Once basted, it’s time to quilt!
If you are tempted to try hand-quilting, I highly recommend this project. This is a very manageable size quilt and the nine-patch design plus sashing and wide border give you tons of room to try out different hand-quilting patterns! From simple stitch-in-ditch to feather stencils, there are tons of great designs you could include.
Most people will probably choose machine quilting. This quilt is also a nice, manageable size for machine quilting. If you are a beginner, attach your walking foot and start with some straight-line quilting either in the ditch (I find in the ditch VERY hard to look nice. Try going 1/4 or 1/2 inch on either side of your seams instead) or across the squares. Use painter’s tape to mark lines or use a ruler and wash-away marker to mark your lines before putting the quilt on the machine. Use a neutral thread color that blends well with the top and the backing fabrics. I chose a light pink thread.
I inaugurated my new longarm quilting machine with this quilt and was pleased with the results. I quilted a “heart star” in the charm squares, a meandering loop in the center sashing, “e” and “l” loops in the outer sashing, and followed the fabric design for the border quilting.
Please don’t be intimidated by the actual quilting of a quilt! If you want to try stippling, grab some fabric and batting scraps and make practice sandwiches. Practice pieces are also a good tool to use to test your tension.
So your homework is to GET QUILTING! Stay tuned for our next and final installment which will be binding and the big reveal. As usual, please remember to add your progress photos to our Flickr Group!
More Resources on Quilting:
Having someone quilt this for you is also an option! I’ll try to get a resource guide listed of some long-arm quilters you can check out!
