Victoria Quilt - How to quilt

[Marie0722]

A customer who is not a quilter brought me this gorgeous quilt top and asked me to "complete it", meaning she would like a finished quilt back, with binding and everything. She received this as a gift, it was made by Suttles and Seawinds in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. They made other quilts similar to this one, and I have tried to come up with quilting ideas by looking at those pictures online but they are all of low resolution, so I can't figure out the details.

They used upside down clamshell for waves in the water parts in one of them, and she really likes that idea, and so do I. But this involves rulers, and since she is not a quilter, I am not sure if she realizes how long this would take. She knows that a huge amount of work has gone into this quilt top and wants to finish it properly. I would like to give her some options, so she can figure out how much she wants to spend on it.

I usually have lots of design ideas for quilting but this one is tricky... any input would be greatly appreciated!

[Kwiltr]

For the waves/clamshells, could you not chalk a grid and then freehand it to get the look of your upside down clamshells, if you did say a 2" grid, it would be doable.  Of course you'd want to outline the appliqué first and accentuate them.  Hard to get the scale from the picture, so 2" might be to much or too little. For the rest of it you could outline the features/appliqué and free hand a spiky fill (thinking grassy) or McTavishing?  Just a couple thoughts off the top of my head...  I will be interested in seeing what u come up with!

[Marie0722]

Thank you, Kathy! I like the McTavishing idea... funny, I was looking at McTavishing yesterday for another quilt, and it never occurred to me that it might be good for this one too. Yes, I was looking for ideas for the background, I should have made that clear, sorry. The quilt is not small, I haven't measured it yet but I was quite surprised when she unfolded it. She had sent me pictures before, and I thought it was much smaller. It will be a while before I get to this one, I have to calculate the requirements for the backing and binding and send her fabric shopping first. Oh, and quote her a price, of course... let's see how that goes

[LisaC]

For the waves I would free hand following the waves in the fabric. I hate marking and you have perfect fabric already marked. For the green background I would mix up some extra details like wind around the flags; cobblestone walkways, etc. Of course, this would most effeminately add to the cost.  What a treasure of gift this client received; I wish you the best of success with it!

[Cagey]

Find the topography of the area on a map, and then add mountains or other ground highlights in the specific areas, around your McTavish or other design.  I for one will love to see it when it is done.

Cagey

[anniemueller]

I love quilting applique.  I agree with Lisa C, use the pattern in the water fabric as the grid for the clam shells.  I mark clam shells around odd shapes, to speed up my quilting.  There are some nice big spaces in the green background fabric.  Find out if there is something special that your client really likes about this area, or this quilt.  You can draw a motif in those big spaces and quilt the filler around the motif, just like you fill around applique.  The outer border already has pretty arcs in it, just quilt the outline of the arcs.  Fill in with piano keys if it needs it.  Fun!

[Marie0722]

Thank you for your suggestions! I hate marking too and try to avoid it whenever possible. I like working with rulers but just stitching away in free motion is so much more fun!