Choosing a quilting design
12-09-2015, 03:17 PM
#1
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Choosing a quilting design
I made a Christmas wall hanging and I did a meander on it. It was only my second time free motion quilting. It came out ok, but now I have no idea how to quilt the border. I wanted to post a picture but I couldn't download from the camera to the computer. Not sure why, it's always worked before. Is there a book or something that can help a person to pick their quilting designs. This is a real cute wall hanging of a cat with a Christmas hat on. I'm so frustrated. You won't really be able to see the quilting because it's on black. Something simple that I could do that will hold the 3 layers together.
12-09-2015, 03:38 PM
#2
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There are about a million books with quilting designs. I know, I think I have them all 
Leah Day has several good ones. Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Paisley-...words=leah+day
I also like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Step---Step-Fr...words=leah+day
Angela Walters has this book for specific block shapes:
http://www.amazon.com/Shape-Free-Mot...order+quilting
Leah Day has several good ones. Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Paisley-...words=leah+day
I also like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Step---Step-Fr...words=leah+day
Angela Walters has this book for specific block shapes:
http://www.amazon.com/Shape-Free-Mot...order+quilting
12-09-2015, 04:41 PM
#3
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Location: Southern California
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There are thousand of quilting stencils out there. I would find a simple one that is not complicated. There wasn't much of a selection on Ebay. Depending on how wide your border is, there is this one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-angle-ch...sAAOSw5VFWGBOE
I would just do the trees. Another suggestion might be to crosshatch the border. I did that on this quilt.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-angle-ch...sAAOSw5VFWGBOE
I would just do the trees. Another suggestion might be to crosshatch the border. I did that on this quilt.
12-09-2015, 04:43 PM
#4
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How about FMQ kitty paw prints? I have seen one from a longarm machine pattern but you could do it on a regular machine. Or quilt in a ball of yarn in one corner and just meander a line of yarn from the ball around the border.
p.s. My favourite book for choosing quilting designs is ....Shape by Shape by Angela Walters.
p.s. My favourite book for choosing quilting designs is ....Shape by Shape by Angela Walters.
12-09-2015, 06:31 PM
#5
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Pinterest has a lot of designs.
Here is one: https://www.pinterest.com/quiltmaker...ilting-motifs/
Another (I put in quilting borders in search and many were in drop down): https://www.pinterest.com/search/pin...tocomplete%7C3
Also, if you see a loop design like hearts, you can cut a couple hearts out of copy paper and pin where you want them, then quilt around outside of heart, do a line to the next heart, quilt around it, etc. moving the hearts to a new position once you have gone around them. I use shapes a lot. It helps to keep you going where you need to go without getting lost.
Here is one: https://www.pinterest.com/quiltmaker...ilting-motifs/
Another (I put in quilting borders in search and many were in drop down): https://www.pinterest.com/search/pin...tocomplete%7C3
Also, if you see a loop design like hearts, you can cut a couple hearts out of copy paper and pin where you want them, then quilt around outside of heart, do a line to the next heart, quilt around it, etc. moving the hearts to a new position once you have gone around them. I use shapes a lot. It helps to keep you going where you need to go without getting lost.
Last edited by yngldy; 12-09-2015 at 06:39 PM.
12-09-2015, 06:52 PM
#6
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Originally Posted by yngldy
Also, if you see a loop design like hearts, you can cut a couple hearts out of copy paper and pin where you want them, then quilt around outside of heart, do a line to the next heart, quilt around it, etc. moving the hearts to a new position once you have gone around them. I use shapes a lot. It helps to keep you going where you need to go without getting lost.
This is a great suggestion - I always get lost when I don't have a specific plan where I'm going to end up.
12-10-2015, 03:27 AM
#8
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You got some good ideas from previous posters. You could cut out simple Xmas tree shapes and quilt them. Or bells or even cat shapes. If I am doing shapes I cut them from freezer paper and iron on. Then I rub around the edge with white chalk and remove the freezer paper. A negative shape is left that you can quilt with no chance of stitching through the paper.
12-10-2015, 03:59 AM
#9
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There are, as you can see from the above comments, many sources of quilting designs. I like stencils quite well. I also have several books with designs. Many quilting magazines have design columns. I would also suggest a blog site, Inbox Jaunt, by Lori Kennedy. She does tutorials about sketching and then doing quilting motifs in a step by step fashion. All of her designs are available on the site. She also has a Craftsy class. I personally am inspired by her blog-in lots of ways.
12-10-2015, 09:27 AM
#10
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Location: Illinois
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I was thinking of Christmas trees, the same as bjchad. There are books with continuous line quilting designs. I got one free with my AQS membership this year: https://shop.americanquilter.com/826...-patterns.html
I also wanted to mention that sometimes it's nice to not be able to see the quilting in the border. It gives more freedom to try out designs & not worry about them being perfect. That said, I did that on my first FMQ quilt ... stippling in the middle & a custom vine design in the border (I looked through photos of leaves on google & picked one, then created a triple leaf design for the corners & just drew a basic vine with random leaves along the edges). I picked a thread to hide it, but as I already had all that practice with the rest of the quilt, the vine came out beautiful & I was pretty disappointed that it was nearly invisible. You might consider picking a contrasting thread if you have a really cute design in the border. You can definitely switch threads & use a white or a color on the black and have it really stand out.
I also wanted to mention that sometimes it's nice to not be able to see the quilting in the border. It gives more freedom to try out designs & not worry about them being perfect. That said, I did that on my first FMQ quilt ... stippling in the middle & a custom vine design in the border (I looked through photos of leaves on google & picked one, then created a triple leaf design for the corners & just drew a basic vine with random leaves along the edges). I picked a thread to hide it, but as I already had all that practice with the rest of the quilt, the vine came out beautiful & I was pretty disappointed that it was nearly invisible. You might consider picking a contrasting thread if you have a really cute design in the border. You can definitely switch threads & use a white or a color on the black and have it really stand out.
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