Posted in Quilting

Overall or Background Quilting

Grids, Diamonds, and Channels  

These either cover the entire quilt or are planned to make the background recede and emphasize surface design. Lines can be marked with rulers or templates. You can also use masking tape.

If you use regular masking tape, it needs to be made “gentle”: stick it to something first then peel it off to remove some off the stickiness.  You can buy painters masking tape at the hardware store – it is designed to avoid pulling paint off the wall (or batting through the quilt top!)  There are quilters' tapes in different types and widths, also, that help you measure the placement of your lines or length of your stitches.  If you use tape, you can quilt right next to it and you don’t need to mark the lines. You can use a piece of tape over and over until it no longer sticks.

Clamshell designs, overlapping circles, or other designs

This type of pattern can also be used to quilt large areas of background space or over the entire quilt. Generally, these require templates or stencils of some sort and must be marked.

Stippling

Stippling is a quilting pattern that flattens the background with heavy stitching. The most common type of stippling is a random-looking design that curls around but the lines never cross or touch. Close parallel lines, diamonds, tiny overlapping circles and fine grids are other forms of stippling. It “sucks up” a lot of fabric, so it should be used carefully.

Outline Quilting

In the Ditch

Outline quilting can be done “in the ditch” without marking the quilt top. “In the ditch”, in quiltmaking, means right next to the seam, less than 1/8” away, but not actually in the seam.

1/4" Away

Stitching ¼” away from the seams will help you avoid quilting through seam allowances. You must mark these lines with a ruler or use ¼” wide masking tape.

Echo Quilting

Echo quilting is usually done on Hawaiian applique designs. Begin with “in the ditch” quilting around the applique pieces, then quilt ¼” away from there, then in repeating ¼” intervals. You will usually have curved lines and have to “eyeball” the distance between the lines. You don’t mark them in advance. Echo quilting flattens out the background area almost like stippling but is as important a design element as the applique itself.

Fancies

These are accomplished with templates, stencils, tracing paper, or using a light box. Your pattern options are endless. Stencils can be made or purchased. They are inexpensive and nice to have on hand when you need one.

Templates to draw around (like heart shapes) can be made of “gentle” contactâ paper or other adhesive-back paper. Don’t leave the template on the quilt for long or leave it in a very warm place. You can quilt directly around these shapes and reuse them – no marking required.  You can machine quilt through thin paper, too.