I finished a wall hanging of Retro Flowers. It's 9 of the above blocks. I don't have a picture of the whole thing, but you get the idea. It's all basted and ready to be quilted. I have been toying with the idea of doing baptist fans per Don't Call Me Betsy's tutorial. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of quilting, here's an idea of what it looks like.
I'm afraid it may overwhelm the quilt though. I've done some practicing and I can do this quilting so I'm not worried about that. But, as a straight line quilter, I'm afraid to step out of my box. Especially since these blocks were a little time consuming and the fabrics I used are now gone. Part of me wants to stick with what I know and straight line this.
What do you think? Thanks for helping me out!
14 comments:
I voted Baptist fan. It will be a step away from the norm, but I think it will rock! I'm trying it on my next quilt too!
I voted for straight line...but I am a bit biased. I love the look of straight lines! Especially when there is such symmetry in the blocks, I have a hard time picturing anything other than lines.
I am in the midst of making these blocks & also hear you in that regard. I am going to save my experimental(ish) FMQ for something that didn't take so much precision to make. You are probably braver than me though & I suspect a lot of advise will say to go for it!
Can't wait to see what you choose!
These have become very popular! I am also doing them to be mixed with Tallahassee blocks, so I can hardly wait to see what you do. Wish I could offer a great suggestion, but I'm a novice at FMQ and am hoping to "steal" your idea!
Becky this is too funny, I am about to finish up my retro flowers and was also thinking about quilting it with baptist fans! I say go for it :-)
I voted straight lines......BUT I have no real clue LOL.....I really love the arches too. I know, I'm NO help LOL!!!!!
I voted for straight lines. I usually like quilting that contrasts a little with the block design - so curvy fmq for straight, geometric piecing, but something a little more linear for curved piecing like this block. I just think too many curves might be overwhelming. Notice that the quilt Elizabeth did in the baptist fans had very straight, pointy, jagged piecing, and that looked great.
What about wavy line quilting? It's sort of straight line but sort of curvy too. And it's easy to do if you have a wavy decorative stitch. It's just like straight line quilting, the machine does all the work for you!
Your retro flowers are going to be GORGEOUS! I wouldn't want to muddle those wonderful geometric sharp edges with a dense design like the baptist fans. Straight line could be amazing, or some repetitive *open* design (a large stipple or equiv.) Can't wait to see the direction you take!
My suggestion is to print a couple of photos of the block and "quilt" it. See how it looks and then decide.
Good luck!
Love the block!
Christina just posted about drawing a mock up quilting design over a block layout to see what it will look like. I would recommend doing that first, but I'm going to vote for straight line! Although, the baptist fans is such a beautiful pattern.
I went for the fans as I thought it might echo the curves in the flowers nicely. You'd have to line it up well though...
I recently did a tutorial on using a piece of vinyl and watersoluble markers to audition quilting designs. In any case, I voted "other" because I thought that echoing quilting the floral shape of the block in 1/2" increments would look great. I think Baptist Fans would compete too much with the block shape since they're so similar. Have fun!!
I like the fan...if you use a blending thread, as in a colour that doesn't stand out, it should look great!
i voted baptist fan but i am not sure now. if it were mine i would worry about the curve of the fan taking away from the curve of the flower. i think it will look great whatever you decide. but it really is deciding that is the hardest part!
I think I would go for an all over meander quilting of some sort - or the baptist fans. I think it will look great, especially once it is washed, etc. no matter what, but I recommend trying something new!
Post a Comment