Quilting ideas
 

How do most of you quilt regular log cabin blocks? I'm in process of doing an aqua and Ivory/white one. The layout created a fairly large white centre star. I embroidered a mummy and baby dolphin on this with the background all quilted varying sized bubbles or pebbles. I have four same sized Aqua stars to quilt and I'm not quite sure what to do in these. Embroidery wouldn't really work because it would be too fussy. Is there any particular reason for not using stitch in the ditch? Would it be ok if I did a 'not quite stitch in the ditch'? The back of the quilt is made up of the same sized 2inch strips as the log cabin but just in bands rather than log cabin. If any seams on the back correspond with any on the top, it's accidental rather then by design. The quilt is for a toddlers first bed so I think I want to keep it snugly. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Snuggliness is unrelated to the amount of quilting you do (unless you never plan to wash the quilt, in which case it will be stiff from start to finish if quilted heavily). I used to quilt crib quilts far apart believing -- wrongly -- that it was going to make them softer. Once washed, they're no softer or more drape-able than the quilts where I've quilted 1/2-1" apart across the entire quilt. All the far apart quilting lines did was make those early quilts more prone to snapped stitches will all the washing & wear and tear they undergo.

For quilts that are likely to be washed every week or every other week (like most toddler's quilts), they will be sturdiest if quilted at least every 2". I love using Warm & Plush batting. It is fluffy & soft and the little ones love it -- I do too, for that matter. I absolutely wouldn't worry about matching up seams on your quilt, but I would want to make sure it had enough quilting to withstand the rigors young children will put it through. Perhaps in addition to quilting just inside the ditch, you could add another square inside of that.

I only made one and I just FMQ in the ditch.

Thanks ladies. I will bear in mind the need for frequent washing - perhaps white was not my brightest idea!

Sounds like you have a pattern for the middle that is very interesting--now look at the total quilt, not just the blocks, and think about what you might like--feathers, geometrics--lots of possibilities. Google Amanda Murphy and Dawn Cavanaugh and see if you can get some ideas from them--Dawn C. is an APQS teacher and their website has some of her tutorials.

This thread is very interesting to me as I am working on a log cabin as well, as a QAYG project. I am still at the block piecing stage, but am trying to come up with a plan for quilting, when I get to that point. I am currently planing to use Quilter's Dream Puff, which is supposedly a high loft batting...although the sample piece that I have does not seem all that lofty.

All I have come up with so far is a squared spiral, starting from the inner most "chimney" square, and circling out along the edges of the strips, either in the ditch or close to it.

Are other responders in this thread saying that they would quilt over the logs in a pattern that does not follow the actual logs, i.e. a meander, or feathers, or something else? I would have to see a log cabin top done this way to really understand. Seems to me that the strong graphic lines of these blocks would fight an overall pattern. Hmmm...I could be wrong (it happens). :p

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(These blocks are not necessarily going to be located next to each other in the finished quilt. There will be a lot more randomness going on once I have more blocks.)

that's exactly what I'm suggesting--I've seen a couple of stunning Log cabin quilts (I think the layout was what is called barn raising where it was a diamond in the center pattern) and the quilter did feathers following the light portions and something else in dark sides--the feathers all joined across the quilt and did not end in the block. It was just beautiful. the other one used feathers and curved cross hatching on the dark.
Question--you say you're doing a Quilt As You Go quilt, so that means your won't be doing any further quilting since as you put your blocks together you will be actually sewing the block onto the bat and back??

Apparently there are many different ways of doing a QAYG project, and I am still feeling my way thru the first, with the aid of several YouTube videos and a class that I am taking later this week. But the general plan includes sandwiching the top, batting, and backing for each block, and then doing the quilting right then...easier to to move a 12 x 12 inch square around than to move a whole queen sized quilt. In my case, for this quilt, I think I will be simply stitching in the ditch, in a squared spiral following the logs out from the center.

I plan on quilting the sashing as each row is assembled...bigger than the blocks, but still smaller than the whole quilt. If you want a quilting pattern that flows from one block to the next, this might not be the way to go, but there are so many variations on the method that I bet there is a way to do it. And this quilt is so strong visually with all the vibrant prints, that if I did opt to do something fancier (feathers?) that the quilting would be lost. Anyway, I want puffy! The prints are mostly from the 1980s and I remember some puffy quilts from back then!

I would love to "talk" on about this, but I don't want to hijack another persons thread.