CorgiNole

You can do some really striking designs using just straight lines. I took a class last weekend from Melody Crust on choosing the quilting pattern for a given top. A few things to consider - who the quilt is for, your skill level, and how soon you need it can direct your decision.

I agree that SITD can be harder than free motion, my SITD still jumps out a bit, but I know my 3 year old nephew won't hold that against me.

One other thing that Melody suggested in the class, is when doing diagonals, don't set yourself up to connect all the points unless your piecing is flawless - instead set the seams 1/4 inch to each side - that way if you end up a bit off, your seams can still be straight and it won't be as noticeable. She also suggests edge to edge designs for kids quilts to reduce the number of stops and starts - and that way the ends of the seams can be buried in the binding.

As a beginning quilter myself, I am taking her advice to heart, especially on the two quilts I need to finish before Memorial Day weekend.

Have fun, I'm sure your daughter will love it.

Cheers, K

QuiltnLady1

I would do echo quilting -- about 1/4" away from the seams. I do a lot of linear quilting -- I love the look of it.

PaperPrincess

I would not FMQ this beautiful first quilt! It takes a while to get the hang of it and you really don't want to practice on a real top. I would just quilt diagonal lines thru the squares from corner to corner, extending these lines right thru the borders (use painters tape to get the line extension true). Don't know how big your squares are, but you need to read the info on the batting package. that will tell you how far apart your quilting lines can be. If quilting corner to corner thru the squares is too far apart, then just add an additional line of quilting in between them.

Oh, and if you have a walking foot, now is the time to use it. I would find the center of the quilt and quilt 4 lines radiating out from the center, making an "X". This will stablize it , then work on additional lines of quilting, from the center lines out. These can be from edge to edge.

dancinlady

Thank you all, I have been making sandwiches and mocked up my squares so I could try stitching around the insde, but I have never used the walking foot so I will try this also.

Don't laugh but am I suppose to drop the feed dogs with the walking foot? (you can see how much of a Green horn I am!)

So much wonderful information and knowledge you all have. Thank you for helping with my questions.

Milene

CorgiNole

No - don't drop the feed dogs with the walking foot as that will defeat the purpose of the foot. The walking foot has grippers on it that mimic the action of the feed dogs to pull the top of the fabric through at the same rate as the backing.

Cheers, K

dancinlady

Thank you so much! I still have so much to learn! I'm going to practice with the walking foot a bit then take a deep breath amd just go for it!