Gammill presents QUILT Magazine’s Guide to Machine Quilting
No quilt is complete without the right stitching design…our experts show you why.
We quilters put so much thought, time and energy into making a quilt—choosing a pattern and fabrics, piecing the top…and then most patterns devote one sentence to the last, key step: “quilt as desired.” Don’t let the brevity of this direction lull you into complacency; whether you’re planning to quilt it yourself or take it to someone else, machine quilting can transform your project from “nice” into “spectacular.”
So how you do you decide what’s right for your particular quilt? Selecting motifs, proportion, thread color, batting—machine quilting really isn’t one decision—it’s a process. It comes complete with a starting strategy and some general rules for success that apply to almost any quilt. We’ve asked three professional machine quilters to share their advice on making the right choices, as well as share specific examples of quilting that work to complement the pattern. Join Jackie Kunkel, Sara Parrish and Sally Terry as they guide you on your way.
1 Start with a Q&A Session
All three experts agree—the first step to choosing a design is to ask questions. A lot of questions. Give that quilt the third degree! Sally Terry starts by asking the five W’s:
• Who is the quilt for?
• What is the occasion?
• Where is it going to be used/displayed?
• When is it needed?
• Why are you making the quilt and why did you choose the fabrics/pattern you did?
“If you can answer those questions, you’ll have everything you need to know about how to finish your quilt,” she says. For example, a baby or child’s playmat likely requires different quilting—something simpler and more utilitarian—than a piece of decorative wall art, and a quilt for a man may look with a linear design or leaves rather than flowers or feathers.
“Most quilts will speak to you,” Sara Parrish says; you can look at them and just know what they need. But it may take some time: “I had a teacher say that sometimes they’ll speak to you in a foreign language and you’ll have to look at it for a while to figure it out.”
2 Look at the Options: Edge-to-Edge vs. Custom Designs
Who hasn’t been at a show and felt awed by a quilt featuring multiple quilting designs that seem to mesh perfectly with the blocks, complemented by feathery, fancy border stitching? There’s no question that this type of quilting is a work of art all itself, but it can be expensive (if you’re paying someone to machine quilt your top) and time consuming (if you’re doing it yourself).
It also doesn’t work on every quilt. “Take your cues from the fabric,” Jackie Kunkel advises. “If it’s a really busy fabric, unless you choose a simple, linear design, you’re not going to see the quilting.” On the other hand, solids, textures and tonals are “wonderful for any type of quilting designs. You can see the motifs you’re stitching, and it gives good balance to the quilt.” Quilts with wide open spaces, such as setting squares and triangles, are a wonderful canvas for custom quilting.
When choosing which path to take, consider both logic and logistics. A quilt that will be well-loved and used frequently doesn’t generallyrequire fancy, custom quilting—an allover (edge-to-edge) design, such as stippling or loops, serves the purpose. But a show quilt, or one intended to grace a little-used guest room or decorate a wall—these beauties will do custom quilting justice.
Your timeframe is key, as well. If you need to finish something quickly (those last-minute gifts!), an edge-to-edge design is the way to go. Another bonus for an allover design is it reduces the decision making. “Lots of people get stuck on ‘what do I put where?”’ Sally says. Edgeto-edge quilting eliminates that problem, but the design possibilities to choose from are still practically endless. “One of the neat things [about edge-to-edge quilting] is taking a cue from the fabric itself,” Jackie adds. “You can choose a motif from the fabric, such as a flower or star, and use that for your quilting design.”
