How do I quilt this ABC quilt?

[coffeebreak]

I am doing this quilt for a 1,1/2 yo grand daughter. I am always trying to make things multi-useable, so this one is to not only be a warm blanket to cuddle in, but learn her ABC's and colors and animals too!

I appliqued the animal squares (From a panel) onto a black square to make finished squares of 6". THe solid color sq's are 6". Sashing between square sets (3x2) is 1,1/2" and the 2 borders are 1/1,2" The binding will be yellow and 1". That behind the black boarder is the back fabric...fleece and "disney" castle.

So how do I quilt them together? I want the quilt to be soft and cuddly but not all puffy. I have thin or a puffier/thicker batting.
I was thinking meandering in all the sashes/borders and nothing in the squares, but then the sqs will be all puffy and look odd. So I was thinking STID around the black part only of the sqs. and meander in the sash/borders. But I know that the more FMQ'ing done, the stiffer it makes the quilt. I meander instead of Stipple...and can make the meander even farther apart, but in such a small area, that might look dumb. But if there is meandering all around the outer boarders, and only vertically on the quilt, won't that make it stiff and bulky?

I recently did an American Flag quilt...I meandered the blue star part, but STID in the strips part...and it looks kind of half finished. The strips are puffy looking..they dont lay flat it seems, and kin dof looks incomplete. but the blue of hte star area is flat and stiff and not at all "cuddly".

So... here are pictures of the whole quilt and a close up of the sash/border. Any thought or ideas are greatly appreciated. What kind of quilting do I do where and what kind of batting? Anything else would be appreciated too!

[auntiemern]

Personally, I would STID around the blocks, and meander the border. If you don't want it puffy use the thinner batting. It shouldn't be bulky if you do it like that. You want it soft and cuddly but not puffy. I also personally would use the higher loft batting, just because I think it is softer and not as flat. By STID around each block, it will keep the batting in place, and accentuate the blocks. That is just what I would do for my own grand children. She is going to love it no matter what you do.

[Linda71]

Beautiful.

[Jean Sewing Machine]

I just finished a quilt tonight that had blocks. I did what was suggested, SITD around the blocks and FMQed the border. My border is a lot wider. I'll post a pic later. Too tired now!

[CrazyMtnLady]

That is so pretty. I like the SITD suggestion. Good luck.

[Granny Judy]

I think the ladies are on the right track and I'm in agreement with them. If the blocks get too "puffy".. you can do a basic four pedal flower in them. It's not too tight or close stitching, but will hold down that square and make it look finished.. .. ??

[Denis]

Here's a little sketch I did with "Paint". I've never used it before and drawing with a mouse is a little challenging.

You could quilt diagonal lines in the 3 separate sections as I tried to do here. This was the easiest thing I could draw. They can be quilted almost continously without many starts and stops.

In the smaller framing or sashing strips, you could do loops or something similar.

You could treat the two outer borders as one and do another motif. I did some hearts or you could do leaves. Depending on the placement, they almost look the same.

Hope this helps!

***oops I forgot- you could STID around each larger section shown by my bolder black lines. Ignore the thick one going diagonally in the last block bottom right. It;s part of the crosshatching.

[coffeebreak]

Here's a little sketch I did with "Paint". I've never used it before and drawing with a mouse is a little challenging.

You could quilt diagonal lines in the 3 separate sections as I tried to do here. This was the easiest thing I could draw. They can be quilted almost continously without many starts and stops.

In the smaller framing or sashing strips, you could do loops or something similar.

You could treat the two outer borders as one and do another motif. I did some hearts or you could do leaves. Depending on the placement, they almost look the same.

Hope this helps!

***oops I forgot- you could STID around each larger section shown by my bolder black lines. Ignore the thick one going diagonally in the last block bottom right. It;s part of the crosshatching.

Wow Denis..that is amazing what you did! Far beyond my talents! I hadn't even thought about what color thread to use on the FMQ boarders. Black looks good. Thanks so much for the visionary help!

[GrammaBabs]

Denis... that's brilliant!!!!!!!!! It will be the perfect stitching for this quilt....

[Denis]

Well the straight lines should be fairly easy (walking foot). The loops can be done with stippling instead if you're more comfortable with that, with the FMQ foot. As for the hearts or leaves in the border, that does take practice but you can add more loops in between them and just do the odd heart or leaf. Again with the free motion foot. You could add more straight lines in the borders if you'd like using your walking foot. Be creative!