Modern Muted Quilts

 Obviously, quilt fashions, trends, styles etc have changed over the years. I am attempting to unpack the underlying differences with these changes that I only noticed from a distance during those years I was not quilting and did not unpack in real time. My fabric stash simply does not work with many of the fabrics that are around today in both colour and design. My tastes also have changed and understanding the theory behind these changes will/should make it easier for me to make fabric decisions going forward. 

Things I have noticed about modern fabrics relate to both colour and pattern. White is being used as a background. There is much more grey being used both as a background and as a tone. There are lots of quilters designing fabrics (sometimes I think not that well skilled) and they design differently. So many fabrics have one-way patterns on them and what I call spotty patterns as in an emblem just sitting spaced on a background with no connections between. These are not sophisticated designs. Fabric designers have become celebrities. Quilters make quilts out of just a range of fabrics or from one designer. This has always happened but is much more acceptable now. It never was for me. 

To me it's like paint by numbers. I always like to choose my own fabrics and the fun was choosing them across ranges and designers. There were also rules or recommendations around patterns that I don't see today. Quilts are made without a variety of print sizes and styles. Low-volume fabric is a concept I have had to come to understand. It's not new just fashionable. I soon preferred quilts with low-volume backgrounds rather than solids but now there seems to be a change in balance to many low-volume fabrics in a quilt. 

Modern quilters use white backgrounds. I was taught by the likes of Joan Wolfram to never use white - it makes a hole in your quilt. Black was much more popular. I actually like the move to light backgrounds but still maybe not white. 

So I signed up for a Zoom with Kelsey Swatske. It was interesting and confirmed some of my thinking about what young quilters are doing today. However, I did not agree with her selection of what she called pure colours that she put together. They did not work together - the dark green was so wrong in that selection and then she added another green - horrors. They weren't my fabrics or colours but I totally disagree that those fabrics worked together I just have to understand why now! 

The fabrics she demonstrated putting together did harmonise - she is totally into analogous colour schemes - but there was no discussion about the balance of prints. There was one larger-scale print and many low-volume - some so low they read as solid. I didn't like that balance. Many of the low-volume prints are boring and including up to six fabrics of this style is boring - I think. Maybe dull is a better word. 

Overall Kelsey makes gorgeous quilts. They remind me of antique quilts and their success is due mainly to the analogous colour scheme. I will use this new understanding but I will always make more conscious decisions around print styles. 

zoom discussion

Big Stitch Quilting

 Some examples of different ways of doing this:

Stab Stitching

Two Stitch Running Stitch

Rebecca Mae Designs

And this blog post is pretty traditional quilting but big stitch - it's not clear how many stitches are going on the needle before she pulls it through. 

Big Stitch Hand Quilting with Sarah Fielke She has written a book but it comes with a set of threads.

Plus she makes her own needles and is an author of many books - modern based on traditional - I like. 

A quote: 

• Use the right needle for the right job! Big stitch hand quilting requires a needle that is long and slim, but strong, and has a long eye that is not too hard to thread, but not so wide that it hampers you pulling the thread through the layers. It took me years but I finally found the perfect needle! My Sarah Fielke hand quilting needles (and my milliners needles for needleturn applique!) are both available at my website.

And last but not least - probably the best - Wendy Walsh with all her info on big stitch hand quilting on

her blog Wendysquiltsandmore

Pin Basting

 I've been reading blogs for tips and tricks to improve my pin basting. 

Below I will list some of the best suggestions and some links to where they came from. 

These ideas come from Quilting Jet Girl - interestingly she marks her quilt before pinning it. I can see the value in this even just some main markings.

• Green painters tape to tape down backing
• Get out all the wrinkles but don't ever stretch it. 
• Pin the batting to the backing on the outside of the quilt.
• Pin every 3/4 inches in a regular pattern
• One pin vertical one pin horizontal helps stop the fabric from moving.
• When finished, trim the backing and batting to be about 2" bigger than the quilt and both the same size so they stay stuck together. There should be a row of pins around this area outside the quilt top. 
• Flip quilt over and check pins have gone through all 3 layers

This blogger pins the quilt to the carpet pinning each layer individually. We All Sew.

This is interesting as I was taught to stick down all three layers of my quilt individually with masking tape but quilters I meet today and instructions on blogs only stick down the backing. I don't think I fully agree with this. I would smooth down the batting with my hands until I am happy it is totally smooth then tape it down - maybe not as securely as the backing - then do the same with the top. Videos show quilters sitting on their quilts while pinning - if they are not taped down surely layers can still move? Obviously, I understand the idea of not stretching the layers and I appreciate that the batting grips on to the batting and top but I believe it can still move. 

Today everyone uses the new bent pins. I have a whole tin of old straight pins but I think the time has come to replace them with new sharp bent pins. $$$!

Madamsew doesn't pin all layers but she shows how to use a large ruler to smooth out the layers and to pin in concentric squares. 

This link from Lori Kennedy discusses how to baste a quilt on a table using bulldog clips to secure all three layers to the table and then how to move the quilt once that section is pinned. I like the idea of this, it seems so much more secure than just using tape on the backing. 

I only found one set of instructions where the quilter attached - in this case pinned to the carpet - the top of the quilt. No other posts did this? What she did say in this post is pin from the outside in so if your weight is on the quilt it is on part of the quilt already basted. 

So far my thinking is:

• pin basting is best so I have bought new bent sharp pins
• spray basting is a good option for small art quilts
• prepare you layers well before beginning
• do not stretch your backing, batting or top 
• but I will continue to tape all three layers
• I think pinning along the edges first is a good idea - check corners are square
• pin every 3-4 inches
• pin on major intersections
• pin in a pattern but offset rows
• try pushing pins in on the bias line to see if they go in more easily
• think about where you will quilt and consider when placing pins
• there are methods to baste on a table where the quilt is bigger that are worth trying in the future