How to quilt it... not not?

I agree, it's a piece of fabric art that wouldn't benefit from quilting, it would be good to consider if the borders need to be fabric, or if mount board would actually do the same more cleanly, transition from the fabric art to the wooden frame more gradually.

How do you plan to stretch/stabilise the picture? I think you can get a kind of sticky canvas backing, but I'm not sure if it's a quality that would last, I've only heard my mum talk about it, not actually seen it, she found it in the cross stitch aisle at Joanns.

Cheers Anne

Send it to me. It just Must be quilted and I will be happy to do that for you. =) Leslie, spread a sheet of SaranWrap (or whatever) over it and try this and that with a soft washable marker (in case the unspeakable happens) until something says 'yes'. Depends on your mood. Maybe something whimsical such as ooooos, maybe honest-to-goodness feathers ... just on the outside blank whites, I'm thinking. I don't want to be pushy or anything but I insist. Polly

I agree with Pat, however, it should be sent to me for further consideration. It's beautiful, and goes perfectly with my bedroom. I love it. Gen

I have no suggestions as to what to do BUT........you could send it to me as a going away gift....whatcha think????

About the ONLY thing I can think of in the way of quilting that

*might* be appropriate and add to the overall look (and that would be purely personal preference) would be to do a bit of very gentle echo quilting staying fairly far away from the actual stitched design area. I liked the suggestion of putting some cling wrap over top of the piece and then trying out different ideas. IF you decide to do any sort of quilting, do it with a color thread that either disappears or coordinates with the thread stitching -- maybe one of the greens??? Keep us posted and let us know what you finally decide on -- look forward to seeing the finished piece!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

That is just beautiful Leslie.Thread painting is such fun.If this was mine Imho I would have to quilt the background with a non descript pale colour in fern like swirls to give some depth. Having said that it is lovely as is. I would have it behind a card mount and behind glass. It does look like a watercolour painting after all. Lovely just lovely.

I like the mount board idea too - treating it more as a stand alone embroidery than a quilt. A mount board (acid free) will also stop the stitching from touching the glass.

In my 'embroidery days' - prior to quilting taking over (!) we were always told to avoid anything sticky being used as a stretcher. If you are going to stretch it yourself just using a plain acid free mount board and lacing the fabric on is the way we were told to do it, or the easiest way is to take it to a reputable framer who specialises in embroidered pictures as they may do the lacing for you! But avoid ones who use sticky (BTDT and learned the hard way).

Good pictures of lacing here:

though I used to use a few pins along the edge of the board at the beginning to ensure the grain was straight, and I ironed with the right side against towelling so that the embroidery didn't get squashed.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk

Anne Rogers wrote:

Hi Leslie,

Your piece is lovely!

I would do a bit of outline quilting - just around the flowers to make them pop. Use a thread that blends into the background. Then stitch in the ditch for your borders. This will give a bit of three-dimensionality which IMHO is one of the lovely characteristics of quilted pieces.

As for mounting for a frame - I've had success with using acid free poster board - the stuff that has a core of styrofoam. For a piece with a final size of 8 x 10" the quilted top needs to be at least 8.5 by

10.5" and the backing and batting are trimmed to 8 by 10". This gives a minimum 1/4" overhang. I layer the quilt on top of the board and fold the overhang down (like wrapping a present). Then I pin it into the styrofoam core using little 1/4 - 1/2" sequin pins. The pins go in sideways to the quilt so they are completely buried in the core. Start at the middle of the sides and do opposite sides first (top then bottom, right side then left side). Next work towards the corners, which you then miter and pin into place. Pull gently to keep the top nicely stretched. Then put into a frame without a mat (you don't need one if you have a border). I don't add glass - I like to be able to see the texture of the quilting easily.

Hope my $0.02 helps,

Allison