Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Java Time... Need HELP, please

I really can use some HELP... read on:  My DD loves everything to do with coffee: drink it, decorate with it - everything! So when I saw the "Daily Grind" fabric line it was a natural to buy some. The placemats are all pieced and the first one is basted.
"Daily Grind" java themed set of 4 placemats
PROBLEM:  My first quilting task will be to anchor everything with a little ditch work, but then what??? I need some suggestions, PLEASE!  I think maybe 3 curving lines coming up out of the cups like "steam"... but that's it. After that, I am drawing a blank. IF I do quilt some steam lines above the cups, will it be necessary to do a tight b/g fill behind it? Not sure I can do that yet.  I am still 'meandering' and haven't graduated to 'stipple', yet. lol.  As you can see [below] every center square is slightly different.
 
I think part of the problem is that my mind still thinks like a Hand Quilter - I really need to work on that.



I would very much appreciate hearing how others would quilt these placemats. Thank you for any help or advice you can offer. Oh, I should mention, these will be machine quilted - they are batted up with Warm and Natural, and they will be a gift... guess that's why I'm freaking out a little bit over the FMQing. Thanks again.

Until next time. . . I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone out in blogland has a solution!

Quilty Hugs,

14 comments:

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Cyn, you know what might look good.....just do straight stitch rows every 1/2 inch in black or brown. I really like that look on mug rugs. If you don't like that idea how about a simple meander behind the cups.
Thanks for sharing.
Freemotion at the River Linky Party Tuesday

Angela FlowersMoore said...

Stitch in ditch sounds great. Along with echo quilt the coffee mugs maybe?

Pat from Florida said...

I like the steam idea. After that maybe just a wavey line around? I'm sure she'll love them. They look great.

Deb A said...

Love the steam idea. Warm and Natural doesn't need much stitching. I've tied quilts at 5 + inches years ago and they are still looking good after tons of washing. How about in the ditch by the black border and then on the outer border. Should be enough to keep it connected and down. Good luck.

Cattinka said...

I think it would be nice to quilt the coffee names. I am not an expert at quilting, but I can do stippling, and it is not that hard, I am sure you could do that too, and it would be a good idea to try it out on a small piece like these place mats.
KATRIN W.

Joanne Lendaro said...

Since you are a hand quilter...you may want to do your embellishing in hand work with threads that "pop" and then do your meandering to secure all of the layers in a very blending thread so it fades into the background and only your hand work stands out.

SIMPLESEW said...

I like the wavey line idea, not to much to take away from the words and they would work toworrows stippling.. I am new to and working on stippling but I use a longarm..

Emily said...

You could quilt coffee beans all over-
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-73-coffee-beans.html

She's got a great tutorial on it, and I love the design. HTH. Love the placemats!!!

scraphappy said...

Super cute. Small projects like these are great for quilting practice. A stipple isn't as hard as you think, but nice parallel lines are safe for a gift. I really like the steam idea, it would go great with echo quilting around the cups.

~Niki~ said...

have a great weekend!

Rosa Robichaud said...

I LOVE that coffee bean video, Cyn!!! That's exactly what I was going to suggest but didn't realize that there was a web site, with video, to show how to do this.

Practice on scrap fabric first, of course. *s*

Rosa

Cathy said...

No ideas for quilting since that is not my forte but I sure do love those placemats.

Elly D said...

These look wonderful Cyn :) I'm inclined to agree with Connie. Some straight line quilting echoing the shapes. Then perhaps if you feel like adding a little hand quilted steam? I don't think they need much more as the fabrics say it all ;)) hugs Ellyx

Joni said...

Please do try a little of the coffee beans design mentioned above Lea Day, day 73. It just takes a little practice on a scrap piece. Its just so perfect for this project.