How do you know what to quilt?

[Ritathequilter]

Hi

I've had my Millinnium since January and have only quilted 2 quilts on it...even tho I have a few dzn of my own to quilt and several friends want me to quilt theirs.

My problem is that I can't figure out what or how to quilt each quilt. I've had one loaded (the top is floated so there's no stain on it) for almost 2 months now and I can't, for the life of me, decide how to quilt it.

I think I should just do a panto and be done with it. The customer left this one up to me and doesn't want anything too fancy anyway.

But my question is...how do you decide? I went on a course and was told that "the quilt never speaks to you cause quilts don't talk". :^)

So I'm still feeling that buying this machine might have been a huge mistake cause I can't figure out how to decide to quilt each quilt.

Are there books out there to help me? Can you suggest some good books, with line drawings in them, that would give me ideas? I'm not sure I want books with color photos right now, but I think line drawn images would be better. But then I'm not sure about that either. :^)

I've also realized that I need way more training, more classes. I think that would give me more confidence to tackle this pile of tops.

I'm going to Houston this fall and plan to take some course. Can you suggest who I should take classes from?

Thanks

Rita

NWT, Canada

[Guest LA]

Hi Rita,

I think it is pretty normal to have "Quilter's Block", we all go through it at one time or another.

Check with your local Rep for classes, if you have not had your beginner's class, I would highly suggest it. You will be fine after a little encouragement & hands on class time!

[Mary Beth]

Rita,

I hear you and feel your pain. I have a hard time with that one too. Most of the time I over think a project. If I would just do something simple the customer usually raves over it. If I see the quilting on this site and start thinking my quilting is pitiful I have to try something funky - it usually stinks. Trust me, go simple for a while until your confidence is up. And like Linda said, go to classes. Hands on are the best, you just learn so much. The lecture classes are great too, but you just get so much from the hands on. This is a great forum for information or post a picture of your quilt and let them help you.

You are going to be going after it before you know it.

Mary Beth

[ramona-quilter]

Rita,

Classes are a great resource. The teachers always give you

tips; ie "This pattern looks good in a 9-patch"; "Varigated

tread looks good wth this" etc.

I thought longarmers possessed some magic to be able to

quilt. Everything looked good to me, even plain old stipple. I

still believe that almost anything I quilt will be OK with 95%

of the folks I quilt for - they are just thrilled with the results.

Part of that may be the euphoria they feel when they

realize that they don't have to cram their quilt thru a 6 by 9

inch hole.

I just got started last July and it can be a bit intimidating.

Where do you start?? I started with loops, hearts, stars,

the easy and fun stuff. Pantos scared me at first but now I

relax and theyn turn out pretty good. I don't quilt as a

business. I do it for myself, the local quilt shop and a few

friends.

Some folks believe that mere ownership of the machine

endows you with special powers....yeah, that's the magic

part I mentioned. When I got my machine, it had a 1-stitch

button, a thread cutter button but no 'magic button'.

I once had one of the quilt shop regulars drop off the crib

size at the shop for me to do. A drive-by quilter.

After talking to her, on the phone, I realized she wanted

something that was above my comfort level; crosshatch and

stitch in the ditch. And she needed it 5 days later. I told her

that I thought she might be happier with a more

experienced quilter and I returned the quilt top.

My first quilt was a batik that I pieced. I really didn't care

for the fabrics I chose so it was a good practice quilt. I just

did big stars in the blocks. It was AWFUL. But you have to

start somewhere. I drag that quilt out just to remind me

that I have gotten better.

I have to share these photos with you. One is titled

"Tension problem" and the other is appropriately named

"3 stitches per inch":P

But honestly Rita, post a picture of your quilt. I bet you

get a half dozen replies, each different. I have found some

of those package patterns (http://www.goldenthreads.com/

and http://www.kmquiltingsupply.com/Patterns/default.asp)

and pantos can give you ideas on what shapes you like and

what looks good together. And I cruise all the quilters

web-sites for inspiration.

Don't give up, kiddo. Give it two more months. I just bet

you can do this.

