At the shorter distance of 12 inches the quilts integrity will be examined closely for technique and interest. Someone will say how did they do that? Look the points don’t match or they match perfectly! Look at the straight lines or are they slightly wonky and therefore cut freehand? Look how the pattern is made up. Look at the colours used. I wouldn’t have thought to put those colours together and yet they work really well or maybe they don’t!
If its poorly constructed the up close and personal inspection will highlight the command or lack of command of the technique used. Its like looking at photo of a face taken at close range – you see all the imperfections, shapes and it tends to highlight a certain section of the face. This is just like a quilt. When looking at it from 12 inches away you are only seeing a small part of the overall piece. The points may not quite match at this distance but does that matter?
However if you are looking at a greater distance the composition of the whole quilt should reveal itself and stand on its own. Do we get secondary images from the play of colour and pattern choice? Do we get a perspective of distance in a landscape or dimensional quilt? Does it hang properly and sit flat? Do the colours work at distance -they might clash a little when looking at the quilt closely but from a distance they look magical.
Is there enough quilting which gives the quilt life? At the shorter distance a quilt will be puffy if there isn’t enough quilting and will not be flat. How much quilting should there be? However you will see the intricacies of the quilting and how well it has been done. Has it been done by hand or machine or some of both? Does the quilting design enhance the quilt and add another layer of complexity or does it not seem to fit the design of the quilt?
At a distance will the quilt stand on its own – does it hang flat and is the vision completed. Does the colour of the thread used add or detract from the quilt?
Sometimes I view quilts that from a dsitance look lovely though not quite finished. When I get up close to it I see that there is a lack of the third dimension of quilting. Is it because it has taken so long to make the quilt top you are bored and want to finish the quilt as soon as possible? Or is it that you just can’t work out what to quilt? No matter how good the quilt top is it needs the appropriate amount of quilting to make it work as a whole.
I tend to quilt my quilts heavily but maybe this is not needed all the time? The rule of thumb around quilting, as I understand it, is there should be a space no larger than about a 4 inch square without quilting. Do others work to this or do you have some other rule?
What are your thoughts on whether a quilt should look great at 12 inches and 12 feet? What do you think about the quilting layer? How much should there be?
Aahh the thorny question of how much quilting. As a competition junkie, and a quilter who prefers the piecing part of the quilt, I have had my fair share of judges’ comments that there is not enough quilting in my quilts. Sometimes in the past I have agreed, sometimes even expecting that comment. I do think more about the quilting now, plan it better and hopefully allow enough time to do as much as I feel the quilt needs, though still struggle with borders sometimes.
But sometimes a quilt doesn’t need it – years ago I made a Log Cabin in the Straight Furrow layout and quilted it diagonally through the centre of each 6″ block. I then tied it in lines between these quilting lines. I felt it represented the quilting that an old Log Cabin quilt would have received, but no, the judges felt otherwise.
There is some magnificent quilting around at present. But nowadays I feel strongly that some quilts are overquilted, sometimes so that all one is aware of is the quilting to the detriment of the piecing. I am delighted when I see a quilt which is sympathetically quilted, ie not quilted to death.
For me the rule of thumb is that the quilting is even spread over the quilt, except in applique quilts where the density of the background quilting makes the applique pop out.
Thanks Catherine, for such an interesting view on quilts closeup and at a distance. It is very easy to be conscious of what your quilt looks like close-up, but how many people have the chance to view their quilt at a distance, until it is too late, ie hanging in an exhibition!! At home I have a wall where I hang quilts and can view them from a chair in the lounge at a distance of over 12m, not 12ft. I have one New York Beauty quilt that looks so different at that distance, and if I had viewed it at that distance when making it, I feel sure I would laid out some of the fabrics differently. Now when I am struggling with fabrics in a layout I pin a sheet over one of the quilts hanging on the wall, put up my blocks and sashing or border suggestions, go to bed and view it the next morning from a 6m distance.
Juliet Fitness