new quilter and crazy quilt for twins

Thanks to all for the advice on batting for my first quilts for my twin daughters. I got a lot of input from different sources and am going to try wool. Meanwhile I spend the snow blizzard here in Pennsylvania piecing together my first crazy blocks. My first block was really horrible, but I got in a groove and the next 5 look beautiful. Yes I am sort of doing this my own way, I found a "crazy block pattern" which seems contradictory, but I figure I need all the help I can get. I haven't figured out the alternating solid blocks yet, but am trying to figure out how to do the actual quilting (by machine). I don't think I am skilled enough to just follow the lines in a shadow pattern. I found something call sashiko which looks simple and continuous. I want to keep the quilting very simple. Does the quilting really look okay if different on the alternating blocks? I like the idea of doing the embroidery after the quilts are quilted, but that seems a little bulky to manage. I am only going to do mostly embroidery and cross stitch, and a touch of embelleshment with ribbons and lace from the girls' little girl dresses. Can I quilt through these crazy blocks in a very simple geometric pattern (like the sachiko) and should I use invisible? thread. When this is done I will post pictures. Thanks all.

------------------------------------- Karin

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Reply to
thoughtful1
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Karin, you know those heavy lead apron sort of things the dentist puts over you while he's making x-rays? Well, my dear, that's what I'm thinking your creating. Just last night, I put my crazy quilt blocks together for a crib quilt. It is only about 36" square and that rascal is Heavy. I think a batting + a backing would make it totally useless so I am only going to back it. There are entirely too many seams involved to consider any sort of quilting. I'm going to use the SM to tie it. Where am I going with this post? I don't know except maybe to suggest that you make a crib quilt first. It will give you a good example of how pounderous your plans could become. Making a small quilt will give you an opportunity to test weight, embroidery possibilities and quilting realities. In my humble opinion, of course. Polly (Yes. Pounderous is a word.)

Reply to
Polly Esther

I'm voting with Polly on this. Once I made an entire quilt out of corduroy and velveteen. It was beautiful, deep rich colors, Log Cabin design. Double bed size. Way too heavy to maneuver through the machine, so I tied it. Hand quilting truly would have killed me. And after all that suffering, nobody would sleep under it. Weighed a ton, felt like an elephant camped on your chest. And this quilt had no batting at all! Doing a small sample piece to see how much you are willing to tolerate is a Very Good Idea!

Crazy quilts are traditi>Karin, you know those heavy lead apron sort of things the dentist puts over

Reply to
Roberta

If you are still going to go ahead with the plain alternate squares, then these *could* be quilted. What I am going to suggest now, is for practicality - based on what Roberta and Polly said.

Put a square of batting behind the alternating plain squares and quilt them - one at a time, in some simple design - sashiko would be just fine. Then join these to the crazy blocks. Then add a backing (not batting) to the whole thing and tie the quilt rather than try more quilting. It will be perfectly beautiful - won't take a lifetime to complete and won't be so heavy that it can't be used. It will also be warm, because of the wool batting behind the plain squares. Have a think about that, to see if it would work for you? . In message , thoughtful1 writes

Reply to
Patti

Do your crazy blocks have a foundation? That is, are your print fabrics sewn to another piece of fabric, probably something like muslin, that doesn't show after you are done with the block? If so, you may want to reconsider using any batting, as others have said. At least do not use a thick batting. Something like Thermore may be okay; it is a very thin polyester batting. If your blocks do not have a foundation, then a batting will be fine, but I wouldn't use velvet or velveteen for the alternate blocks.

Julia > Thanks to all for the advice on batting for my first quilts for my twin

Reply to
Julia in MN

One of my first quilts was all corduroy. I used a poly batting, backed with a sheet, and tied it. It was heavy, but my son slept under that quilt for years.

Julia > I'm voting with Polly on this. Once I made an entire quilt out of

Reply to
Julia in MN

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