you like. Unless I absolutely HAVE TO quilt in the ditch, this is what I use instead. Oh, and the back looks just lovely with these wavy lines. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TECHNIQUE!

Some machines have a serpentine stitch that does a wave, but the length and width are limited by the size the machine allows. I have used the painters tape method to define the width and then put a pin at regular intervals to make wider and longer waves. Then I use the bar that comes with the machine to set how far apart I want to echo the waves. I also have done the waves free hand deliberately not echoing the stitching to make it more interesting.