How to Choose a Quilting Design

You are done with your top quilt and are now anxious to start your quilting. Why? Doing so will bring the top to life, which means you have to be immensely cautious in choosing the design. If you are beginner, it is possible that you might be overwhelmed by too many ideas for your quilting design or you may have absolutely none at all. Regardless of the situation, here are some techniques that you can use for creating some unique and fun designs for your quilt:

• Stitching in the ditch

This type of quilting is frequently used by beginners. You have to sew the stitches parallel to the quilt’s seam and they are placed next to them or about ¼’’ to 1/8’ away. It is also an option to stitch them directly in the seams. It is recommended that you keep your stitching straight and neat on a uniform width. Select a thread that goes with the fabric and consider the front and back of the fabric when making this decision. The stiches may not be visible from the front, but can be prominent on the back.

• Straight line quilting

Contemporary quilters often use this particular design idea for their quilts in which they sew lines at specific widths. You can create a modern feel through this idea and these lines serve as an excellent contrast in quilts that are full of movements and curves. You can sew the lines in different directions such as diamonds, horizontal, vertical, crosshatch and diagonal amongst others. You can use fabric markers, chalk, hera markers or painting tapes for marking these lines beforehand. You can use a metal guide from the machine if marking the quilts is not a good idea for you.

• Free-motion quilting

If the top of your quilt comprises of straight lines and angles, free-motion quilting might be a good idea. The quilter essentially moves the quilt in all directions as the sewing machines drop the grippy feet under the needle. In this way, freehand quilting designs are stitched all over the quilt. This kind of quilting approach is very similar to drawing as the needle serves as the stationary pencil whereas the paper’s role is played by the quilt. Loops, meandering, circles, feathers, pebbles and swirls are some common designs that can be made through free-motion quilting. However, this technique is a bit more difficult than the others and requires some extra practice before you get good at it.

• Specialty feet

You need to know what quilting feet you have available when you are trying to settle on a quilting design. A walking foot is needed to quilt straight lines. This specialty foot attachment is like the feed dogs found on a sewing machine and comes with its own feet. You can feed the quilt through the machine from the bottom and top at the same speed. If you use a regular foot is used, the top and bottom are not evenly fed and this can lead to tension and puckering issues. You can get a nice even feed with a walking foot.