Heather Thomas

Wavy Cross-Hatch Quilting Behind Appliqué

Heather Thomas
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Duration:   10  mins

When you have appliqué or other ornate designs on a quilt top, it can be difficult to decide what kind of quilting to do around the designs so as to not take away from them. Heather Thomas shows you how to do wavy cross-hatch quilting around an appliqué shape.

Quilting

Heather explains that to do wavy cross-hatch quilting, you simply prepare your quilt top as you would any other quilt project by layering your quilt top with batting and backing fabric, and then pinning or basting your layers in place. She then explains that doing a wavy cross-hatch can be easier and quicker to do than a straight cross-hatch, because you do not need to worry about your lines being perfectly straight or evenly spaced. Because you do not need to worry about these kinds of things, this is a type of quilting that can be done with no markings needed before you start stitching.

Heather shows how she determines where to start the wavy cross-hatch quilting and then demonstrates stitching. She explains how she works around the appliqué shapes or other designs by either following along the edge of the design or doing echo stitching, meaning she is stitching roughly ¼” away from the edge of the design. As she is stitching, she also explains how she determines how far apart to space the cross-hatch lines and gives tips on how to keep things looking even and smooth.

Heather also teaches you how to work around a design by stopping on one side and then continuing on the other to make the cross hatch quilting appear as if it is continuing behind the appliqué shape. This type of quilting is great to do in the background as a way to highlight ornately pieced shapes or other appliqué techniques.

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10 Responses to “Wavy Cross-Hatch Quilting Behind Appliqué”

  1. Mary A Elarde-Yonker

    Thank you that technique is exactly what I needed right now.

  2. Kathleen Frankovich

    If these blocks are part of a quilt do you stitch in the ditch between your blocks to travel to the next line?

  3. Jane Roesemeier

    Loved this tutorial. I have several quilt tops I need to quilt and have been putting them off because I was uncertain how I wanted to quilt them. The wavy cross hatch will be perfect. The short tutorial was easy to follow with great but simple results. No rulers needed! No marking fabric in advance! Thank you. -jane

  4. Anne Remillard

    A very useful tutorial ! Thank you very much .

  5. Elizabeth Zeigler

    Looks like you are sewing right over pins.....what kind of pins are these????

  6. Mary Banks

    I am new to quilting, thank you for the tutorial. I saw you left pins in while quilting do you use a certain type of pins?

  7. Carolyn

    Enjoyed this Heather, but I was wondering why you stitched over the pins? Shouldn’t they be removed? Thanks.

  8. Carolyn

    Are your feed dogs up?

  9. Tomi Hamlin

    You scared me by stitching over the pins. Do you always do that ?

  10. Susan Lyle

    DO you Sew over pins?

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