Quilting....Free Motion, continued

In my last post, I talked about some of the basic steps I take when doing free motion quilting. In this post I thought I would share how I decide "what" to quilt.
It really depends on the quilt itself, if I am working on a utilitarian quilt, I will generally use simple shapes, stencils, feathers or basic meander. I let the size and purpose of the quilt dictate what I choose to do.

But art quilts are a different matter, art quilts tell a story and I want the stitching to continue the story. Below are some examples of ways that I use stitching to compliment the images on my quilts.

Sometimes I just add a little something in the background....can you see the spirals that break up the stippling?

pebbles stitched using pastel variegated thread kind of looks like snow

Simple "echo" stitching is often a great choice when you just want the stitching to stay in the background

Carrying an  image in your stitches out into the border  adds interest and continues the story. Here the roots spread out into the border.

In between the roots, I wanted the feel of earth, jagged, uneven stitching, pebbles and stippling worked well.

wavy lines and bubbles surround these turtles for a watery feel

This is another example trying to get the feel of the movement of water

sky.... gentle breezes

Sometimes, it can be as simple as following the pattern of the fabric, for excellent effect.

I just noticed....this is my 300th post.....Wow...have I really have that much to say?