Need quilting advice
 

I made a commitment to make each of my sons a quilt for their bdays this year. The next one is coming up in August. I made this top and have it sandwiched and ready to quilt. https://quiltingtutorials.com/tutori...ilt-with-jenny

do you think I could get away with stitch in the ditch? I originally wanted to do swirls but I just don’t have the skills for that yet. Any other options that would be good beginner fmq?

That's a very pretty, colorful quilt. I think stitch in the ditch would be good but if you want to do a little free motion quilting how about meandering (stipple). Maybe that would be easier for you than swirls.

For a newbie, SITD is not always easy. If you can do a serpentine stitch with your machine, many people find it easy and very pretty! You stitch down the seam and the stitch curves to either side of the seam like a series of S's.

I agree that stitch in the ditch isn’t all that easy. How about wavy lines in a grid? It wouldn’t have to be exact and you could pick your spacing. I like to FMQ but sometimes I want something quick and easy and the wavy grid always looks good

If not SITD, how about 1/4" away from the seams. I do this a lot. It echoes the blocks.

I'd do an all over stipple. Medium sized.

You can buy a plastic swirls stencil and mark up the quilt top. Then you can have the quilting you want AND get the feel of free motion while maneuvering the sandwiched up quilt through your machine. I did this when learning to do free motion feathers. Now, I don't need the stencil and just go with it.

Missouri Star Quilt Company does a swirls and curls stencil.

HettyB