Sometimes a quilt needs a little bit more.

That’s what I thought about two recent projects.

Liberty Rail Fence is quilted with free motion vines along the colour path. The grey rails had been left unquilted.

  • Liberty Rail Fence – before

I thought some big-stitch hand quilting was needed to give the quilt a final finish.

  • Big stitch quilting in rails – After

Liberty Rail Fence looking very relaxed on the sofa

  • All done and looking good

The other project that possibly needed less but now has more:

  • Kyoto Garden – before

Kyoto Garden is already very busy being a genuine scrap quilt of various Japanese prints. The centre panel is quilted using orange peel design. I thought it would benefit from silk ties in the centre of each orange.

  • Detail showing the silk ties

On the back there are a couple of tiny stitches that anchor the ties.

  • Kyoto Garden back view

There was enough quilting to stabilise the quilt. Those open spaces appear big but are actually 3.5″ (9cm) in width. Quite good enough for modern wadding/batting. The red silk exactly matches the red of the sashing and added the extra design feature that helps bring the quilt together.

  • Red ties in the corner blocks of the sashing

The ties are only a tiny feature. I believe they add to the total effect of the quilt.

  • Kyoto Garden also on the sofa

Both these quilts are for sale.