Discover the Joy of Quilting with South Coast Quilting

So, your quilt top is now finished. You’ve spent an enormous amount of time not only piecing it together, but also been on that journey of deciding which quilt top to make, the fabric choices that you love, and then all those hours of cutting, piecing, sometimes ripping out stitches and resewing. 

We’ve all been there. You stand back and admire your finished creation, and you so very rightly are proud of what you have achieved. What you are really looking at now though is a blank canvas. Quilting designs and thread choices for quilting will now shape and complete your piece of artwork, immortalising the story it tells forever. 

Choosing a quilting design and threads are not only very personal as both will either complement or detract from the impact and overall statement your quilt is making.

 We offer a vast selection of high-quality quilting fabrics in a variety of colours, patterns, and textures. Our fabrics are perfect for any quilting project, whether you're a beginner or an experienced quilter.

Quilting design choices are an expression of you and your artistry. 

They are a statement of your aesthetic taste, your personal preference. There are no right or wrong designs, however, some can lend themselves more appropriately to one environment more than another. 

Quilt tops that are visually busy because of the amount of piecing or fabric choices are generally more suited to an edge-to-edge (overall) patterns of medium to low density as the quilting itself will not be overtly visible.  

Any quilt that contains areas of a more negative space such as solids, tone-on-tones and pastels will allow the quilting design to be far more prominent, so designs that offer a great deal of movement will often have a considerably favourable impact and can be quite striking. 

Many quilters say their pieced top will “tell them what it wants" and dictates a desired “look.” Listen to this, and let your style and intuition lead you. 

The actual quilt top design can frequently guide us, inspire us and at times challenge us to quilt in a way that works with the design of the quilt top. Take a good look at the quilt top to see if there are any patterns made with the piecing that you want to highlight.

• What was your inspiration for making this specific quilt top? 
• What is the story you are trying to convey as the artist?
• Is there a theme that the quilt has that you would like to marry with the quilting design? 

You may also want to consider if you want the quilting to be the showcase or is it really all about the piecing design and your fabric choices. 

Some further points to consider when deciding on a quilting design: 

• Is the quilt top a traditional or modern style?
• Is the quilt a for a child or an adult and will it be used daily or put on display?
• Do you prefer the look of a light meander, all over edge to edge quilting, or customised quilting?
• What is your preferred quilting design? For example: modern, geometric, traditional, feathers, flowers, circles, lines, fans, swirls, or curls etc.
• How soft or dense would you like the quilting?

South Coast Quilting has a vast library of computerised digital designs available for you to choose from or gain some inspiration from. 

Please refer to our Quilting Design Catalogue of quilting design choices.

Please note: 

Should there be a quilting design that you would specifically like for your quilt, and it does not exist in our catalogue of designs, please let us know and we will source it for you at no additional cost. Should our design catalogue not provide you with a design you have in mind, please refer to the links below, for inspirations. If you find something that you would like for your quilt, please let us know and we will purchase it for you at no cost to you.

Digital / Paper - E2E Pantographs - Quilting Designs (urbanelementz.com)

Shop | Category: Edge-to-Edge (digitizedquiltingpatterns.com)

Digital Archives - Anne Bright Designs

Digital Designs for Computerized Quilting | Longarm Quilting Designs (mycreativestitches.net)

Your choice of thread will also help to sink into the colours of the quilt and that allows the piecing to show more or if you use thread that stands out more, it can highlight more of the quilting and often helps make the secondary pattern the focus of the quilt.

Again, thread colour is a very personal choice. Many quilters gravitate to strong solid colours, others more towards soft undertones, whilst others love variegated threads. Whatever your thread choice, it is important to look closely over your quilt top and determine what colour would complement the colour range and variations throughout your quilt top for edge-to-edge quilting.

Also ask yourself: do you want the quilt pattern to be the showcase or meld into the quilt as a background and therefore not detract from your quilt top pattern?  

If possible, sometimes it is wise to “audition” differing threads to see which gives the ultimate impact. Know that there is no right or wrong choice, only what you decide you like best, and where you want the quilting to show.

Cotton Versus Polyester Threads for Quilting

Thread comes in cotton, polyester, silk, wool, and rayon. Cotton and polyester thread are the most common choices for quilting. Cotton thread generally has a matte finish while polyester thread has a bit of shine.

Cotton thread also produces some lint while sewing, while polyester thread does not. In general, cotton thread is great for piecing, while polyester is generally better used for quilting. Cotton also tends to shrink approximately 3-5%, while polyester will not. Again, this comes down to a personal choice, there is no right or wrong when determining cotton versus polyester as a quilting thread. 

Sometimes the colours in the project are just right for a variegated thread. Variegated choices are available in cotton, polyester, and blends. If it picks up the colours in your quilt top, variegated thread for the quilting can add an interesting detail to the overall look.

For best results, South Coast Quilting always recommends using the same thread type and colour on both the front and back of the quilt. 

South Coast Quilting only uses high-quality threads during the quilting process and, as such exclusively uses: 

· Aurifil 50 wt. 100% cCotton· Glide 40 wt. 100% trilobal polyester

· SewEzy 50 wt. 100% Pima Cotton

· Wonderful 50 wt. & 40 wt. Cotton / Poly Blend

Please note: 

As with our quilting designs, should there be a specific thread colour you would like for your quilt and we do not have it within our extensive collection, South Coast Quilting will be happy to source this for you at no additional cost.