Quilting Ideas
 

I am making a Fall wall hanging with pieced maple leaves and would like some suggestions on how to quilt it. I don't know if I should quilt on the leaves or just on the background? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

I think if your leaves aren't too large, you could quilt around them. That being said, you could also do an overall pattern. I really don't think there's a right or a wrong, but a lot would depend on how large the wall hanging is and whether you're thinking in terms of hand or machine quilting.

Can you quilt veins in the leaves?

I saw a tutorial on Facebook on why you should quilt on the applique. Now she did wash this quilt, it might be different if it's a wallhanging. On the quilt she had washed the applique had puffed and the fabric was all loose. The other quilt where she did quilt in the applique, looked nice with all the laying flat. Just a thought.

Echo quilting around leaves.

I'm not a fan of leaving large areas completely unquilted. I think you could get some nice contrast in texture by quilting a different design in the background vs. the leaves, and even a different density of quilting, but not completely unquilted-- to me that just looks incomplete. It's really hard to give you specific suggestions without seeing your wallhanging, but I can envision doing something like a gentle rippling meander (think reflections in a pond) for the background, and then doing a double outline of the leaves just inside the leaf portion and maybe adding some detail -- veins or swirling fronds or curves-- whatever would look nice.

When I'm deliberating on how to quilt something, I often will either photograph or photocopy the quilt and a single block and make several copies. Then using a marker I will doodle until I find a design, entry and exit points, and a flow for stitching order -- saves time with the dreaded ripper.

Without a photo of the quilt, it is hard to give suggestion. I would at least start with outlining the leaves.