ruby2shoes

I have a top and have started doing SITD along all the vertical seams. I was then going to do the same for the horizontal seams. But.....meh....I just don't know that it will look any good. I don't want to do fmq, and the recipient is a very no-nonsense, no tizz type person. What can I do with this top do you think without my unpicking all my vertical lines done?

I was thinking about doing several lines down the length of the narrow columns...maybe 1/2" apart (the columns are 1.5") and then maybe the same in the plain squares?

Maureen NJ

I like the idea of SID and would just continue to do the vertical and horizontal lines. Maybe you could add some narrow lines in the white so the floral print pops.

QuiltnNan

you could do the entire quilt in vertical lines... they can vary in width. to me, this is a more modern look.

dorismae904

I agree with QuiltnNan.

Prism99

Whether you quilt lines only vertically, or both horizontally and vertically, you can add interest by varying how far apart the lines are. For example, you could quilt 1/2" on both sides of the SITD lines and leave it at that. Or, you could add 3 lines through the middle of the blocks also. I will try to post some examples of variations you could use.

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/...-quilting.html (scroll down to custom baby quilt to see result when sewing lines to each side of seams)

Here are some example of evenly spaced lines all going vertically:
http://mamalovequilts.com/2012/01/10...ight-line.html
http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/tag...line-quilting/

Not the best example I've seen, but here's what varying the line widths can look like:
http://filminthefridge.com/2011/03/0...fancy-version/

ruby2shoes

Thankyou everyone, you've given me some good ideas, I'm off to doodle with pencil, paper and ruler to try to incorporate them in with the existing lines I've already done. Most appreciated.

klswift

Why not try a diagonal thru the 9 patch? You could go all the way to the bottom and then come back up the other way giving you a continuous line. For a bit of variety, I would then do a lazy curvy line down the center of the sashing. I would do the sashing line in white thread and the diagonals in either a pink or maybe a light blending green.

lindaschipper

Personally I LOVE cross hatching on a nine patch...makes my heart "ZING".

citruscountyquilter

Squares lend themselves to an orange peel design which is a curve from corner to corner of the square going both vertically and horizontally. You can do it like a serpentine so you have one continuous line of stitching which makes less starts and stops. Here are some pictures of what I'm talking about. One picture shows the serpentine and one shows the resulting circles and another way again with a serpentine results in a flower pattern.

ruby2shoes

Hmmmm yes, I tried some cross hatching yesterday and wasn't too happy with how it looked so I've unpicked it and am now thinking that maybe curves would be a softer option. I need to soften the plain squares as you've suggested citruscountyquilter. So now I need to decide whether I do the gentle curves with the walking foot or just decide to do fmq afterall...I'm not too good at either which is why I was leaning towards straight stitching. Oh well, I'll have to put my "be brave pants" on this morning and jump in! Thanks everyone...most appreciated.