Are Straight Lines with Walking Foot Quilting Good Enough for this Quilt?

by LeahDay · Published November 12, 2019 · Updated November 12, 2019

We are quilting our very last block in the Friendship Quilt Along, and I had a bit of a struggle with this block because it’s so scrappy. The Hidden Hearts Quilt Block could win awards in the number of scraps I used to create it! But this makes for a challenging quilt block to quilt because it’s so busy. So this leads to the question – are straight lines quilted with walking foot quilting good enough for this quilt? See for yourself in this video:

Click here to find the pattern for the Hidden Hearts Block. This last block for the Friendship Sampler Quilt Along includes both Block 12, Patchwork Daisy, and this bonus 13th block. Remember, you only need to make Hidden Hearts if you’re making the Queen or King sized versions of the Friendship Sampler Quilt.

Or if you’re just feeling particularly scrappy!

Click Here to check out my sewing machine. I love this little Eversewn Sparrow 20 because it doesn’t have tons of bells and whistles, which aren’t really needed if all you do is piece and quilt! This machine has been a terrific workhorse, especially when combined with this set of sewing machine feet which includes two walking feet, a darning foot for free motion quilting and a ruler foot too!

Are Straight Lines Good Enough for My Quilt?

This is a million dollar quilting question. After piecing 200+ scraps to create the Hidden Hearts quilt block, it feels a bit… precious.

Far too precious and special to secure with simple straight line quilting. That’s just too easy, right? All that piecing and intense scrappiness deserves a more complicated quilting design, doesn’t it? How can straight lines the simplest, easiest walking foot quilting design in the world be good enough for this block, the final block for the Friendship Sampler quilt?

Actually straight lines are absolutely good enough. Straight lines are perfect for this block!

This is perfect because the quilting NEEDS to be simple here. The quilting cannot be the dominate thing in this block. The scrappy pattern is already the showstopper. In this case, the quilting is 100% utilitarian. It needs to hold the quilt block together so the batting doesn’t shift. That’s it.

If I tried to hit this block with a complex design or elaborate motifs, two things would happen:

I’d waste a lot of time – I learned from the very first Scrappy Stars block that quilting anything complex over the dozens of seams and scrappy fabrics of this Friendship quilt was basically pointless. You can’t SEE any quilting design through all these pieces! If you tried quilting something more complex, all you will do is waste your time as more lines of quilting will not make this block any better.
I’d probably make it ugly – This block is already busy. A more elaborate quilting design might turn a beautiful block into a chaotic crazy fest. In this case straight line quilting helps to tone this block down.

So for this quilt block, you don’t need to go crazy with an intense quilting design. Finish it with straight lines quilted with your walking foot know this is a quilting design that’s absolutely good enough for any quilt.

So that is it for our Hidden Heart’s block but never fear, the Friendship Quilt Along lives on! You can join in the fun of the Friendship Sampler Quilt Along anytime as the patterns, videos, and tutorials will remain available indefinitely. Click Here to find all of the tutorials for the Friendship Sampler quilt.

How to Finish Your Friendship Sampler Quilt

I’ve had a marvelous time quilting along with you all this year! I love having my king sized Friendship Sampler finished and using it on my bed this winter. To finish your Friendship Sampler Quilt, please refer to the instructions in the Block 1 pattern. At the end of the pattern you will find a detailed cutting list for the binding strips needed to connect your quilt blocks together to create your crib, throw, twin, queen, or king sized quilt.

Click Here to learn how to connect the quilted blocks using my favorite Quilt-As-You-Go Technique!

No, I’m not planning a new quilt along for 2020. This coming year I’m planning to share smaller projects and tutorials to focus on new techniques and crafts! I have fun projects from Mally the Maker planned as well as a new book in the works too.

But if you’d like to learn more about piecing and quilting and you want to build skill by quilting one block at a time, you can still join all of our past quilt alongs right here.

To begin any quilt along, simply purchase the block patterns and follow along with the tutorials at your own pace. All of the videos and tutorials remain online so you can join in the fun and learn with me anytime.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day