Imperial Bohemian
 

I just finished my first bed sized (queen) quilt top...it's my 6th quilt top and has taken 2.5 weeks to do because I'm slow. LOL

It's my first time doing many things: Using jelly roll strips, layer cake pieces, HST, and QST.

It's a summer quilt so no batting, just muslin underneath.

I've been debating on how to quilt it though. I just cannot decide and, the quilt is so full of square things I didn't want to quilt it using squares. Thought I'd head over here to get some suggestions.

I don't have enough floor space to spread it out so it's on my bed. Pictures show it laid out on my bed, the side borders, one is a shameless plug of how nicely my points match up. lol

Any ideas anyone? I don't know how to do a lot of any type of quilting except for straight lines and some caterwocky FMQ swirly lines. But, this quilt is so full of firsts I'm willing to try doing something new on it.

I would do FMQ like larger stipples. Mainly how I quilt most quilts I make.

Beautiful colors! You should be so proud of yourself - a bed sized quilt, already! Yay, you!!!!! :)

I think you're right to want some round-ish quilting designs for this linear pattern.

Amy Johnson has a lot of FMQ design tutorials - if you're up for a bit of a challenge and some great practice, I would go with something like these feather flowers within the center of the quilt - and then look for her videos for filling defined squares and triangles with feathery designs to coordinate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWqKBhlZjs4

Thank you. I'll check out her videos.

I wouldn't say you were slow or a beginner as you did an amazing job. Love your colors. I too took a look at the video and it looks like a perfect FMQing design and pretty doable with a bit of practice. Good luck.

I absolutely love it. Your colors, and fabric choices make me want to shop your stash. They scream "me"!

Thanks for the referral to the you tube video. I watched it and I marveled at how even her stitches were. I love the pattern. I had already practiced paisley quilting but I loved her combo.

I LOVE how even her stitches are, too. Mine are getting better, but it's been a long slow improvement! :D Glad you liked her video!

I love this fabric set...a lot! I got it from Connecting Threads. It's called Imperial Elegance (It's where my quilt name came from) and I loved it so much i got the fat quarter set, a jelly roll, a layer cake and some charm packs. The last time I looked the charm packs were the only ones lefft and they were on sale, so I got 3 more. lol

I checked out Amy Johnson's video and I'm definitely going to have to spend time watching more of them.

But I think I've settled on a simple leaf design. Let me know what you think: https://www.afewscraps.com/2012/02/l...ee-motion.html

I made a strip quilt like yours for my king size bed too. At the time the sewing machine I was using had a small throat space so I just decided to make it easy on myself and just did stitch in the ditch. My point is, nothing wrong with just quilting straight lines. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.pngTurned out well and it stayed on my bed for several years.

Oooooooh, that would be a very good choice for all the straight lines, too! https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/heart.gif

And I think I could manage the design, too - bookmarking that one, thank you! https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/thumbup.png

Congratulations on this beautiful and colorful quilt. The elements in this quilt top are magical. Makes me think of a spiritual meeting of colors and designs seen in some Native American works. I am confident that you will find the perfect quilting method to complete it.

Don't feel bad, it took me 2 years to do my first quilt! So you surely were at high speed! I love the colors. Plus you gave me an idea for a scrap quilt I've been working on over the last few years. I've saved a piece of fabric from each quilt I've made. Now I will just use muslin for my backing, so thanks for the idea!!!

Saving a piece of fabric from each project is a wonderful idea! It would be a memory quilt for sure. Please show us pictures when it's done.https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

I finished the quilt!
 

I FINE-UH-LEE finished my summer quilt - Imperial Bohemian! Just pulled it out of the dryer and put it on my bed. I am now doing the "Finally Finished the Freaking Quilt!" dance around my bedroom.

It was a long slog. It's not even close to being perfect (I've GOT to work on my quilt backs!!!) but it's it good enough for a first bed quilt. I learned a lot in the process.

I really love how the green borders, with the FMQ turned out. I used a new ruler, from Westalee, to do it. And, because it has so many corners I curved the serpentine stitch that's holding it all together. I thought that gave it a different touch.

Whew!

Now, on to the next project - not a quilt this time, I'm making handbags for a local charity.