Any Suggestions on how to quilt an Attic Window Quilt?
 

I am struggling to find an example of quilting an Attic Window quilt except for an "all over" design. I'd like to keep the 3D effect. Thanks in advance!

Can you post a picture so we can give better comments. Without seeing your top, I would stitch in the ditch around the frames and then some free-motion around what is in the windows.

I think it would help to see your proportions and colors and such. If your blocks are small enough and square enough the actual "window" fabrics might not need any quilting.

I have an attic window top with fairly large (postcard sized/shaped) rectangles and it also has sashing. So far I'm planning on a scroll design in the black sashing, probably something linear and simple in the grey (so just echo the line 1/4" away from the ditch on both sides, and then we come to the rectangle...

I'm thinking a simple oval inside each postcard would hold things down and be sufficient quilting without distracting, while giving each block the same amount of quilting. I might connect with the diagonal lines, stitching in the ditch in the greys. I am trying for a specific look, think of the old scrap albums with the black pages.

https://www.quiltingboard.com/member...14-621650.html

Came back too late to edit, but here's a (very) rough draft of what I'm thinking. I think my postcard is a little short in my non-measured version.

The quilting down is the thorn in my process. It's not how I think, it's not how I work, and I got spoiled when I had a long arm available to me!

The scrollwork would look more like something from an award certificate (I want a combination of swirlys and points) and should be pretty easy to FMQ. Both the ovals and the scrolls I'll have to mark, just because I FMQ doesn't mean I can freehand it! I am trying to find ways to make this work with my domestic machine and I think this is doable. Most likely my first step will be to grid the black lines with black thread fully in the ditch to hold everything down. I'm not sure if the scroll work in the sashing will be with black thread or not... Then I will probably switch to a battleship gray to mostly blend in. The gray stitching will be stop/start I think with the walking foot. With my size of blocks the large oval with a bit of a meander around it will not interfere with the large prints and be adequate quilting spacing, but the oval will still be relatively large and unquilted.

Thanks for your help - here is the quilt. To explain the blue in the top right - It's the winter land where the ice fairies live :-) .

Very pretty! I love how you incorporated fairy/fantasy figures in the window panes. I'm currently using a wood grain quilting design and I'm really liking how it is coming out. It might be a good design for the, "wooden" parts of the quilt, like between the panes and the window sill and frame. I don't have any printed pattern. I just looked at some wood and drew something similar on the quilt with washable marker, then stitched over that. It's pretty easy and can be done with a straight stitch and reverse stitch on a regular, domestic machine. No need for FMQ. Good luck! It looks really nice, so far.

Iceblossom, I love your quilt too. The travel postcard theme is a good one!

I was wondering if the quilt was one of the panel type ones, those are super hard for me to figure a quilting design for, I think the wood grain option works with many of them, along with similar designs that can look like water ripples or clouds.

I know you are looking for something other than all-over, but I think snowflakes could be very nice all over. Whether an all-over meander like this one:
https://www.urbanelementz.com/deb-s-...s-meander.html
or maybe more linear like this one:
https://www.urbanelementz.com/snowfl...d-ribbons.html

You can also construct vertical/horizontal designs doing half on a line going one way and half on a line going the other -- I know, something that would make more sense if I just drew it out.

You could reinforce the grid and only do the meander type in the blocks and still be able to skip from block to block pretty easily with a long arm.

Often the quilting I wish to do is fancier than I can draw and with my vision issues I have problems following markings on the fabric. I will buy parchment paper at the dollar store and copy a pantograph pattern onto the paper with pencil and then either quilt through the pencil or "presew/paper punch" the lines and following the dots. Yes, you have to do extra work to trace everything and then yes, you have to take off the paper, but that's what I need to do when doing a complex design over a heavily patterned surface.

I just finished a friend's so no picture, but I did just straight line on the very narrow (1") window sashings, did a wood design on the outer window frame (with piano keys on the Very wide borders that were different sizes) and then just tried to follow the design of the panel she used, just basically outlining and switching thread colors often. I didn't outline every single line, but enough to hold it all together easily.

I recently did a picture quilt with a mountain scene w/ eagles, waterfalls, etc. All of my quilting was free motion outlining the scenes behind the window.. I stayed with the colors so that you really can't tell there is a lot of quilting. It just sort of kept the quilt in order. I did do just enough quilting in the ditch along the window frame to hold everything together. Actually, when I finished the window I liked it so well without any quilting that I tried to get along with the least amount necessary. The "window" is hanging in my living room and there is enough quilting ( in my opinion).I feel the same way about your fairies. I am not a fan of heavy quilting and particularly when the quilt it really attractive as your is.