My advice is to just be sure to do the sections the same.
I got a wall hanging done that I had crossed hatched quadrants in it & it was complete when I realized the crosshatching was diagional on all sections but one!!!! It was done on the straight .....arghhhhhhhh.... Jill
(I use wash out pen for everything, lifes too short)

To start handquilting this and all other handquilted items, start in the center of the piece and and work your way out. I do a cross hatch all the time, and have various widths of masking tape that I use...I never mark the piece. Just lightly stick your tape onto the fabric and quilt along the edge..when finished, pull the tape off and stick it on again, with one edge along the line you just quilted..then, quilt along the other edge of the tape...and, so forth.... people will say that you must use painters tape and that masking tape will leave a residue, but I ONLY use masking tape and have NEVER had anything left on the fabric. AFter all, you're not trying to stick the tape on so that it'll stay forever....just till you finish that one line of stitching, so it's only lightly stuck to the fabric.

May I ask why we should always start in the center of the piece? I've heard this a bunch of times already . . . is it to prevent bunching or for some other reason?

Oh Jill I feel you pain. After all that work... I have been using a wash out pen for all the other quilting. They do seem to work well.

Sandra, So ok I'm breaking all the rules here...This is a applique quilt. I have quilted around all the applique, now I've decided to add the cross hatching. Please tell me I can make this work! I plan on using a 3/4 inch cross hatching. The tape intrigues me. I suppose, that I can mark a big X from corner to corner then go from there? Do you always quilt in one direction, or can I quilt to the end, then turn and come back? I'm hoop quilting, so this would be easier, but I'm afraid it will pucker.

Cziga, I think is so that any movement in the quilt will work out to the edges.

I don't mark my quilts, cause I don't wash them, so far they've been wall pieces, not bed quilts.

I too have used masking tape, tho' for me that's a problem in case I'm delayed getting back to that project or if (G_d forbid it becomes a UFO).

I've found a 1/4" tape at LQS that I've used for years; I've used it to mark grid lines for machine quilting (I only machine quilt). Used as suggested above, use it once, stitch, remove tape & move it, using the other side as straight edge. After a few uses, the edge gets a bit wavy for that.

I've also taken to using this 1/4" tape around the outer perimeter of all projects in progress, it makes a seam allowance for me to stay stitch the outer edges, either by machine basting or even hand basting. Seems to stay on for a long time, yet doesn't leave any adhesive or sticky behind.

You start in the middle of the quilt and work your way out, so that any 'excess, or shortcomings will be at the outer edges. Quilts are not always completely square, and as you quilt, these 'offages' will grow...and, if you start in one corner you may find yourself all out of wack (and fabric), when you get to the other side. If you start in the middle and then work out from that, your quilt will be flat.
Sometimes I complete each block....all the quilting - crosshatching in both directions.....sometimes I stitch in the ditch around every block, starting in the center. Then, go back and do the rest of the quilting - it just depends on what I plan to quilt. But, I would do all the quilting in one direction of that block before starting in the other direction.
I've used cross hatching several times on blocks that I've appliqued something onto. I stitch 1/8 in or so around the appliqued portion, and then add the cross hatching. Generally I don't do this crosshatching on the appliqued piece. If you don't quilt over it, it seems to pop out visually.
I just lightly stick a piece of tape from one corner, diagonally to the other corner, and start there with my quilting..do that line, move the tape, do the next line of quilting, and so forth. At times, depending on how big the appliqued piece in the middle is, I use 2 threaded needles, one to do each section of the quilting, if the appliqued piece is too large to 'travel' through.

If you use a wash-out marker for your quilting lines, you might want to mark only a small area at a time, or keep the whole works in a plastic bag when you're not working on it.

You see, I marked a single quilt block with a wash-out marker. I started to quilt, then some other project got in the way. I laid the marked block aside and forgot about it for most of the summer. I just found it recently, and the humidity of the summer has removed nearly all of the marks! There are only a few faint suggestions. So I have to mark it all over again!

I also like the idea of the masking tape, but I would make sure to use the blue kind. You see, I used some of the 1/4" wide yellow masking tape to mark a ruler, and it left a gooey residue. I wouldn't want that to happen to a quilt top! So I'd use the blue painter's tape, which is supposed to be much less likely to leave a residue. It doesn't come in 1/4" wide, but maybe I can find it in 1" wide and just "eyeball it."

Trust me on this....NO RESIDUE.....just think about it. It's only on the fabric for the length of time to do one row of quilting..and, what's that....a matter of minutes? So, take it from one who has actually DONE this..... I've done it MANY, MANY times, with NO PROBLEMS!
Maryliz......what you're talking about is adhering tape to a plastic ruler....pressing it on as hard as you could, and then leaving in on for a long period of time - this is nothing like lightly sticking it to fabric for a matter of minutes!

I understand what you mean, Sandra. Thanks for explaining that to me.

Last year at our quilt guild Barbara Barber from the UK came to speak and teach a class. She has made some really, really amazing applique quilts. You could have knocked most of the guild members over with a feather when she said that she always starts her hand quilting in a lower corner and works her way out and upward. She is a multiple international award winner for her work. Her reasoning is that the judges go right for the center when they inspect your work. If you start in an unobtrusive place, while you warm up, they are less likely to see this part. I thought it was an interesting theory.

And I have had a problem with masking tape residue so now I am very careful.

:)lots2do (but I'm not doing it now!)

If you are quilting cross hatching by the block, you can mark (or simply measure & stick a pin) points EQUALLY all around the block, say every inch for example, and lay the tape across the block from dot to dot. I use blue painter's tape, and I've learned the hard way to never leave tape overnight, or near sunlight. I often mark straight lines with a hera marker, or sometimes blue washout marker.
I also enjoy quilting applique blocks in only one direction, alternating every other block, instead of cross hatching. Or, starting from the center, and quilting outward (called a "Baltimore Grid" in the link below.) One reason I like this is because you don't have quilting stitches making little "X"s where the lines cross.
If you have sashing, you don't even have to worry about whether the lines meet as they go from block to block, or for a small quilt, you can carry this from the center ot the quilt all the way out to the borders.
BlueBars

Here is a link that might be useful: Baltimore Grid

For those using the blue water soluble marker - do not leave it on your blocks for too long. The marks will fade, but they aren't gone, and they will eventually become permanent, and if they get wet will show up as a fluorescent yellow!

I've never had any trouble with marks left in for a few months, but if you're going to leave that project by a sunny window, or leave it for a few years, those marks will become permanent.

The quilt I quilted for my stepdad's church was marked years ago with blue wash-away marker. The markings were completely invisible. They showed up when the quilt was washed. This was SO NOT PRETTY! It was marked very long ago (1986 or so), so they were very old.

So, MaryLiz especially!
Spray those blocks with plain water to eliminate the old marks before proceeding.

I strongly agree with mary_c about the blue washout marker. Never let the blue-marked fabric be exposed to an iron or heat, not even in a hot car or in the sun.
The blue water soluble marker must be rinsed out with clear cool water. I rinse more than once with new clear water. DO NOT add detergent or soap of any kind, as it could react with the chemicals.
After only one rise, I hung a block on a towel rack to drip dry, and the drips left faint blue stains on my drywall. Not visible on the fabric any more, but obviously there was still some in the fabric.
Rinse, rinse, rinse.
BlueBars

Mary, I clearly remember the tragedy of the quilt with the fluorescent yellow markings. I cannot thank you and BlueBars enough for the advice to WASH OUT the washable marker before any more time elapses, then let the project dry. When I'm ready, I'll remark, and THIS TIME finish it as soon as possible, then rinse out the second inking.