Linda

[ramona-quilter]

Ok, so I forgot the photos. I hink I quilted this with a rake.

[ramona-quilter]

And here's that 3 stitches per inch. YIKES. This is where I

was 10 months ago.

[ffq-lar]

Hi Rita---

I can't believe someone said quilts don't talk----sometimes they scream "I want circles" or whisper "feathers for me" or chuckle and say "big beautiful hearts and flowers".

If you want published design ideas, do a member search for Darlene Epp and Sherry Rogers-Harrison. Both have great books of designs on their sites.

Go to www.connectingthreads.com and order a catalog. There newest came in my mail today and they have five machine quilting idea books at a good price--including a re-release of Fine Feathers by Marianne Fons. They are in Vancouver, Wa. Another good one is Follow-the-Line Quilting Designs by Mary Covey. These books give you a jumping off place for you to develop your own style. Take classes if you can.

It's easy to say don't be afraid--everybody here faced that first quilt top at one time, took a deep breath, made a little wish, and started. You can do it!!!

Linda in Olympia

Counting the days until Innovations!!!

[CherylUribe]

Who is the quilt for. ( don't want to do fancy quilting for a "dragger" used by a toddler)

What will the quilt be used for. ( you may want to quilt a wall hanging real special)

Sometimes I take clues from the fabric as well. If there is an interesting design that will translate to a quilting design I will freehand my interpretation of it. For example: a celestial fabric may have stars in it. I will quilt universe theme motifs continuously. Moons, stars, saturns, and a flowing milky way.

The more you quilt the easier it gets. Don't struggle, go with your instinct.

[SherryRogers]

Invest in books and study them! Some of my favorites are Alex Anderson's~ Beautifully Quilted, Joe Cunningham and Gwen Marston~ Quilting with Style. Quilting Design Sourcebook~Oster, Guide to Machine Quilting~ Diane Gaudynski. Easy Machine Quilting~ Townswick (Rodale book) Quilt It~ Barbara Chainy. Encyclopedia of Designs for Quilting~ Phyllis D Miller.

[Ritathequilter]

Thanks for your help and pep talks!

Linda, I laughed at those big stitches of yours. I have the stitch regulator so won't have that problem, thank goodness.

The problem I'm having is because I always think I need to do fancy. Which is just plain dumb. I'm going to do a panto on this top I have loaded then I'm going to do 10 or 15 of my own tops. I love doing pantos so will probly do them all that way...I should be good when done. :^)

I'll try to post a picture of that top tonight. It has a center panel, which is surrounded by square blocks, then finished off with a couple of borders. All done in Laural Birch fabrics.

I'm also going to look into getting some good reference books. I see Sherry has given me some to start with so I'll get a couple of those to start with.

Thanks again

Rita

[AnuGram]

just another suggestion, Rita. THere is another listserv (not just for APQS folks) called longarmchat.com and they have a forum called "How do I quilt this?" It is a subscription based thing (really reasonable -- $22/yr) and worth every penny for ideas and helpful hints.

If you post a photo of your quilt, you will get lots of suggestions back ("drawn" on the photos so you can see how they would look). It's a great resource for those times when you just can't figure out what to do with a particular quilt.

There are other forums on the site as well, some are open to public, so you can take a look and see what you think.

Sara

[sammi]

Don't forget Darlene Epps' Pocket Guides! They "jump start" a lot of my freehand work.

sammi

[Kay M.]

Hi Rita,

I remember my moments of panic when I first started quilting for others. When I asked one of my very first customers what she wanted me to do and she said, "That's what I'm paying you to decide," it was a real eye opener. So, I started looking at magazines much more closely and went to all the longarm quilting webshot photos and studied other quilters.

Anytime I get a quilt, I lay it out on my living room floor and look at it from a distance and then study it up close. The first consideration is who the quilt is for. As mentioned above, a toddler's quilt will be treated differently than a wedding gift. The fabrics, colors and pattern all play into the decision as well. I also try to give two ideas if the customer has no idea what she/he wants. One of these ideas is usually a freehand overall design. The other can be more custom if it will do the quilt justice. This way I have two price ranges. On scrap quilts, I recommend the overall freehand as the quilting will not show as much anyway.

