I have no suggestion on the quilting, but I had to tell you that it's an absolutely stunning quilt. Love it.

Thanks for all of the positive comments on the quilt, I wasn't sure about the jelly roll I chose... It was sealed so I didn't really get to see what was in it until I got home. I think it has balanced out pretty well though.

This is only my second project, it is encouraging to get compliments from experienced quilters! I just hope I can do a passable job at quilting it.

I think you quilt is beautiful and interesting. I agree simple quilting so the quilt is center stage. Are you able to share the patern?
jeannedog

Why not print it, put an old needle in your machine, put the paper on the sewing machine, and follow the stencil? This will create a lot of "lint" in the machine, so it needs to be cleaned sooner, but it should work. It wouldn't be as thick as a seam ripper, but certainly faster and less frustrating.

I find following a stencil much harder than freehand. I'm still very new to quilting as well, but I've spent a good deal of my time practicing the FMQ part of things. My brain doesn't like following lines, whether for SITD or stenciling apparently. I can't stay in the ditch, and straight lines are not part of my repertoire. I can't sew a straight line, draw a straight line with a ruler, or cut one with a rotary cutter. These all take huge concentration for me. FMQ, the basics anyway, came "easily" to me. It's a matter of how your brain works best what will work best for you.

Try both ways, but give yourself a really fair amount of time practicing the freehand before you judge. For most people, it's not the most natural thing, the brain does have to be trained (so do the muscles). Sort of like learning to ski. You can't expect to be doing all the black diamond runs without having first learned how to put the skiis on and challenging the bunny hill. :thumbup:

And your quilt is really beautiful :)

I would say no to the stencil, it would just complicate things. Also, though you probably don't want to hear it, practice is the answer. If you want any help www.daystyledesighs,com shoot can't remember how to get a link, is a great Fmq'ing sight. I practiced with all of her fillers, and now I do pretty good. I use to think I love this top, and after the quilting feel like I ruined it. But, now, I feel like the quilting is really enhancing the quilt. So practice, practice, and practice.

I have the same pattern and plan to quilt inside each woven strip - directionally. Not sure yet whether I will Premark or do true FMQ.

When I use pounce with a stencil, I only use the powder and apply it with a foam brush. The pounce pad does not work for me at all.

Since I use the iron-off white pounce, it does not show up on any light fabrics. Idiot me - used the blue wash-away pen for those areas and pounce for the dark. Now I had to be careful to wash off ALL of the blue pen BEFORE I could steam the pounce off. Remember: Heat sets the blue pen - so don't do what I did.

Very nice top! I would say that the top is too busy for a pounce type stencil. I use a blue wash out pen for the lighter fabrics (after testing each one!) and a Clover white ink pen for the black. In your case here, though, I would just straight line quilt a qtr inch in down each light row to make an open grid. That would highlight the piecing more than a meander and would be much easier.

BEAUTIFUL quilt!!! I have not really had success with the pounce method, at least for machine quilting. Maybe it would work better for hand quilters?

Love your quilt. When I started FMQ I used a stencil and a pounce pad just to give me an idea where to do. It got easier as quilted more quilts and I no longer use them but they were a huge help to me in the beginning

I have been quilting for about 10 years and do my own free motion quilting on my Janome Horizon machine. I have the best luck with liquid SPRAY CHALK. (Magic Marking or June Taior's stencil Marking spray at JoAnns ) You can use any stencil and lightly spray with the liquid chalk. It drys right away and STAYS ON. Unlike pounce that rubs off. After you are done you can either use a spray bottle with water to take off the chalk or wash the quilt. It can get a little messy if you overspray but I like this soooo much better then powdery pounce stuff. I also use frixion pens to mark my quilts as well. You should see the large stash of stencils I have. It's so much fun to choose the right one for my projects. Hope this helps.