Today for Finished On Friday I'm sharing three beautiful quilts that I long arm quilted for my client Carrie. First up is Roam, a BOM (Block of the Month) medallion quilt kit designed by Tara Faughnan. I wasn't able to locate any Roam kits that I could link to, but you can still purchase the Roam pattern (with or without the accompanying video tutorials) on the designer's web site here. The back page of the pattern lists all the fabrics used in the BOM kit for this quilt in case you wanted to make one just like it, but I think this quilt would look wonderful in any number of different fabric combinations. In print fabrics, it would look like a completely different quilt.
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| Carrie's 82 x 82 Roam Quilt with Diagonal Plaid Bias Cut E2E |
I quilted Carrie's Roam with Diagonal Plaid Bias Cut E2E, a simple geometric pattern that emphasizes the strong diagonal elements in the patchwork. I used King Tut 40 wt cotton thread in Lapis Lazuli and Hobbs 80/20 Cotton/Poly Black batting (this post contains affiliate links).
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| Detail of Diagonal Plaid Bias E2E in King Tut Lapis Lazuli Variegated Thread |
Why the black batting? Long arm machines use larger needles than domestic sewing machines, and with the thicker 40 wt thread I was using here I needed a size 110/18 needle to get that gorgeous stitch quality in all stitching directions. Bigger needles leave bigger holes, and with a dark thread and predominantly dark fabrics in the quilt top, those needle holes are less conspicuous when the batting isn't peeking out bright white around every stitch. Of course needle holes close up when the quilt is washed, but not every quilt does get washed, at least not right away.
Second reason for black batting in a quilt like this is that it prevents dark stray threads from showing through the lighter fabrics in the quilt top. The Windham Artisan Cottons fabrics in the Roam quilt are gorgeous but they are also prone to fraying. As neat as Carrie was with her quilt top, there were still stray threads all over the place no matter how many I tried to neaten away. In that photo above, if I'd used a regular white or off white batting, we would be seeing some stray navy threads showing through the Orchid and Yellow/Copper fabrics. Navy thread against black batting disappears, but navy thread against white batting will show through a light colored quilt top fabric.
