feline fanatic

Yes or right next to them. Whatever is easiest for you. Sometimes it is hard to stay right in the ditch on the seam line and it is easier to stitch next to them anywhere from a thread width over to a 1/4".

annesthreads

Thanks. I'm now doing in-the-ditch around the narrow border, then will go back, do some measuring and decide if I need more horizontal stitching.

Ellen 1

I say, "yes, definitely", the quilt needs more quilting. You could echo the lines around the blocks again, then do the piano keys in the border. You could treat both borders as one. As a quilt Judge I often see quilts that have a minimal amount of quilting. For me, it is hard to find a quilt that has too much quilting on it. Just remember, "the quilting brings the quilt to life"!

CMW

I have been researching the question of stitch density and have found posts from professionals that recommend more stitching. While the batting recommendations may say every 6 inches, they are recommending that so the batting does not weaken and shred. They are not concerned with the stitches breaking. The more the quilt is washed and folded and used, the more stress there is on the stitches. If there are only a few lines of stitching, each line is subject to a lot of wear and tear. If a quilt is to be used, the more stitches the better. That way the stress is distributed over many threads and the quilt will last and hopefully the threads will not break. The recommendation is semi dense to dense quilting for quilts that will be used by children.

Just google stitch density on quilts and you can find more information.

Good luck with your lovely quilt! Hopefully that baby will drag it around for years to come.

zozee

I'd probably quilt a single, medium size heart shape into each aqua block . Then do a simple serpentine down the narrow border, and then hearts and swirls FMQ'd into the outer border. I wouldn't do it densely (I like a fluffier quilt)
but enough to hold the batting in place plus add a bit more visual interest to the borders.
It's such a cute quilt.

jamsbuying

Very cute quilt. I like what you have done!

annesthreads

Thanks for the latest "yes, it needs more quilting" replies. Not what I wanted to hear! Time is short. I don't want to get into FMQ on this one, , as I'm hopeless at it and it'd be very time-consuming as I have to take it so slowly. That's why I'd decide to stick to using my walking foot on this quilt. I'm reluctant to break up the picture squares with quilting, but it looks as if I may have to, as I take the point about the quilt needing to be as hard-wearing as possible. I may just do the lines down the quilt as I have on the aqua squares - hopefully the centres of the pictures will still stand out. Or someone suggested sewing along the seam lines across the quilt, but that might spoil the effect of the vertical lines, which I like. I could do a very simple motif (a square?) on the aqua squares, but I'm scared to use a marker on the light fabric, in case it won't come out easily. Thinking out loud here... I'll lay it out and keep looking at it till inspiration strikes... Thanksagain for all the input.

Weezy Rider

Feline fanatic had it right. Just echo some more of the straight stitching. Mark with carpenter's tape.

I am NOT a fan of the all over quilting done now a days.

some sites to check:
http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2010...line-quilting/

http://sewsitall.blogspot.com/2013/0...-quilting.html

http://www.canoeridgecreations.com/2...echniques.html

http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/2012...ine-quilt.html

Good luck. I mix straight stitch with everything.

annesthreads

Some good sites there - Thankyou.

I sometimes like dense, all-over quilting - depends on the design and purpose. I want this one to retain some softness and squishiness, and for the pictures to be the main feature, so I don't want to cover them with stitching. For a wall-hanging or art quilt, I might go for a denser style.