3 Mix & Match: Modern vs. Traditional
If your quilt pattern is traditional, say Grandmother’s Fan blocks or a Lone Star, then you need to choose a quilting design that reflects that look, such as echo quilting or fancy feathers, right? Not necessarily. “I think that quilting can transcend both traditional and modern styles,” Jackie says. “Quilting linear, geometric designs looks just as beautiful on a traditional quilt, and the same with feathers on a modern quilt.” More linear, contemporary quilting lines also work well as filler in the background of blocks, serving as a resting place for the eyes and complementing a more intricate feather or floral design. It also depends on fabric choices. Mixing traditional blocks with nontraditional fabric prints (or vice versa) plays a role in the style and amount of quilting, Sally adds. “Prints today are larger and offer more variety, and if they’re used for borders, an intricate quilting design on these outer edges won’t show up.” By contrast, solid fabrics or contrasting middle and inner borders offer a blank canvas for gorgeous scallops, curls, feathers or tendrils on any style of quilt.
4 Beyond the Stitching Pattern: Thread Choices
When you hear “quilting thread,” chances are the first thing that comes to mind is color. Certainly, color is important, and plays a role in whether the quilting stands out or blends in. String a length of thread across the quilt top, or pile some up to create the look of denser quilting, Sally suggests. Pull several different samples, even hues that seem like a long shot. For scrap quilts, try a tan or khaki color—it will blend with everything and still looks good.
And then there’s the seductive lure of variegated threads…glorious bursts of color that seem to answer the question of what thread color to use. Don’t worry about making sure every hue in the thread is in your quilt. Do, however, pay attention to the color separation of the thread. “If it’s really close together (1″ – 2″), you’ll be able to see the quilting pattern no matter what the background is. With bigger separations (12″), the pattern will ‘blink’ as it passes through some of the fabrics, disappearing from sight,” Sally says.
Thread color can also help fix color flaws in your quilt. “There are times when you have such high contrast in a quilt top or you’ve picked a print that’s too dark and the contrast is just wrong for the quilt. At that point, you can darken or lighten the thread to pull that errant fabric back into the fold,” Sally explains.
The right thread thickness makes a difference too. “With a heavier cotton thread, your quilting will show more than the pattern,” Sara says. Finer threads will mesh into the fabric and hardly be seen, though the quilting design they create will show up
Edge-to-Edge: Busy Prints
If your quilt uses busy prints or small pieces, don’t fight it with complex, showy machine quilting. Choose an allover design and thread color that blends in, so the quilted texture is visible but not overpowering.
Edge-to-Edge: Playing Up Simple Patterns
Add flourish to a simple pieced pattern with a more intricate, dense quilting design. It will nicely balance the plainness of the quilt to create sparkle.
Edge-to-Edge: Following the Fabric’s Lead
Take a cue from the fabric by repeating a motif in it as an edge-toedge quilting design. This helps tie the pieced quilt and quilting together in a purposeful way, and even lends the look of custom work.
Custom Quilting: Dressing Up Solid Areas
Using detailed stitching motifs (feathers are always popular!) in solid colored areas adds texture and pattern to an area that the eye typically goes to rest, so it will stand out and complement printed motifs on nearby fabrics.
Custom Quilting: Creating Pattern in a Border
Quilting borders can be a lot of fun. They offer a constrained area in which to work, so it’s not intimidating, and they are the ideal location for a repetitive design that adds sparkle and non-linear movement to a straight area.
Custom Quilting: Working with a Block
Stitching motifs on individual blocks like this Pinwheel draws attention to the pattern and helps it shine.
Custom Quilting: Balancing Solids and Patterns
Where solid areas meet up with complex prints or piecing, use a simpler echo quilting design in the busy areas and let your creativity flow in the plain areas to create a balanced look.
Experts in Stitches
Meet the talented women (more than 30 years of experience combined!) behind the advice offered here.
Jackie Kunkel, owner of the online shop Canton Village Quilt Works, has been machine quilting for herself and customers for 11 years.
Sally Terry began machine quilting in 1999 and enjoys sharing her knowledge with students. She has published three books on the topic with American Quilter’s Society, including the recent “Pathways from Quilt Top to Quilted.”
Sara Parrish has been machine quilting along with her sister, Nancy Jones, under the name Scrappy Quilt Sisters for about 10 years.
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