It's WIP Wednesday with the fabulous Lee over at Freshly Pieced and I need a little advice on my current WIP. You know, that's one of the reasons I love blogging. Yes, it's fun to be able to show off your triumphant finishes, but I personally get more out of sharing the process and the sometimes struggles. I love putting a WIP out there and getting input from my fellow crafters. I think that's part of what makes this online community so special. In an odd way it's helped us get back to the old days when people would gather together and create something as a group, wether it be raising a barn or making a quilt. It's given us a new, albeit modern, community.
Regular readers have been seeing a whole lot of Nancy's Quilt lately. If you're new to my blog you can check out her progress here, here, here and here. She's basted, so here's where you come in. New and regular readers alike I'd love some input on how I should quilt her. I know I want to straight-line stitch her. I started the first line of stitching in fact. At first I was just going to stitch her diagonally, in one direction, through the center of the stars. I love straight line quilting (and it's not just because I'm a free motion chicken) and I have a tendency to take on a "less is more" approach to my quilting. And no, it's not because I'm lazy. I like the clean lines and the simplicity. But after I sewed my first line I started thinking if maybe I wasn't doing justice to my quilting with the "less is more" approach. At least with this quilt. So what do you think? How should I quilt her?
Option #1 is to continue with my original plan and simply straight line stitch on the diagonal, in one direction through the center of the stars.
Option #2 is to straight line stitch on the diagonal, in one direction through the center of each row.
Option #3 is to straight line stitch on the diagonal, in both directions through the center of each star.
Option #4 is to straight line stitch on the diagonal, in both directions through the center of each row.
Alrighty friends, what do you think?
Are we voting? :) I like Option #2 best.
ReplyDeleteI like #3. Punches those stars without overwhelming them.
ReplyDeleteI like option #2 as well. Just the right amount of quilting so it will last and last. I agree I like straight line quilting too and I am a FMQ chicken but I do like the simplicity of the straight line quilting.
ReplyDeleteI love this quilt and your eye for combining colors! I vote option #3, then stand back and look at it and if you still don't feel it's enough, go to option #4 :) Whatever you choose will be beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm going odd today...1 and 3 are my top choices with a very slight preference for 3 :)
ReplyDeleteFunny, I am asking the same question on my blog today! LOL IMO I like option 4 the best, but I tend to like "heavy quilting".
ReplyDeleteI'd have to go with Option #3, I think it lets the stars still shine through nicely :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of option 3. It's a lovely quilt!
ReplyDeleteI personally like option 3 but I think you should also consider quilting an outline around each star :)
ReplyDeleteEither option 3 for less quilting or my favorite option 4! Lovely quilt!
ReplyDeleteOkay, first I must say I'm loving your wonky stars! Secondly, I think how you quilt it is going to depend on how you want the quilt to feel afterward and how much crinkling you want from a wash/dry. I like #3; an addition to this might be to stitch straight across horizontally through the points so that you end up with triangles rather than diamonds. It would give you a little tighter quilting without it being as tight as number 4. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteI like #3 best, but any of them will look nice.
ReplyDeleteLove it. I made a wonky star quilt out of central park too and I straight line quilted the blocks outlining them. I would choose 4. So cute. Found you at Lee's linky party.
ReplyDeleteGee, tough question. The quilt looks great ... maybe option three?
ReplyDeleteI have the hardest time deciding on quilting too! I think i prefer #3.
ReplyDeleteI like option #3 so that your stitching doesn't take away from the star points.
ReplyDeleteMary
http://www.quiltgenius.com
I like Option #3 personally. I like that it intersect in the center of each star and splits us the center square into triangles to mimic the triangles of the points of the star.
ReplyDeleteWell, it isn't the most popular vote by far.. but I wouldn't want the quilting too far apart.. I would want the quilt to last forever.. it is far too cute! I would go for choice #4
ReplyDeleteYou are probably asking the wrong person because I love dense quilting. That being said, I'd go with 3 or 4. I love the idea that Natalie said about quilting around each star... but what if you did a big stitch by hand with perle cotton, like Anna Maria Horner's tutorial. I also like Melinda's suggestion about adding horizontal lines to give you diamonds. Fun, and not preditable, which I think adds a lot of interest. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
ReplyDeleteI'd vote for option 2!
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful - I really love this quilt.
I love Option 3! Have you decided what you'll use for your binding?
ReplyDeleteI would do Option 3, with additional horizontal and vertical stitching lines through the star in addition to the diagonals - so you have a starburst through the star....
ReplyDeleteWouldn't 1 & 3 come apart after a few washings? I woud do more, for longer quilt life.
ReplyDeleteI like #3, although Sarah Craig's idea sounds great as well.
ReplyDeleteoption 2. very modern looking. love it!
ReplyDeletelove your blog. saw your comment on mine so i came here to check out your WIP. SO funny because i JUST today quilted up a little quilt that is SO much like this! solid is kona coal with wonky stars as well. even funnier is that i sat down to quilt it and thought, "hmm, how should i do this?" i actually posted this question on my flickr and got some good responses:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/46087936@N05/5691351869/in/photostream
anyway, i ended up going with your option #2, but then i needed "more." so i added another quilted line about 1/4 of an inch above each line. it was easy because i just used the edge of my walking foot on the other line (ok is this even making sense? ha!) anyway, i like the way it turned out. i'll share it soon on my blog- i'm gifting it on friday so i don't want to show it all done until it's in its new owner's hands :)
take care!
:)kelley
www.littlemissmk.blogspot.com
If the stars are small, I'd go with #3, but it the stars are bigger than say 6", I'd go with #4.
ReplyDeleteLove the phrase "free motion chicken" :)
I like symmetry, so my vote is for #3 or 4. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteI vote for Option #3. Like a PP said, you could always go with #4 afterwards if you wanted more!
Looking forward to seeing what you decide!
That is going to be one beautiful quilt! I like option #2, but I think option #3 would look cool with double lines.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be one fabulous quilt! I like option #3, but I would probably do it like Kelley, with a double line!
ReplyDeleteI just love the quilt and the combination of fabrics used. I see you've already quilted it and I absolutely love the echoed quilting. Nicely done.
ReplyDelete