Quilting the Forest Floor

My wonderful customer brought me a HUGE Forest Floor quilt to finish. The quilt measures 106″ x 106″. Have you seen this gorgeous batik design by Wing and a Prayer?

The Plan

First I had to size up the quilt as to how much space I’d be quilting at once time. How many blocks in Forest Floor would I be able to stitch as I make one pass with the HandiQuilter Avante 18″? This guy is BIG!

Although seeing it helped tremendously, it ultimately proved useful to sketch out the block placement on a blank sheet of paper. This way I could see everything at once, instead of sections draped over the longarm bars. Sketching also helps me remember what I added in each spot as I rolled the quilt up and back over the course of a few days.

Forest Floor Front

From the front, it is tricky to see all the quilting textures. In the pictures below, though, try to match up the design with the sketches above.

I used a warm grey Glide 40wt thread in the top thread and a 60wt Superior Bobs in the bobbin.

Forest Floor Back

My customer opted to have a Forest Green pieced backing. With the Superior Bobs white thread, you can see the quilting design much better on the back. Though it looks cool, it really puts the pressure on to make the quilting fantastic: you’ll see every stitch!

I did alter the colors of these images slightly in Photoshop so you’d be able to really see the quilting lines.

You’ll notice squares that appear to be outlined in pebbles, but left blank in the interior. Those are the featured nine batik leaf designs of the Forest Floor Quilt Kit. They are left unstitched as the quilting would most likely detract from the beautiful fabric print.

Would you like me to finish your quilts? Read more at ReannaLily Quilts.