Quilting Design Tips

Quilting Design

Good quilting design can make or break the overall look and feel of your quilt. A few hours of design and planning will make quilting easier and the finished quilt much better. Don’t rush this step. Enjoy the process and remember-your the first idea is rarely the best idea.

Take a Few Photos

The best way to start the design process is to take a full-size photo of the quilt. This can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be perfect!  For example, I lay my quilt in my front hall and take a photo from the stairs above. 

Convert the photo to black and white-it makes the next design phase easier.  You can do this in any photo app or just print the photo in black in white on your copier. (Thank you, Lisa Calle, for this tip.)

This brings us to the next step-print a copy of the photo on regular copy paper-8-1/2 x 11 is great in black and white.

Allover or Custom Quilting

Your first design decision is whether you want allover or custom quilting.

For Allover Quilting-Choose one motif (maybe two) to quilt over the entire quilt top. The quilting adds texture to the quilt.  This method requires very little design time, however, the quilting does not enhance the quilt top itself.

For Custom Quilting-Choose a variety of motifs to quilt each section of the quilt with an attempt to enhance the quilt top with the quilting layer.  Custom quilting adds texture and design to the quilt top.  It requires more design time and usually takes longer to quilt than the allover method.

When to Choose Allover v. Custom Quilting

Think about who the quilt is for and how it will be used to determine Allover v. Custom Quilting.

For example, if you are making a dog blanket, allover quilting is probably appropriate. On the other hand, if you are making an art quilt to hang over your dog’s bed, it might be worth the extra time to design custom quilting.

Choosing custom or allover quilting depends on your time and experience.

Whenever time allows, I prefer custom quilting to enhance the quilt top and add texture.

However, if it is not practical, there is nothing wrong with allover quilting.

Allover Quilting Design Tips

Choose thread carefully!

The most important consideration for allover quilting is thread choice!

Have you ever seen a quilt where the meandering, stippling, or other allover pattern was very obvious over a quilt top? The quilter probably used the wrong weight or color thread.  When doing allover quilting, the goal is to create an almost invisible texture.

Choose a lightweight thread- (60, 80, 100wt) in a color that matches the quilt fabrics as much as possible. By doing so, the quilted line will blend into the quilt and be less noticeable.  All you will notice is texture.  (Read more about Thread Weights HERE)

Matching the background fabrics can be a challenge, especially in high-contrast quilts with a lot of white.  Hint—white thread is rarely the answer! Look for a thread that is medium value and create samples!  Don’t skip the sample phase of quilt design!

Motifs

Choose one or two motifs to quilt over the entire quilt. One of my favorite allover motifs is Flower Power. Use a vinyl overlay to test the scale of the motif before you begin stitching.

Custom Quilting Tips

Keep it simple

First and foremost-custom quilting does not need to be complicated!  Don’t overcomplicate it in your head. (I have this tendency!)

Custom quilting isn’t harder to quilt than allover quilting, though it does take a little more time to plan and design.

Begin Playing with Dividing Lines

The first step in custom quilting is to plan the major dividing lines.  Block seams are an obvious divider but look beyond block lines to create connections between the blocks.

Place a piece of tracing paper over the black-and-white copy and see if you can come up with a few ways to divide your quilt.  Save all options.

In addition to the dividing lines, start doodling a few motif ideas. Consider how the motifs work together. It is best to have some contrast between the motifs.

Digital Design and Paper Design

I prefer to work digitally and use the Procreate App ($35) on my iPad. The app allows me to save layers and is very easy to use.  If you have an ipad that supports a pencil–I highly recommend this app!

Tracing paper placed over a black white photo of the quilt works well too! Save all of your work.

Designing on Procreate App

I like to use my iPad and iPencil to do some of the design work using the Procreate app.  The app is about $12  and is a very popular app because it has so many uses.  However, like most software, there is a learning curve.  I’ve watched a lot of YouTube and Skillshare videos to learn how to use it –and still only use a fraction of its capability.  It is a great value at $12–but again, it requires a time investment to learn.  I hope to offer a few tutorials on using Procreate for quilting at some future time–if there is enough interest…

What I like about Procreate is the ability to draw right on the tablet screen and save or hide the layers.  For instance, I can draw a layer of basic lines, then try a different version.  It’s easy to toggle between them with a tap of the pen.  Later, I will be able to layer in more ideas–like motifs–and audition them as well. If you have an Ipad Pro (which must support the iPencil), I highly recommend downloading the app and slowly learning to use it.

(Hint–to UNDO-tap the screen with two fingers-or use the backward arrow below the pencil opacity slider.)

Designing with Tracing Paper

While I like to use a tablet, you don’t need a computer or an app to design your quilts! You can use layers of tracing paper over a print of your quilt.  Paper and pen remain a great way to test a few designs before you work on your quilt.

The important thing is that you spend some time thinking about the quilt as a whole and designing the big picture. Repeat and Vary Motifs

Review motif books like Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 and More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 to choose a few potential motifs.

Keep the overall design simple by limiting the number of motifs. Two or three motifs and their variations is often enough to fill a king size quilt.

Audition Motifs

Use a vinyl overlay to audition a few motifs.  Evaluate scale and spacing.  Try more than one idea. Stretch your imagination while trying new motifs.  Our first idea isn’t always our best idea!

Design one section at a time

It is not necessary to design the entire quilt at one time–especially if you’re a beginner.  Design and stitch a section and let that guide the motif and thread choices in the adjacent sections.

Designing in stages makes the process far less overwhelming!

Stitch the Section

Once you’ve chosen a motif and auditioned it–stitch all of the like sections.  In other words, if the design section consists of several solid rows,  quilt all the rows before moving on to the next design.  This is the most efficient way to quilt as you don’t have to change thread, and it is the best way to ensure consistency of the motifs within the quilt.

Step by step

One of the biggest challenges for quilters is being overwhelmed by The Big Quilt.  Break the process into smaller sections and work through the process step-by-step.  You don’t need to climb a mountain, you only need to walk up five steps at a time. (Or as a wise lady told me recently, you don’t need to do 20 burpees, you only need to do 4 burpees–five times-LOL!)

Enjoy the Process

Machine quilting a large quilt takes time.  Nothing ruins the enjoyment more than rushing.  Slow down and enjoy the process!

Choose fun motifs, the thread you love, and colors you adore.  Quilting should be fun!

Are we having fun yet?

What about YOU?

Do YOU enjoy the quilting process?

Are you likely to rush the quilting step of quilt making?

What new motif will you try on your next quilt?

We’d LOVE to hear!

Happy Quilting,

Lori