So Modern

When we think about modern quilting, we usually envision modern fabrics, lots of "negative space" and quilting that is all lines. While the modern fabrics and lots of "negative space"(which quilters love!) hold true, the quilting doesn't have to be all lines. While most quilters like to do dense quilting in all that negative space (that IS what it's for, right??), the quilting should add to the piecing. So just like with traditional quilt blocks, that modern quilt needs to have quilting that emphasizes the piecing. For instance, if the modern quilt has improv circles and waves in the piecing, then lines in the negative space may make perfect sense--it highlights all those improv waves and curves. If the blocks are very linear, then doing unstructured curved shapes can "soften" the linear blocks. And when the "negative space" is not a solid fabric, but rather has a print, the print can guide the quilting shapes. Tracing elements (but not line for line) of a print on borders, negative space, or larger blocks is a great way to highlight that attention-getting fabric.

One other element on the quilt pictured is the border/sashing. The border is the same width as the sashing--and not all blocks are sashed on all sides. When this happens the quilter has to decide either to treat the back-to-back border/sashing as one and the "between blocks" sashing separately, or to treat all as sashing and double up the design where the border/sashing is wider. I've done both, and much prefer to treat the wider spaces as one area with the sashing between blocks as a true sashing. Not only does it allow more design space, but it eliminates the stacked look of doubling up on the sashing design. Thanks, Jenny of Lil Red Hen for letting me play with this one!. All thread was SoFine #50--in Snow and Gerbera.