This was an improvisational quilt so when I started it I didn’t know exactly how it would end.
This is how it ended.
My thanks go out to all my fellow quilters who made suggestions on how to do the quilting. I loved reading your comments and I loved the way you made me think about my design decisions.
Some of my decisions were based own limitations as a hand quilter and some on my desire for a relatively speedy result. One decision was based on a material constraint. After all that anticipation, the sparkly thread I had planned to use turned out to be a total PITA to use, something sewfrench had hinted might be a possibility. I couldn’t get the thread through the eye of either a hand sewing needle or the machine needle without it unraveling, so I had to put it aside and use ordinary cotton thread. I actually used different colours on the top and in the bobbin, which is risky unless your tension is perfect. My tension wasn’t perfect, but I think I got away with it.
Here’s a close up of the quilting.
The machine quilting was done using a long stitch and 100% cotton thread
I’m happy with the finished result and I’m happy with the quilting. Now all I need is for someone to get pregnant so it can find a new home. I wonder if any of my fellow quilters would be willing to help out with that one?
Update: Turns out a member of my extended family had a happy accident not too long ago and there is a baby on the way. The quilt will soon be winging its way across the ocean to join the mother and father to be. Funny how the universe provides, isn’t it?
A Journey with Fibre 
I’m definitely not going to help out with the baby, ( I already have three! ) but I love the quilt :-)
I’m sure three children keep you more than busy. Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
Nice work
This turned out perfectly! The outline stitching is exactly what hand quilting would have achieved, in my world, but so much quicker! I recently learned that batiks are NOT for hand quilting! I always knew they were more difficult, but pure hand quilters will not put a needle to it!! It makes quilting no longer fun. So how about that?!
And I also recently learned their is such thing as a metallic needle for using with those metallic threads. They also require you to have your tension set perfectly or they will break. Not a fan of using them, but maybe that’s because I haven’t figured out the trick.
Now I have to decide how to quilt my Starry Night quilt!
Thanks so much for your kind words. That’s news to me about batiks and hand quilting.