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Advice!

For years I've heard even accomplished quilters fret and stress over the quilting phase of their work. And this anxiety seems to strike traditional and art quilters alike. Intellectually I can understand it--they've just spent something between hours and years on finishing a beautiful top and don't want to ruin it.

But emotionally, I am always eager for the quilting to begin. It's one of my favorite parts of the creation process and I've explored the limits of what works and doesn't over the years, so here are a few tips to make your next quilting project a success. Although the samples are traditional, these are the same principles I use in my art quilts as well.

1. Don't leave your motif floating in a sea of unquilted top

2. Make sure your motif is the right size for the space it fills.

3. Don't forget to fill in the blanks. A fill flattens the background and allows your main motif or the focal point of your art quilt to pop. For example, this:

becomes this:

Neither is terribly complex, but one is much more appealing.

4. Create visual layers by varying the direction and density of your quilting, and allow some motifs to cross the boundaries of your blocks.

5. If you want to emphasize something, quilt it less. If you want to de-emphasize it, quilt it more heavily. You can see how this works in the example above.

Just for fun, take a basic coloring book page . . . and color it as if you were five years old again. Now, if this were your quilt, every place that you colored should be quilted lightly and every place you didn't color should be quilted more heavily.

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me.

I offer classes that addresses these sorts of issues, including "Designing Great Quilting Schemes" and "Sculpting with the Quilting Stitch." If your guild or group is interested in a class and/or lecture on either topic, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, Cindi