Quilting stitch ideas for my first quilt!
 

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This is my first quilt! It is a quilt to showcase my grandaughter's art. I would love to have suggestions on quilt stitches ideas. I have a new Aqua Husqvarna, so I plan to machine quilt it.

My initial idea is to stitch with white thread 1/2 inch off the seam in the print of the block and black thread 1/2 off the seam in the black sash. That will make a black and white grid on the polka dot backing.

Or I could do a stitch in the ditch and a center line of stitching. The center stitch could be one of the neat stitches the machine can do. Color of thread?

I like your quilting strategy and your quilt is so cute.

Neat quilt! Your quilting idea is a great start, but you might also want to quilt around each of he center "art" squares, and on the squares the don't have artwork, perhaps just a giant X.

Check your batting. All of them give a minimum quilting distance. This distance is in all directions.

I'm *guessing* your squares are 10" or 12". Very few battings will have a minimum quilting of 10" or less, and even then, probably not a good idea to go with the minimum ... which is why I made the above suggestion.

Another option if you are up to free motion (or have time/inclination to practice for several days first), is to just do a large meander inside all of the squares - and only up to the edge of the art squares.

Sounds good to me. I was also thinking may some stippling/bubbles in the block to mimic the print.

These are great ideas. It is obvious that I am a new quilter, so forgive my ignorance. I never knew to think about minimum quilt distance in batting. The squares are 8 inches and the black sashing is 2 1/2. I don't know how I got 2 1/2 inches, but the error was at least consistent. lol

I like the idea of the Xs on the squares without art. White thread?

I would love to do stippling/bubbles, but I'm afraid my inexperience would really show. I bought the tool to do free motion quilting, though. Should I leave the art pieces alone?

The batting is important. My grandaughter is hot natured and doesn't like heavy blankets. But I'm not going to make that the most important consideration. I thought of just adding flannel in the middle, so it wouldn't be too hot. Then I decided on Warm and Natural. Since I don't have experience with either, I don't know what is best or which would be easier to work with.

Thanks for your help. This quilt is important to me. I would like to to be good quality and something that her grandchildren might fight over one day. She's 13. Isn't her art wonderful?

Also, this was supposed to be a lap quilt. So far, the measurements are 72x54. If I bought more polka dot, I could do a border and make the quilt bigger, or I could leave it the size it is.

Cute quilt! If you do decide to use flannel, you MUST wash and dry it - maybe many times to shrink it first.

I think the current size is good for a lap quilt. The idea of stitching 1/2" around the interior of the blocks would look nice, but you need to be aware of a couple of things. First, think about all the bulk of your quilt (top, batting & backing) if you use a regular foot or a walking foot you are going to have to turn the quilt at each corner of each block. Not familiar with your machine. How big is the harp area? That's a lot of manipulation of a bulky item. The other thing is you are going to have to tie off each square. If your machine has an automatic tie and cut feature you could use that, but some folks don't like the look of the knot on the back. The other alternative is to hand knot each start and stop and bury the threads. Neither one of these things are show stoppers, but you need to know what you are getting into. Most quilters are looking for continuous designs and, if you are using a straight line foot, no turns.
I think for your first quilt, stitching in the ditch top to bottom & side to side with black thread is going to be a better alternative. You can use flannel for the batting, make sure you wash & dry it a couple times so it doesn't shrink excessively. Warm and natural is a natural fiber so it will breathe. It can be quilted up to 10 inches apart, so your 8" blocks should be OK.

In keeping with the "stressed" theme of your DG's wonderful pictures, why not quilt in lines of gentle curves? They can add to what we quilters refer to as "wonkinesss"!

Thanks again everybody! PaperPrinces, I like going up and down and across in the ditch with my black thread. Though simple, is best for my first quilt.

Pinkiris, I like the wonki and curvey lines. I suppose you are talking free motion? Or are you talking about the wavey lines on my machine? I couldn't do that in the ditch, could I?

I wasn't talking about free motion. You could use your walking foot and just make gentle curves. I have seen some quilts done with wavy lines that are available on machines. My machine doesn't have that stitch pattern (darn!). I would think that you could do either way over the ditch or near it. Your quilt - your choice!