Patchwork River Quilting

Do you ever finish a quilt top and then just let it sit because you aren’t sure how to quilt it?  Choosing a quilting design, or “pantograph,” can feel like a daunting choice.  The quilting design can really change how the finished quilt looks, and it can feel a little scary.

When I receive a quilt to be longarm quilted, sometimes my client knows exactly how they want the quilt quilted; other times, they may have some ideas, but are looking for guidance; still others have no idea what they want and sometimes don’t even want to be involved – they just say “do whatever you think will look good.”

I really enjoy helping quilters decide on a quilting design, so if you are ever in need of longarm quilting, please do not hesitate to ask for some guidance and suggestions if you aren’t sure how you want it quilted.  I love helping quilters bring their vision for their quilt to life!

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you decide on a quilting design:

1.  Is your quilt top “busy”?

If your quilt top does not have a lot of negative space (i.e., solid areas of background), is very scrappy, or is made up of lots of bold, busy prints, then whatever quilting design you choose probably won’t show very much (at least on the front). In this case, you can choose a design based on what you want to show on the back of the quilt or you can focus on texture and choose a design that will give you an interesting all-over texture.

In the quilt shown below, I chose a simple wavy line quilting design.  This provides texture without distracting from the piecing, which is really the star of the show in this quilt.

2.  Is there a lot of negative space?

If your quilt has a lot of solid color negative space (e.g., a lot of modern quilts have large areas that are not pieced), whatever quilting design you choose will show up a lot in that negative space.  Quilting designs that include floral, animal, or other novelty designs can be a good choice because they will show up well in that negative space.

Below is one example of a quilt where we chose a very dense floral quilting pattern so that it would really show in the background areas of the quilt.

3.  What angles are used in the piecing?

Quilts that are very geometric often look good with a quilting design that introduces some curves.  The curves contrast with the straight lines of the piecing and often produce a very pleasing result.

However, a geometric quilt may also look good with corresponding geometric quilting.  In this case, you want to match the angles.  For example, if your quilt is pieced with 60 degree triangles, you wouldn’t want to use a quilting design that is based on 45 degree angles.

Below are three examples of geometric quilts that were quilted with designs that introduced curves of varying degrees.

4.  What fabrics are used?

If there are prints used in the quilt top, motifs from the fabrics themselves can often provide inspiration for the quilting design.

In the examples below, the floral fabrics inspired a floral quilting design and the screen of one of the retro TVs inspired the retro starburst quilting design.

5.  Is there a “theme” of the quilt?

Sometimes the overall “theme” of the quilt can provide inspiration for the quilting design.

Below are examples of this.

I hope this gives you some food for thought when it comes to choosing a quilting design for your next quilt!