nanna-up-north

I love it when everyone gives you permission to do what you want to do...... confidence building. But really, do what you want. There are no quilt police here. And WELCOME...... you came to the right place.

Bree123

Oh my goodness, so many replies!!! Thank you all so much for your quick answers. I will try to get a useable picture to post of my quilt top later today (my "dumb" phone is not taking anything that shows colors remotely well).

So many talented artists telling me to "break the rules"! The problem is that I don't even know what the rules are in the first place. lol. What bit of design background I have in working with color is based on pantone numbers. I am a VERY mathematical-logical person and because of that, my color choices tend to come out perfectly balanced. Then again, I usually work with either a very traditional dark-mid-cool palate or very modern tone-on-tone palate pretty much all of the time.

I have literally never worked with pure white fabric before. The polka dots are already giving me trouble with my quilting because they're dimensional iron-ons. I didn't even notice that when I bought it, but it's extra resistance for my needle -- yay. I really want the quilting to just blend in to the top. With over 7,000 1/8" hand stitches on those little doll dresses with hand-drawn ruffles & individually placed button decals & that 1/4" rickrack that nearly ruined my sewing machine, on this quilt, I want the quilting to barely be noticeable.
I did find a link to a picture of my backing fabric: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1606487...w_type=gallery

I suppose I could always put a true white in the needle and the more muted beige/cream in the bobbin (I'm too nervous about a grey or black bobbin thread peeking through). I'll get quilting and try a few different combinations (the only fabric I don't have much extra of is the backing fabric -- black nesting dolls) and then try to snap some pics. Thanks again for all the quick responses!!!

susie-susie-susie

When I started reading this thread, my first thought was red on white and the red ran. Maybe that was the reason for the comment. Test thread just like you do fabric with dark colors and if it is safe, the sky's the limit. Your quilt sounds lovely. I just read your last post, and I think your backing is darling and will look good no matter what color thread you use. Also, the only rules in quilting is there are no rules. Ha.
Sue

Kwiltr

I was told by A professional quilter that often silver or gold thread, depending on the colour spectrum you are dealing with can be a perfect choice for blending in with multiple colours on a quilt. I'm thinking silver/gray might play well with your mentioned colours.

Bree123

Not entirely done with quilt top, but heading to store to pick up more thread. Here's a pic of the middle of it. It will be surrounded with more pink/white stripes and has a blue batik border (I'll be using a 2nd color -- blue variegated -- thread for the border). Also, the black squares will have flower yo-yos in them.

I've been thinking more & more about it. It seems like the cream colored thread might be a lot more visible on the white and the pink sections than a cream/light beige colored thread (since cream/beige is the color used to quilt whole cloth pure white quilts). Can anyone verify that is the case? I want the quilting to blend in as much as possible on this quilt so that the focus is on the applique, rather than the quilting.

I've also been watching some more classes on line theory & think I will change my quilting design to a diagonal crosshatch, rather than stippling, to help balance out the design. Has anyone done that pattern around an applique? It seems much more advanced. I've done it in squares and for an all-over pattern using a walking foot, but obviously I'd have to FMQ it on this quilt unless I want to have to bury dozens of thread ends.

Thanks so much for the ideas.

(Kwiltr, if I can get my tension perfectly balanced, I would definitely use a grey or silver thread on the back, but between the seams and the dimensional polka dots on the white fabric (& the fact this is my very first actual quilt to be quilted FMQ), worrying about peeking loops is more than I can take on with my little Singer Genie. My local quilt shop makes Berninas available to people who buy their fabric from them, so that might be something to experiment with when I have normal fabric, no dimensional appliques & a stitch regulator. Thanks so much for the suggestion, though!)