Stitching in the ditch, but....
 

Finally finishing this quilt I started for my son before life took a break to get crazy. It is finally basted. Took me hours yesterday. I think I will try spray basting next time. My fingers and back still hurt (I have to lay the quilt out on the floor). Anyway, I handquilt and thought I would stitch in the ditch. I have only done that one other time. And then I stitched about a quarter inch in from the seam. How do/would you do this? Would you stitch around every square in the four patch or just the four patch itself? And what about the border? The quilt measures about 70x64. Thanks!

I love your quilt, the blues are so pretty. Myself, I would SITD around the block but I like less quilting.

What does your batting say for how far apart the stitches can be? I would stitch the 1/4 inch on each interior side of the white, in each direction.
It is a beautiful quilt top... and do try the spray basting... I love it.

Very pretty quilt. I like less quilting also...I could see something simple in the white areas. Love the blues!

I used Warm and White batting and it says quilt up to 10 inches apart. Have never paid attention to that before..so a little fuzzy on what it means.

It means that you can quilt 10 inches and it will hold the batting nicely and it will not pull apart. So anything less is fine, you just wouldn't want to go out 12 inches. Too far apart for the batting to hold together. So 2", 3" 4" 6" up to and including 10" is okay. Beautiful quilt!!!

That 10 inches refers to the space between quilting lines of stitches. You can space them 10 inches apart or anything closer than that.

i would quilt from corner to corner, making the quilting crosshatched overall. that would break up the totally squares look

I agree with QuiltnNan I would stitch on the diagonal thru the blue 4 patches. Then I woud either stitch in the ditch the white rectangles or a curvy pattern. I love this quilt as blue is one of my favorite colors. Luann in CT

I agree - stitch diagonal lines. That way your stitching adds to the design of the quilt rather than melting into the seams. It's a lovely quilt.

Me, too! I think the diagonal quilting would be perfect! Beautiful!

thanks so much for the replies (and the info about the stitching distance!). Pardon the crude drawing...but is this what you are suggesting? With no stitches in the little blue squares? Looks good to me!

rachel

Beautiful quilt If I had the talent to hand quilt I would make sure every stich showed. Why go to all that work if part of the stiches wont show up?

I would also stitch diagonally in the little squares also. Really like the quilting idea!

Cute, cute quilt! I love blues! :)

Beautiful quilt good luck with the quilting.

oh....thanks so much everyone! I think I will do the diagonal through the fourpatch and follow it to the little blue squares and stitch in the ditch the white rectangles.

Tartan...I have a very simple brother sewing machine. It does okay for piecing but has a couple of issues I have to constantly be aware of, so quilting with it is a no go. I am hoping to soon get a nice machine and actually take a lesson in machine quilting. Just to have the knowledge and variety.

Would be nice to be able to do both! Thanks for your suggestion!

rachel

I like the diagonal idea also.

Cross - hatching would look great and give dimension too !

I recently finished a similar quilt for my daughter's friend as a housewarming gift. I machine quilted all squares from opposite corners, making an 'X' in each box. It came out really well - it was the first time I machine quilted. If you go that way, just remember to baste and pin well and start in the middle working your way out so you don't get 'bubbling'. Of course, this is just my humble opinion, but it did work out well for me. Can't wait to see what you decide to do with yours!!

I would stitch across the blue ones diagonally. then maybe stitch 1/4 inch away in the whites.

Your quilt is beautiful. I guess I would SID around each block. I don't know about the boarders?

thanks for reminding me, Suzanne....how would everyone go about quilting the borders??

rachel

beautiful quilt whatever you decide it will be beautiful

be careful with the spray basting, many are allergic to it, very allergic - like trouble breathing
please do not be alone the first time you try it, if allergic you may need to go to the hospital for help breathing

I think I would do a Baptist fan all over the whold quilt. I've done that before from the back side & it works great!

I think it would look adorable with each little square quilted, 1/4" in from the seams. But if you want to break up the squareness, you could do a big round spiral or fan on each 4-patch, and maybe something else on the whites.

That is one very pretty quilt. Love how it looks.

I hand quilt and I would stitch
around the 4 squares, & maybe
around the corner square.

Love the blue.

J J

Hi: You can get 1/4" tape and tape it on and stick in front of it. Just move the tape each time. I did my first quilt, Log Cabin, all my hand, and used the tape to quilt it with. No I didn't machine it. It took me six month to make it, while everyone in the class finished theirs in two weeks. At that time I didn't understand how.
lbmyway

very nice!! I love blue!

Like some of the others, I too would quilt it diagonallyl Love that crosshatch look. More character than just itd. I also would machine quilt it as I'm not a hand-quilter. Diagonal is pretty easy by machine. Love your quilt! So warm and homey looking......just what I love!

I would do either a flying geese with points in to the quilt or gentle curves like an s in the white blocks and the diagonal stitching in the squares. Luann in CT

If it were my quilt, I would stitch 1/4-inch away from all the seams. I don't like to do diagonal quilting as it is hard to go through the intersections. Also, it is hard to stitch in the ditch, as I can't always stay in the ditch. I wouldn't reommend the 1/4-inch tape, as it gets sticky after using a couple times. I want all my stitches to show, and the best way for me is to quilt each piece 1/4 inch away from the seam. I eyeball it and my quilting lines are pretty consistent. That's the best way for me.

Very pretty quilt.

I have a Bernina and am wondering what you mean by a serpentine line. Is it wavy?

If you do any stitching in the ditch, make sure you stitch right beside the seam on the side where the seam was not pressed. That way you are only going through 2 layers of fabric and the batting, not all the seam thicknesses. There are several advantages to not stitiching in the ditch...you can stay away from seams and the stitches show up better. I would stitch a design in the white rectangles just to have more quilting show up, even if it is just a row of diamonds or some other simple design. (I may be repeating someone else's advice. I didn't have time to read all the answers.) By the way, it is a very nice quilt. Good Job!!!

I love the blues in your quilt. I would do the diagonal stitch also. But whatever you choose will be lovely. By the way, if I had to lay a quilt on the floor & work on it, you could just leave me there. I wouldn't be able to get up, my back would hurt SO bad. Be sure to post pictures of the final project.

I would stitch diagonally across all the squares, continuing the line thru the white rectangles. This would leave an X pattern/cross-hatching. Get yourself some of that 1/8" wide masking tape and get on your way!

My cutting table is counter top height and that's where i baste. No more hurting back or knees. I can see doing it sitting at the kitchen table, but i'd want my chair on wheels so that i could roll from one end to the other...