How to effectively quilt a panel to highlight elements and add dimension

Yesterday I started quilting a lovely fall panel that I found from Northcott. “Pumpkins for Sale” is coming along nicely as I use WonderFil’s 12wt threads in rayon, Accent and cotton, Spagetti and Fruitti.

I’m halfway through this project and can’t wait to finish it and hang it on my wall – ready for fall.

The pumpkins in the basket and the sunflowers are already quilted, I now need to work on the pumpkins on the ground and the grass up front as well as the last finishing bits and pieces.

I often lay out the threads I want to use and let them pool on the fabric to see which works best.

I have two shades of green. I used the solid Accent #2235 Avocado to stitch the grass that is in shadow. I used the brighter variegated Accent #16 Green Foliage to highlight the grass leaves in front.

Yesterday I quilted the pumpkins in the basket with Accent threads and today I quilted the pumpkins in front with Spagetti #23 Rust. I used Spagetti #03 Golden Yellow to highlight the areas that are reflecting the light of the moon.

I want the face to shine, so I used the variegated Accent #36 Orange/Yellows to highlight the light shining in the pumpkin’s face. This thread you’ll recall is a shiny rayon.

You’ll notice that I quilted one eye with white thread. I used Spagetti, but because of its matt finish, I don’t like it for this purpose as it doesn’t highlight the eye. I’ll probably use my trusted stitch ripper to remove these threads.

I wasn’t sure about the threads to use for the basket and the sign but after much thought, I decided to use Spagetti #21 Caramel and #23 Rust.

Once these were done, I found #17 Milk Chocolate was the best to outline the letters on the sign.

I used the shine in Accent rayon #36 Oranges/Yellows to quilt the moon. I love how the lighter yellow is on the inside of the moon and the darker orange shows on the outside!

All that’s left to quilt are the scarecrow, sky, and moon. I’ve used Spagetti #37 Twilight to outline the scarecrow and stitch some wavy lines in the sky. All I really want to do for the sky area is hold the layers together and keep the quilting to a minimum.

1. I focused on the 12wt rayon, Accent in solid and variegated colors and the 12wt cotton threads, Spagetti solids and Fruitti in variegated colors.
2. I replaced my assorted knitting bags with some lovely quilted bags and stitched a few pillows for our new patio.
3. I finished the week getting ready for fall quilting the Pumpkins for Sale panel from Northcott Fabrics.

I hope you had fun exploring with me quilting with heavier threads. The thread selection from WonderFil Threads used this week are ideal for making this task a breeze and making the elements shine!