Need advice on how to outline picture in panel
 

My sister gave me this wonderful panel, and I have decided to leave it in one piece and quilt around the cats and such.

The problem is that I have never done this. I will practice first and all, but is there a secret? Do I leave the feed dogs up? What foot do I use? Do I just sew like normal, feed dog up and regular foot, and sew really slowly?

I really don't know, and my sister is not in town to ask.

I hope it is simple enough that I can do it. I have been quilting 3 years, but mainly SID.

Any advice? Thanks. I'll include a picture.

Dina

Oh, my word! I love that panel! Does it have a name on the selvage edge? It would be perfect for my DGD. If I were quilting it, I would just outline the cats, flowers, etc. but I'm sure others will tell you to FMQ it.

Yes, I would love to know a name of the panel too - it's adorable.
I just did my first FMQ on a panel quilt. It wasn't fabulous, but not too bad either. It's scarier than it seems.
In my limited experience: If you FMQ, you will need a darning foot and your feed dogs go down. If you are going to outline, use a regular foot (or walking foot) and leave the dogs up. :)

if you use the regular foot or walking foot, there will be LOTS of turning of the quilt under the arm. do to my limited skills in sit down fmq, this is how i do it, though. if you use the darning/fmq foot, there's not so much turning, but you have to keep your stitches even with the movement of the fabric. IMO neither is an easy task. i love your panel and good luck in whichever way you go.

I've tried quilting around shapes using a hopping foot and the feed dogs down, but it required a lot of concentration and the stitches were definitely not as I would have liked - some were long, some were short. Since the cats are large and they have long straight edges, I would definitely use a regular foot with the feed dogs up and just sew slowly while turning the quilt when necessary.

I love detailing panels. I use the hopping/darning foot and go at it like any other free motion quilting. You get your own speed/rythym going & it gets easier with the doing. Have fun with it. Embellish it. Enjoy!!

I'm not much help, I do FMQ in a large stipple, I think it is appropriate for all quilts. Just me.

1st L-O-V-E the panel....
Have you considered handquilting? It's not too big to feel like an overwhelming project.

Okay, thanks for the words of wisdom. I will experiment before I sew on my panel, but it sounds like several ways may work. My walking foot is built into my machine, so I can use a different foot. I have never done any FMQ, so will probably go with my regular foot and feed dogs up.

Let me look at the edge of the panel. It says A Cat for All Seasons, Cheryl Haynes of Prairie Grove Peddler for Benartex. I saw this pane in a small quilting catalogue (at the dentist office, of all places), so I know it must be available. My sister bought it for me while she was in New York last month, and the catalogue was a recent one. Here is the website from the edge www.Benartex

Dina

Better make that www.Benartex.com