Questions on quilting a mason jar quilt
 

I am soon to start a fruits and veggies mason jar quilt. I am trying to decide the background fabric color - either black or creamy-white.

I will send the machine to be longarm quilted and I like the look of all-over stippling or the larger "puzzle" allover design.

Is it OK to have all-over-quilting on the jars? (One quilter told me she had the quilter outline the jars, but I really like all-over quilting.)

If so, what color thread would be best? The fruits and veggies blocks are very colorful and some are light and some are dark. If I decided on a black fabric background, I don't think black quilting would look good on the light colored fruits-veggies.

I want the quilting to be with fine weight cotton thread since I do not care for clear monofiliment thread.

Would it be better to use a creamy-white background fabric rather than black? Maybe it would be better to all-over stipple with a light thread. Maybe it would be better to have light color thread quilting on the darker blocks than rather than dark thread quilting on the light blocks.

This is a hard decision. How have you that have made jar quilts quilted them or had them quilted and with what color thread?

Thank you

Renea
mygrommi

You have so many questions and you haven't even started the quilt. That's funny to me. Okay, I haven't made a mason jar quilt but have made others. To decide my background colors, I look at the fabric colors I have and make sure I have a strong contrast.

When it comes to choosing thread color for the quilting, I will actually pull thread off the cone and lay it on the quilt to see if I like the color. I, also, consider what color the binding is going to be. Sometimes I use the same thread color as the binding to tie those two things together. All over quilting will be fine, but so would doing something special around or in the mason jars. Your long arm person can help you with those decisions.

I have done a couple wall hanging ones. I used poly batting, so when I did stitch in the ditch, the jar area puffed out and gave them a 3D effect. I did my jars in a book case quilt.

When it is time to have your quilt long arm quilted your quilter will help you choose the right thread for the quilt ( long arm quilters often use polyester threads, cotton breaks easy with the high speed machines) a neutral ( light-medium gray) often will blend in on colorful fabrics, light backgrounds and work well for all over patterns. Darker gray can be used on black background & colorful blocks.

When I did my veggies in jars I used a cream background with dark grey lids. I stippled between the jars with thread that matched the background, Warm and Natural for batting. The binding was strips of all the veggies sewn together.

i did jars too, but not with veggies. i did a Halloween one with thing like eye of newt, frogs legs and the sort. I hand quilted the jars. i used a grey thread. when i have a quilter LA it, it's usually grey for this type of thing. I let them do what they want, they are the professional and do best.

Maybe I am odd, but I quilt all of my quilts with white cotton thread. It always seems to work just fine for me.

Since you are having a hard time making decisions, why not ask your long arm person their suggestion. I always like to hear what they suggest. I think that they would be the most qualified person to make that decision. Good luck!

When I made a Bug Jar quilt my LAQ said she had the perfect Ladybug design for the quilting! Turned out great. I usually defer to the LAQ as they can "see" the quilt from a quilting perspective.

Thanks for all the information. I want to plan the quilt as best as I can up front so there are no surprises along the way. Have been trying to contact local longarm quilter, but she's out of town. Another longarm quilter has a size limit that his machine can accommodate and my quilt may go over that size, etc. Therefore, I may need to make my blocks smaller in the beginning. Also, have to be cognizant of the cost of having the quilt quilted since I have spent quite a bit more than planned already and I still haven't purchased all the supplies I need.

Renea

My quilt evolves with each step....never would I ever be able to plan every step before I even start...
i usually start with a pattern..or fabric first...and that leads to the next step...
after I see the top then I can decide thread' quilting designs etc..
I would never get anything made otherwise

I always ask my long-arm lady her opinion of what color to quilt. She has more experience than me, knows what color will work best. Once I suggested to her I wanted a bright variegated thread because the quilt was made of bright Moda Marble fabric. She agreed with me and it turned out awesome.
I have fabric put aside for a veggie jar quilt. I was thinking (when I ever get to it) of black background, but that's me. I prefer brights, the bright veggies will stand out in black. But that's me. I use a lot of black. But I do have my collection of white on white fabrics too. It really all depends on you, and how bright your veggies and fruits are.

I have decided on a black background because most of my fabrics are bright colors and they look great with the black. I have made a couple of test jars from other fabric scraps (not my fruits/veggies fabrics) to test the size, border widths, etc.

One of the reasons I am being so particular with planning is that my quilt will have a brown woodgrain fabric "shelf" that the jars sit on. I found the woodgrain fabric in the beginning before I had as many fruits/veggies fabrics as I now have. I guessed on the amount of woodgrain fabric to buy having no idea how much I would need and since there is only a small amount of it remaining at the store, I have been drawing out my quilt to determine if I need to buy more woodgrain fabric before it is gone.

Thanks for all the help.

Renea

Sounds like it's going to a fun one to make:) Please post a picture of it when it's all done; I can't wait to see it!

I will post a picture, but it will take me some time. I tend to have several projects in progress at the same time.

Thanks

Renea

Curious if anyone who has made a jar quilt has found a realistic pineapple fabric that would work on a jar quilt.

Thanks

Renea