Why do I find this so challenging
#1
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: choctaw oklahoma
Posts: 291
Why do I find this so challenging
I piece by machine and quilt by hand. I don't have trouble finding patterns I like but I always struggle with finding good quilting designs. Where do you get your inspirations for hand quilting?
#3
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
Posts: 16,105
I pull up different quilts of say Hunter's Star or even a log cabin to see different ideas of how they've been quilted. Also depends on who it's for. Some quilts for men, you may want to go with a "manly" not so floral versus more floral for women. Baby quilt with cutesy animals or themed. Not sure what i'm going to do with my son's. It has a deer panel and will have Hunter's star and rail fence or 4 patch. I took a photo of the panel so I could print it. Will go from there. I have a lot of stencils but may incorporate linear work into it. Will see.
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Central NJ
Posts: 5,572
That's my biggest challenge as well. I've collected a reasonable number of stencils over the years and can usually manage to find something that works. Sometimes one of the quilts 'screams' for a certain design that I, fortunately, already have. Lots of times, though, when I'm on a deadline, I just do echo quilting within the blocks and call it done. That is one of the things that I scour quilt shops for when traveling, however. Most quilters buy fabric - I buy stencils. I can imagine their use much more easily than I can a fabric I have no specific quilt in mind.
#7
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#8
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY
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http://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-ess...pkw=&pmt=&plc=
I don't hand quilt any more because now I have a longarm but by machine or by hand we still face the same delimma. Now I approach piecing patterns differently. I incorporate my thoughts on quilting it before deciding on a pattern. I have yet to be faced with a pattern that I draw a complete blank on when quilting, whether it be custom or an all over design. However, with hand quilting I always took my seam allowance into consideration. My "go to" for most hand quilting was to at least echo the patchwork, usually coming in 1/4" to avoid quilting through all the bulk of the seam allowances. When it came to "fancy" motifs I tried to place those in the negative space portion of the quilt. Areas where there are no seams and lots of blank space to show off the quilting.
I find inspiration for quilting all around me. Pinterest is a great resource. I entered "hand Quilting Patterns" as my search and got lots of pictures of ideas. Other places to look for inspiration: Architectural elements, go to museum and take in the frames of old paintings, decorative tiles, wrought iron, the design on a box of tissues. The possibilities are endless.
#9
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Alturas, CA
Posts: 9,393
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