Suggestions for how to quilt
 

Hi all!
I have finished this quilt top for my 1 year old son and have it all basted, but I am not sure how I want to proceed in quilting it. I have only straight line quilted or quilted using marked lines. I thought maybe this may be my chance to be brave and stipple, but the perfectionist in me is chickening out as silly as that may sound. The characters are on color fast sheets, so I am not sure whether I should be quilting over them or around them. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Consider cross hatching. I do it using a line of blue painter's tape. I lay the tap across the quilt and sew with the edge of my foot against the tape. Dom't try to sew right against the tape as you might catch the tape with your stitching and then you'll have to get the tape out of the seam. Sew up and then down the other side of the tape. Then move the tape over, line it up on the quilted line and sew down the other side. When the tape loses its "sticky" get a new piece. When you have finished in one direction tape across the other way and sew again.

What a cute top!

I think a stipple would be great with it. Have you practised it on other things? I mean, how much of a beginner are you really and how much is it just the perfectionist talking? It's a relatively small quilt, so this might be your chance to try stippling! :)

If you decide to use your walking foot, have a look here: http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2012/1...-quilting.html

There are many different suggestions you might like. I tried a random zig-zag pattern on one of my baby quilts, it was easy and quite fast as well (you'll find two pics of it in my album if you're interested).

Thank you so much for your responses. I have made about 10 quilts and 8 of them have been done with cross hatching. The other 2 I used a stencil to mark a baptist fan and a stipple. I practice on quilt sandwiches, but I get nervous about doing it on an actual quilt. I am a big fan of the petit design co! I love everything they have come up with for the walking foot.

I understand your feelings. I am the same way. Quite willing to try FMQ on small samples but I like even stitches. Just my personality, so earlier this summer I came up with various designs that I could do with my walking foot. In fact you can do most designs with your walking foot if you are prepared to go slowly. I am not trying to be speedy I am trying to get the quilt done the way that makes me happy. I keep telling myself to enjoy the process and remember that it would take a lot longer and my stitches would not be consistent if I hand quilted it. Works for me :D

I do mark most of my primary design lines, but I do echo stitching without marking. I just use the primary lines as a guide.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much! I am so glad someone understands. I know it seems silly to say I am nervous, but I sure would hate to jump in and then be unhappy with how it turns out. I have gotten pretty good with keeping my stitches consistent, but I have a hard time trying to figure out where to go with stippling. I do have a stippling stencil, so I could use that to mark my quilt. Thanks again!

I have a longbed to quilt on and have for a couple of years and I still can't get the courage up to fmq. I have about 5 tops waiting and one is for my daughters wedding anniversary.