Quilting Before Applique'

   I love the look of an appliqued quilt with cross hatch stitches in the background.  But I never remember to do the quilting before I start work on such a quilt.  Until this time...  I have this new design which will have embroidery and applique'.  I transfered all of the embroidery designs because I won't be able to see through the top once it has batting behind it.

 

The top was backed with batting and a bit of 505 spray and then I used blue painters tape to grid off the top and keep my lines nice and straight.  This top does not have a backing on it yet, I'll add that after the hand work is finished.

 So now I have a pre-gridded quilt top, ready for embellishment.  

There is something very satisfying about stitching on a quilt top that will not need to be quilted.  I will stitch in the ditch along the red outer border to anchor the top to the backing before I bind it.  Can't wait to show this one to you all, it was quite the hit last night in my sewing group.