I've just finished doing horizontal and vertical quilting stitches almost the seams of my quilt. I want to do something a little harder and more intricate on the sashing and the border, but am a little scared. I think it might be easier for me to hand quilt then machine quilt...although I've never hand quilted. How do I get a design on my quilt and how do I pick a design that will suit the quilt?

Look through some quilting stencils online and see if any of the designs speak to you :D:D:D

There are many ways to temporarily put the designs onto your quilt top. I would read the directions carefully on the packages. Some become permanent if they get close to a heat source. :D:D:D

How to pick a design...reminds me of the directions, "Quilt As Desired." :roll: I've always hated that saying because it isn't very helpful, especially if you don't know what to quilt. There are many ways to pick out a design and what you want depends on what type of quilt you are making. If it's a child's quilt you probably don't want to add intricate feathers and if it's a fancy quilt you probably don't want to add children's motifs. I know - duh! A great place to come up with children's designs for quilting is in coloring books. You can simply cut out the design and trace around it. It's a simply and inexpensive way to get a bunch of quilting designs. Any type of stencil can be turned into a quilt design. I also get designs for quilting off floor tiles, designs on buildings, et cetera. My SIL had a good laugh when I took a pic of her bathroom floor, but the design was cool and I just know I'll use it someday in a quilt! You can also Google quilt designs and come up with a ton, though many places want you to buy their product. If you can draw you can make your own quilt designs.

There are a lot of different ways to get a design onto your quilt. There are a lot of different markers, pens, and chalk pencils made just for this purpose. You can also use thin slivers of soap, which wash out once you are finished and wash your quilt. Masking tape and painters tape are great ways to mark straight lines. You simply lay them down on the quilt and quilt next to the tape, then remove tape once finished. Another way to mark a quilt is to draw out the design you want onto tissue paper, like the kind you get in gift bags, though they also make a product specifically for use with quilts. It's a gold paper and works wonderfully. I just have a ton of the gift bag tissue and so I use that. Once you've marked the design on the paper, pin it to the quilt and commence to quilting. The paper tears away easily after you are finished and no one will ever know you used it.

I know others will add a lot of other tips and tricks. There are a ton of different techniques and tricks out there and new ones being devised all the time. I am eager to see what else is contributed to this thread!


And be careful because a heat source can be something as simple as leaving it in a hot car or lying on the table and having the sunlight through the window hit your quilt.

I'm hand quilting my first quilt now. It's relaxing for me compared to wrestling a large quilt through my machine. I have accumulated a collection of thimbles, etc. trying to find the best setup for me.

Of course without realizing, I picked a difficult pattern for beginning hand quilting.. a Dresden Plate which requires going around in circles. You will probably be more comfortable with one direction of hand quilting at first. Thank goodness I hadn't invested in an expensive frame, because I need a hoop so I can frequently turn my quilt as I stitch from right to left.

I lap quilt, which requires no hoop or frame and allows me to turn the quilt as needed. ;)

I'm at the same point as you. I'm looking to be more imaginative iny quilting designs.

As I learned the hard way this weekend, there are some small issues in tracing your design onto a piece of paper then pinning it onto the quilt to use as a guide. It generally involved arge scratces on your arm where the skin caught on a pin. It looks like I was attacked by a cat.

But, if you starch the paper onto the fabric, it work pretty well (I ended up using this method this weekend). There's also the option of using Press n' Seal or freezer paper (the kind you would get from the butcher). I would recommend those options over pinning just to make the blood loss less.

Kristy

Would putting the design on freezer paper and then ironing onto the quilt work also? I've tried paper with pins (had some blood loss also) and also attaching the paper with basting spray (makes everything sticky). So I thought of this as an option but was wondering if it was a good idea.

Yes, freezer paper works. Use an iron without steam to adhere the paper to the fabric (test first, obviously). You can use the same piece of freezer paper a few times before it loses its stickiness.

Kristy

I like this idea...but what do I trace the pattern with?

I browse the internet and find something I like then generally draw it out myself. I draw it out on scrap paper before I give it a go on the freezer paper. Of, ig you have a light table, you could print the design and transfer it to the freezer paper that way. A bright window will also work.

Kristy

What writing tool do you use, pencil, chalk...?

On the freezer paper? Anything I have handy - marker, pencil, pen, etc. I'll then cut up the freezer paper as required before ironing it to the quilt.

On the quilt, I dont use anything. I simply quilt around/over the freezer paper template.

Then just tear it off when you're done?

Freezer paper is pretty thick. I would worry that the thickness would affect my stitches and when tearing it out it would loosen the stitches even further. Have you experienced this when using it?

I did scratch myself once with a pin but I quilt at a fairly even and slow pace, so it wasn't an issue for me. Just watch, next time I'll end up scratching myself a dozen time! :lol:

Maybe I should explain. I dont stitch through the freezer paper. I only use it as a guide for my stitching.

For instance, this weekend i cut out butterflies and pinned them to my quilt. (I could have just as easily cut the butterflies out of freezzer paper and ironed them on.) I quilted around each indivdual butterfly (not through the paper if I could help it) then meandered my way over to the next butterfly and repeat.

I'm not using the freezer paper for an overall design. For that, I agree that a lighter paper would be better.

Well that makes more sense! I do the same thing when I can use a template and none of my marking pens or pencils or soap will work to mark the design. I find that many designs, such as feathers or things that require a lot of circular motion, won't work with that. I just did a leaf pattern that was very whimsical and there was no way I could do a template for it. I simply drew the design out on the tissue paper, pinned it to my quilt, and quilted onto the tissue paper. Because it is thin it doesn't affect my stitches and it pulled out very easily. It's a trick I use when nothing else works.

practice you will do fine.