ideas on how to quilt this
 

It's been ready to be quilted for a while, but I am at a loss how to do it.

I'm not good at free motion, and am just wondering if I should do SITD ... I'd like to focus more on all my hard work, than a pattern!

I have added a 6" border in the dark blue all the way around, I am not adding another border, I want it to look like the blocks are floating

(No, it doesn't like this right now! My phone is way upstairs, and I'm too lazy to go get it and take another picture LOL)

Any ideas?

Thanks all ...

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I'm just wondering what color of thread are you planning to use? Are you wanting it to stand out or blend with the pattern?

Blend! thanks

Very often when the pattern is straight lines, I like an all over curvy thing. I myself am not a stippling person, but it might fit here. There is also a pattern called waves or flames. I wonder if you could draw out on a bit of parchment paper the idea you are thinking of and place it over the top and see how you feel about it.

Thanks, I'll look around and see what's out there! I've been stuck on this one for a while now!!

I think SITD around the boxes emphasizing them would look fantastic. Focusing on "inside planes of the boxes"

Toverly has a good idea as well.

I would quilt in the ditch on this quilt so that the blocks stand out and not the quilting pattern. The block pattern is stunning and that is what I would emphasize. I am so impressed with your piecing. Keep it simple.

Great quilt top, by the way! I think I'd quilt straight lines around and inside each square with something circular and flowy in the dark blue fabric.

MarionsQuilts ... What a great quilt!
I agree ... you have done such a great job in getting those lines/boxes so straight, you don't want to risk losing your perfection! It's a lot of work, and will seem somewhat endless, but I think you may be quite proud of the results if you SITD.

IMHO, keep the curvy stuff for the outside solid area, if you do want curves. It could be a good break from the centre straightness and help set it up to show the design even more-so.

Boston1954 has a good idea, however, IMHO curved quilting over straight lines can create an optical illusion that the straight lines are far from that. In this case, you certainly don't want to risk losing any of your straightness, even optically.

An example is this one of my own ... a wave quilt design over log cabin blocks in a flag.
I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo, but IRL, there are spots that look like the logs are not straight.
Oh well, I guess our ancestors didn't always have perfectly straight and even trees for their log cabins either! :)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/873175...posted-public/

Have a look around ... there are two other shots of the flag, along with other quilty things I have done.

SITD it is then!!!!

Thanks everyone ... and QuiltE ... what a fabulous quilt!!!!

I'll look forward to seeing yours finished ... though I know IRL it will be even better!
hhmmmmmm .... maybe I'll need to head your way to check it out!

Thanks MarionQuilts ... I thought you might appreciate it.
Working today on a 150th and if all goes well, the borders will be on before I stop tonight.
Too bad I won't have it quilted for the 1st ... oh well, still more days left in the 150th celebrations! :)

I'd do diagonal straight line (channel) quilting on the seams where the dark and light grays meet. Start at the bottom left corner and just work your way up to the top right corner. Easy peasy and would draw the eye to the blocks rather than distracting from them. You would not even need to mark it. Very pretty quilt.

I was thinking the same thing... It's covered with diagonal lines already, so I would quilt it with parallel diagonal stitching lines using the lines in the quilt.

Very pretty quilt. Since I love FMQ and mainly do that on most of my quilts. Sorry can't help you.

I really like your quilt. I think Sitd would work well for your quilt.

I would start with stitching an X. Go to the upper left corner of the first block. Begin to stitch on the diagonal, going through the corner points, stitching in the ditch, ending at the point of the last block in that row. Next go to the upper right and stitch through the corners of the blocks to make the second diagonal line of the X. Continue to quilt the lines on the diagonal using your block corners to space the diagonal lines. Lastly, I would stitch in the ditch around the perimeter of the blocks. Good luck. Let us know what you decide. :)

Got back from a quilt show this past week and viewed a quilt very similar to yours. An allover curvy pattern had been used to quilt it and it really took away from the wonderful pieced blocks. To me the only way to quilt this would be in the ditch, bringing out the beauty of the squares.

My first thought was a diagonal line from upper left to lower right in the line created by the grey blocks. I would only do the one direction so I never crossed the white blocks. I would probably use a black or a black variegated so it would blend into the center black squares. This way I would have it secure but not take away from the look of the top - which is wonderful!

I wish I liked and could do SITD, but it is so hard not to wobble when one is trying to move along the seam, and invariably I get outside of the lines. Your quilt is wonderful!

The San Marco Square, much like the other quilt by this designer (Labyrinth walk), is high impact visual quilt no matter what. You can easily do an all over and it won't take away from the piecing. I have seen many of the Labyrinth Walk quilts done with an all over or a panto and it no way takes away from the patchwork. I don't think I would do SITD on this but an all over grid. You can easily do just a 2" cross hatch on point all over the top in a neutral very light weight thread (like invisifil or Superiors micro quilter). Easy to do, fast and all the focus will be on your piecing. Even an all over meander will work well on this.