It is important to remember your limitations and only do what you know you can do well if it is for a customer. For your own, you can try new and challenging ideas. You will probably surprise yourself. I often assumed I could never do some things until I tried. That's a really good feeling when you see yourself progressing in your skills. The best thing is that after a while, your new skills will transfer to new patterns. There won't be a huge learning curve to each new thing attempted. That's when things get really fun and your customers will be so impressed!

Kay

[LindaSusieQuilts]

Who said quilts dont talk? Altho I have had a couple that had to live with me for a couple months before it would talk.

I also have a hard time thinking of what to do....... some times the customer will want fish.... or water theme...... that narrows it..... some let you play...........

If to fussy........ I say no...

Some one just told me this secret to some of this stuff is KISS "" Keep it Simple Sweetie""......... the more you do the more you will want to do.......

Linda

[andriko]

I too, recomend Quilt it by Barbara Chainey.

But what I realy like is: Quilting makes the quilt by Lee Cleland. She pieced 5 times the same top and quilted them five times using different designs. All are colored pictures.

Take classes and you will get a lot confidence in your skills and decisions as well.

The hard thing for us as newbies is that we want to give the top the best quilting. The only one which will work best. So, we do a lot of thinking. This the customer does not do. If they have no idea, they will be pleased with the results. This is what I learned talking to other LA's.

My own tops do speak to me. But they change their mind every so often , so they are still not quilted. I will get a good practice when I am doing this, as I am a very bad piecer.

Just start playing and the rest will follow

[diane Bevans]

I think all of us get stuck once in a while. Right now I taught a bowtie class and my students want theirs quilted. I am not even sure how I want to quilt my own, so lots of suggetions are always welcome. sometimes you build on what others give you for ideas. And I a big one on reference books. I think Pam Clarks designs with lines help me the most when I first started out. Also I have Darlene Ebb's Pocket quides. They helped a lot. And if you don't want to buy a book right away, becuase that can get real expensive, try your local library, they might be able to get the book in for you to preview. PS I was serious that I needed ideas for these quilts, I have about 10 of them coming my way to do.

[White Rooster]

I am a firm believe that the quilt does talk to you but some are much more vocal than others. Our quilting should compliment the quilt and not overwhelm it. Below are just a few guidelines that I use when deciding how to quilt something:

1. If the quilt is traditional then I use a traditional design.

2. If the quilt is "busy", with lots of scrappy fabrics, I keep the

design simple.

3. If the quilt has lots of repitition in it's design then I use

repetition in my quilting.

4. If the quilt is contemporary then I use some of the more

modern quilting designs that are available.

5. If the quilt has a focal point then I quilt it to really show off

that area.

6. If the quilt has straight lines (stars, half-sq. triangles &

geometric elements) then I quilt some curves to soften the

overall look.

I did a traditional queen size quilt today that had sawtooth type blocks with flying geese and over 20 fabrics to make it very scrappy looking. I decided to quilt rows of offset clams because the quilt needed some curves to soften it and repetition to give it continuity. This also added to the traditional look of the quilt.

Also I recently quilted an Asian block-of-the-month quilt with beautiful fabrics accented in black. In each of the 12 large blocks there was a different Asian motif or symbol. I quilted a 7" baptist fan design using gold metallic thread and it came out great. By repeating the design throughout the quilt the 12 different blocks all came together. In fact, someone saw my client's quilt and brought me hers to quilt too.

Obviously, these were not custom jobs but by giving it some thought you can get a custom look by taking your customer's quilt to the next level.

I hope this helped a little. Happy quilting,

[Tmaus]

Rita

I am a newbie also and have to say that sometimes I can see what would look nice but not usually. I think that for the quilt to "talk to you" takes time doing LA'ing. The more you do, the more you see what you like, what looks good or not.

