Long Arm Question
 

I was going to stitch in the ditch all the red stars and grey lines and then do feathers in all the white parts.
My questions is, would it make sense to do all the ditching first and then roll the quilt back up to begin the feathers? That way, I could do the feathers in the long line without having to break thread, because I could just keep advancing the quilt.
Will feathers even show up with all the seams in the white parts?
Any other ideas on how to quilt this?

Thanks, Watson

Sorry can’t offer anything other than that your quilt is amazing.

Quilting it the way you describe makes sense and I think it would be easier, too. If you do the feathers in white, I don't think they will show up very much. What about a soft gray?

I like to use a big basting stitch to stabilize the quilt when I don't want stitches in the ditch to interfere with the quilting design. I use a thread color that contrasts with the quilt top, so I can easily see it and take it out as I add the real quilting.

Your quilt is going to look amazing.

I think you could do it either way....do all the ditching you can do, then stop and do the feathers, then advance the quilt, do the ditching, then the feathers, advance the quilt, etc. Or do all the ditching first than go back to the beginning and do your feathers, there are advantages and disadvantages to each method. Some of it depends on how long your machine neck is. Sometimes rolling a quilt backwards can create some problems with wrinkles ect. in any case, got to keep the sides straight as the feathers will likely pull the quilt in a bit. If you think of a white work quilt, you can see the feathers. I think most folks use a thicker batting with white work so you can see the feathers better.

I am not a long armer so Caveat Emptor-
I think it would mostly depend on which you find more annoying - changing the thread or advancing the quilt...I think I would find the thread more annoying so would do the SID first and then feathers.

But since I don't really know what I'm talking about....

i think your stitch in the ditch first is a good plan. I'm not very good at switching between designs and would be likely to miss a section of SITD or something.
I would definitely go for a light thread for the feathers even if they are seen much, so as not to distract from your very awesome quilt top. maybe a cream or very light gray if you want more contrast than a white.

Awesome quilt Watson. I like Dunster’s suggestion about basting, especially if you decide to do your SITD first then feathers by rolling the quilt top. I can’t wait to see it after you’ve quilted it…good luck.

You would be find, doing the quilting as you stated. You might consider loading the sandwich sideways, then when you quilted the feathers you would not need to roll as much.

I would do all the ditching first then do the feathers. And I think they would show fine - they give lots of texture. As you're ditching and advancing make sure to baste the edges of your quilt down as you go. That will eliminate the wrinkling on the edges.

Watson, I know nothing about longarm quilting but your top is amazing! Please show us when you finish.

Not a long armer, but WOW! What an amazing quilt.

I think your plan is a good one.
As for the white feathers - they will have texture with the white thread, if you're looking for a sharper contrast, then you might consider the soft gray thread that someone else suggested.
Personally, I would do the white because you don't want something dramatic that will draw attention from the stars??? Or maybe you do? Your choice!

I think the concern with stitching in the ditch is that it will add lines of texture that will interfere with the beauty of the feathers.

I can't really help with the LA'ing. Your quilt is beautiful and I wouldn't mind having one like it.

I have a longarm. When I was learning I asked the sales person the best way to handle your question and she said she always worked everything across a quilt and then rolled to next section. I've always done it this way and don't have problems with wrinkles from rolling back and forth.
As someone said it's a toss up between changing thread colors or rolling and re-rolling. I go with the thread changes making them as painless as possible(last color worked on last row is first color used on next row, etc). I find the rolling forward and the steps involved more daunting than thread changes.

I love your quilt and the humility block is just perfect. Lots of people do the squares and then quilt other details in. I don't really care for that. Seems to make it too busy. I'd just go with the feathers if that is what you want to do. Having said that - doing an echo in the stars themselves and doing feathers in the rest of it could be very attractive..