I use a lot of background quilting on applique and pieced blocks to fill in spaces around the design, but I also often use plain background for some blocks, and those are quilted with the lines of applique designs.
The cross hatching in these designs is what I use as a filler around applique, but I have left out the applique and only quilted the lines of the applique designs.
This is what the back of an applique quilt would look like, and as I love looking at the backs of quilts why not forget the applique and pieced tops, just add quilting to a large piece of fabric to make a whole cloth quilt.
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