I'm so excited to have my LA! I have quite a few pieced tops that I've done and I'm saving them until I'm better at quilting and knowing what to quilt. I've made oh, 7 or so scrap quilts and have been practicing on them. Just recently I put a piece of flannel on the lower and a piece of cotton on the upper, no batting, and just quitled a pano. It turned out great, so I'm doing that again and I'm actually going to do quite a few of those. To finish them I'm just using a wide bias. They will be receiving blankets for new babies, always a nice gift.

So I'm wishing you the best of luck and just don't put quiltes on that you absolutely love until your more sure of what you want to do with them.

Have Fun!

Tamara :cool:

[jeri]

Rita, Here are just a few ideas to add to some of the others. Check out your local library. I check out stacks of quilting books, any kind of quilting books. The librarians laugh when I come in and do 10 or so books at a time or get on the computer and reserve them and find out I have 20 or so waiting for me!!! They all have photos of quilts study the quilting. Go to webshots and plug in the name of the quilt pattern you are thinking about quilting and often there are lots of quilts to get ideas from.

I agree that the quilts talk to you. Sometimes I have a plan all worked out with the customer and as I'm loading the quilt or looking at it hanging on my wall the day before I load it I end up calling the maker and suggesting changes. With some of my regulars who I know what they like I just go ahead and change things.

Don't forget to ask your customer what they would like on the quilt.

Before I set up my machine I went to some of the different pattern sites and printed out everything they offered and put them in a notebook---- great bedtime or early morning reading LOL. After 4 years I still get out that notebook looking for ideas, even though there are lots of new designs out Don't forget to have fun with it. I forgot that for awhile and ended up way to stressed, took a class with Dawn and am having fun again. jeri

[sewbobby]

Hi Jeri, Where do you find pattern sites to print out for ideas?

[sewbobby]

Hi Jean, Thanks so much for your guidelines on how to quilt a quilt. They are very helpful. Would love to see a photo of the Asian quilt you quilted.

Barb

[jeri]

www.quiltscomplete.com www.kmquiltingsupplies.com and www.goldenthreads.com and are 3 with lots of patterns. They also have great service when you order from them. Printing a sort of personal catalogue makes it easier for me to choose new ones to order without having to spend extra time wating for pages to load on the computer. It also makes good bedtime "reading". I can mark ones I think I would like to eventually order and those that I already have. MMMM sometimes I forget that I already have something in my collection. I've even used it with customers when deciding on a quilting pattern as I only order pantos as I need them for a specific quilt.

It's also a help to come up with ideas for freehanding something similar.

[Marion]

So glad I signed in tonight. Have had a few "disaster" quilting episodes. I tried turning a quilt I had done in the ditch so I could do the borders but I just could not get it lined up right. I was using a variagated thread that kept breaking. It was rainbow by superior that I got with the machine. Needless to say I could not get the design lined up each time the thread broke. I was using a panto called overlapping flowers. Some are now double overlapped. I have all sorts of books and have traced many designs to use with the laser. Yesterday I put a quilt on in the morning and just stitched in the ditch. Did not do anything in the borders as I did not want to ruin this one too. It doesn't look too bad from a distance but I am keeping it for myself anyway. I still have about 15 to do. I have finished 32 now and I do see some improvement. I think I will be removing the overlapping flower in the borders on the other one. I find if I meander the whole quilt it gets kind of stiff. I may try enlarging the design so it is spread out more. Well tomorrow is another day.

[JoAnnHoffman]

The best encyclopedia of designs online is http://www.webshots.com, type in the search box- star quilt, irish chain, wholecloth, machine quilting, you will get 100's of ideas on how to quilt the quilt. I love it. I bet just about every type of quilt is listed in their directory.

[Merryjo2003]

HI,

Webshots are a great source! I just got 2 art quilts (convergence quilts). My customer said "You have artistic license!" Yikes! I looked at webshots and found a few that I could actually see the quilting on. It seems that anything goes on these. That isn't any help! I want to do a great job on these. I don't want the quilting to overpower the design, but to add depth and texture to them. I guess I'll have to stew some more on these two.