Railroadersbrat

I'm in a little bit of a tough spot, I hope I can get some good advice.

I've been working on my FMQ'ing off and on for a little while now, trying to get myself into a good enough rhythm that when I work on my sister's DWR late this spring, I'll be able to do the medallions easily. Problem is, I can make beautiful loops and meandering on my own and when I use my rulers, I can zip through curves without a hiccup, but when it comes to following the stencil lines for the medallions, I'm not getting the perfect points or the arcs I'm happy with. Stencil is a continuous line pattern with Fleur's on the corners and hearts in between the Fleur's, I'll upload a picture of the stencil later if it's wanted.

I'm not giving up on quilting this on my own and I've been flirting with the idea of hand quilting the medallions, because I know I can get those perfect points and arcs by hand, then I can use my rulers to free-motion quilt the rings themselves. I know I'm not exactly breaking the quilting rules by doing this, what I'm slightly more concerned about is the fact that someday, my sister might take her quilt to a quilt show, so I'm sort of leaning against hand quilting unless I do the entire quilt by hand.

I have good days and bad days with my hands, so it's going to make the process longer if I do the entire quilt. She's willing to wait however long it takes, my question is, if you were in the same spot I am, what would you do? Is it actually okay for both hand and machine quilting to be on the same quilt if that quilt is entered into a show?

SHELTIE'SMAMA

You didn't say what type of foot you are using when doing the "fleurs" but do you have any other foot that will improve your sight line on the corner. I have three different ruler feet one for each machine but I have a favorite that lets me hit the target every time.

ckcowl

I’ve been to many ( large) quilt shows- there are always a few quilts ( some with big awards) that contain hand and machine quilting. Her wanting to show it shouldn’t deter you from doing both methods. Keep practicing and when the time comes do what you feel is best- there are no strict rules

juliasb

I have made a number of large DWR quilts and only one did I machine quilt and I was not happy with the results. So all the others, 5 of them (now 7 all together) I did by hand and was very excited about the results. The thought did not cross my mind to combine quilting methods. Now it is something to consider. I am sure you will decide just how you want to finish this quilt. I am sure it will be beautiful what ever you do.

Railroadersbrat

I am using a closed toe darning/embroidery foot. I do have a clear ruler foot, but that is for the other machine (low shank) and the one I'm quilting on is a high shank. I'll have to look into a clear foot for my big girl, I never considered the foot may be wrong.

Railroadersbrat

Okay, that makes me feel better about doing both. I know some quilt shows can be very picky with certain things, that's why I put the question out.

I also love your signature, lol.

leaha

I love doing both hand and machine quilting in my quilts. My one rule in quilting is: in quilting nothing is written in stone!