On quilting, binding and backings - Part 1

This whole pixel quilt thing is, while very exciting, still fairly new to me! So far I have completed 3 pixel quilts: Groucho, Marilyn and my Purple Bunny.

The piecing is incredibly straightforward as I just need to follow the detailed instructions in the YouPatch patterns. But the rest has been a big learning experience for me!

Part 1 - On quilting

This has been the biggest hurdle for me to overcome. How do I quilt these quilts? What color thread to use? What quilting designs will work?

Well, having now quilted 3 of them, I can say that anything goes really. I have kept the quilting really simple which works, I think!

Here's what I've come up with so far ...

I quilted the Marilyn quilt using organic free-motion lines, carefully matching the thread color to the fabric color. This is not a method I would choose for anything other than a wall hanging. I think this dense quilting (about 0.5 inches apart) causes the quilt to lose the snuggle factor. Also, this method took a very long time ... as you can well imagine!

But the overall effect looks great and really adds interest to the piece.

Next, I quilted Groucho. I had lots of ideas for this one but ended up with very simple vertical lines about 2 inches apart. 

I chose a light grey thread color as I didn't want to create too many visible lines on the white parts of the face. Why not choose white thread then? Well, the grey still blended nicely into the white fabric without being too stark on the other colors. 

I quite like how the lines create a kind of pin-stripe look on Groucho's black coat. Very apt for a man of his vintage. 

For my Bunny, I went with another simple design, a diagonal cross-hatch about 2 inches apart. I selected a medium purple thread color to blend as much as possible with the bunny in the foreground, while creating a nice cross-hatchy design on the greeny-blue background color.

Have you made a pixel quilt yet? How have you quilted it? Do you have any other ideas to add to the mix?

I'll be back soon with Part 2 and with some other exciting YouPatch announcements.

Have a great stitchy day.

Andi xx