Tuesday, June 10, 2008

art of the heart



Just finished stitching down the pieces for a paper pieced crazy quilt heart of my own design.



After I ripped out the paper, I noticed the edges went in all directions. LOL. I then very carefully stitched it to a piece of pellon I had on hand. Now my question, I want to do some fancy stitches. I have some examples of how to stitch. I've been thinking about using embroidery floss. If I do the stitches now, the ends will be buried in the middle of the sandwich. If I wait until the back is on, how do I hide the ends? I think the knot would be too big to pull through. If I put the back on last, how do I secure it to the front other than at the sides?

5 comments:

Monty Wilson said...

I think you could do the embroidery now, then put the back on, then "tack" it anywhere you want to by making a French knot on the front, then making a French knot in the same spot on the back, then pull the thread to another spot, repeat. Bury the ends in the batting, and it will look great on the front and the back.

Willa said...

I think this is lovely..! Can't wait to see what you do with it. I love crazyquilting!

laura west kong said...

It's beautiful! I vote for embroidery now, and tacking or the French knots thing Katie suggesting sounds good as well. Either would not look out of place on a crazy quilt.

Some embroidery floss is very particular and may not like being pulled repeatedly through batting. The embroidery will probably look best if it's done first.

Linda Cline said...

I love the scrappy look and the different angles in your heart. I think it will look great when it's finished.

I would add the batting, but not the backing yet. I haven't found doing embroidery through batting to be difficult, and I think it adds a bit of stability. You might have a different thought if you batting is very dense. I wouldn't add the backing fabric yet. The extra layer of fabric makes a huge difference in getting your needle through.

You should consider how you will be using this quilt when you decide how much to tack the middle. You might need more if the quilt will be used and washed. You might not need any if it will hang on the wall.

Karen South said...

I agree you should do the embroidery before you add the back. When you add the backing you can tack it to the front using small beads for a different look.