Vicki1212

Hi Everyone

I received so much help with the measurements for a quilt like this one the other day:

http://madanquilting.blogspot.com/20...-tutorial.html

I am busy piecing at the moment and my mind has already jumped ahead to the quilting. I would like to do straight line quilting as my limited expertise does not yet allow for FMQing (still practicing) I would also like to leave the feature blocks unquilted as it is an I Spy lap quilt for my two year old DGS and I want the pics to be as clear as possible. The blocks are only 4" x 4", are they small enough to leave?

I would love to hear some ideas on how you would quilt this? The finished quilt will measure approx 42" x 52". There are 6 blocks across and 8 blocks down. No border.

Thank you!

ckcowl

The amount of quilting needed on any quilt is dependent upon the batting choice. Different battings require different amounts. Some cotton battings require quilting every 2", which would require you to quilt those 4" squares. Some battings ( like warm & natural) allow up to 10" between quilting lines. Read the packages and choose the batting that best fits your needs

PaperPrincess

As the previous poster indicated, you need to read the batting package info to see the largest area you can leave unquilted. I would think about a quilting path that will allow you to quilt edge to edge. So a line that goes from one side to the other across the bottom of the focus squares and another that goes along the top. You could also do one that goes along the seam between the shadow & the background. Then the same spacing up and down. This is assuming your batting allows the focus squares to remain unquilted. You don't want to quilt around the perimeter of each square. This would make you have to turn your quilt which may be cumbersome (depending on your machine), and you would have a bunch of starts and stops requiring tie offs and/or burying the thread tails. Another option would be all over diagonal lines disregarding any piecing seams. A nice classic pattern.

ManiacQuilter2

If you use W&N, I think you can leave 8" square unquiilted.

tesspug

I think the easiest way to go is to just follow along the edge of the sashing. Just straight up and down and side to side over the whole length and width following the sashing lines.

Jeanne S

As others have said, whether or not you can leave the 4" squares unquilted depends upon the batting you are using. However, if you decide to not quilt in the squares, you will have lots of 'stops and starts" or will have to turn your quilt to go around the squares which you might find is difficult or tiresome. I do lots of straight line and wavy line quilting with my walking foot, and find it is easier and looks great to just quilt from edge to edge on each line. I like my straight lines to be 1" apart.