Month: July 2023

Fussy Stitching: Where Precision Counts

| ellenanneeddy

Normally, when I do a large embroidery, I’m working from the back. This works because I’ve got my pattern drawing on the back and it gives me all the information I need to fill it in. That assumes I can see my stitching.

Well, I do things the way I do unless I don’t. After a week of working on these guinea hens, I turned them right side up last night and stitched from the top.

Why? The stripes on these things are making me crazy. It’s sort of like matching plaid pant seams. Do you remember that hopeless enterprise? These birds depend on precise white stripes. The white doesn’t show up against the stabilizer, so you can’t see if it’s dense enough or smooth enough. What I thought was a bold smooth line looked raggy. These birds are fussy.

But I think they’re worth it. I also wanted you to see that you can overstitch. And sometimes that’s the answer.

I overstitch for a number of reasons: to outline a piece, to clarify the edge line, to add extra texture, or to put in highlight. I can put down a wonderful range of colors. But sometimes thot range needs the context of texture as well.

I wanted the dots separated so they went on first. The stripes went on, but I had no idea how raggy they looked from the front. So now, I’m going back to redefine them so they’re smooth and dense enough to please me.

The point of this is it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Until you say it is. So don’t be afraid to restitch, redirect and redesign something that isn’t quite right

Bobbin Work and Computerized Stitches

| ellenanneeddy

I had someone call and ask for this. So Cathy, this is for you. But it’s also information for other people who might want it.

Bobbin work is stitching done upside down with thick thread in the bobbin. It sounds hard. It’s not.

How thick? Usually, I use thread that’s either 5-8 weight for bobbin work. Pearl cotton comes in a million colors in those weights. There are thick metallic threads as well: YLI’s Candelight, Superior’s Razzle Dazzle, and Madeira’s Glamor are all 8 # threads and are beautiful in bobbin work.

I do my bobbin work free motion, because I can draw with it. It builds up images quickly because the thread fills in faster being thick. If you would like more information about free motion bobbin work, look at Bobbin Work Stitch Vocabulary for a short tutorial.

Here’s some basic information on Bobbin Work from the Stitch Vocabulary Book

Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book Page 17

Settings for decorative stitching

But what if you want to use all those cool decorative stitches on your machine? You can do that! It’s not that hard, but there are differences.

Leave your feed dogs up!

Use an applique foot that gives you some room for the thicker stitching.

Pick stitches that have no zigzag in them. Zigzag stitches are more likely to jam. Instead, stitches formed from straight stitch will work much better.

Try them out. Different size stitches may look very different. I’ve prepped some pieces of plain muslin with a backing of Decor Bond to stabilize them. I’m working from the back.

This works for most machines. I wrap the end of the thread around my bobbin, twist the thread around the winding pin and hold the thread in my hand. That way I can wind bobbins from threads in odd put-ups and reels. And I don’t need to rethread my top thread.

Stitching

Turn your piece on to the back.

Take your first stitch holding on to both top and bobbin thread so it doesn’t jam.

Go slowly until you know how your stitch will work.

If it jams, cut the bobbin thread at the end of the stitching and then you can pull the piece away from the machine safely

I recommend making a little booklet of your practice sheets. You can do that by sewing them together and binding the edge with bias binding.

Hope this helps!

Color Study: Why Red?

| ellenanneeddy

I’ve just finished Little Blues! I’m delighted with this quilt. It took me a while to get it finished off. In that process, on a whim I added some red silk flowers to the background.

Why red? Why not orange or blue or white? I did try those. But red was it.

I really think it’s worth the while to put up your color decisions on a color wheel. Just how you can see how they relate.

The color wheel gets a bad rap. It’s old fashioned, it’s boring, we all know how colors are made, it’s incomprehensible…. It’s still the best way I know to show the relationships between colors. It shows how colors are created. But most importantly, it shows how they react to each other.

The farther colors are apart from each other, the more tension there is between them. And like every good soap opera, more tension means more excitement.

At which point, you need to ask, where is this quilt going? If it’s in a baby’s bedroom, you might want to keep the tension and excitement to a minimum. But for a gallery? Bring on the excitement!

I was surprised when I put the colors up on the wheel. I didn’t realize how far around the wheel I had gone. But as you can see, the red zings across from the green. I don’t have much in there, but it wakes up a piece that has that sleepy analogous color thing going on without it. Not much. Just a handful of red silk flowers.

I consider using the whole color wheel a visual trick of sorts. It wins awards, and it’s showy, but color needs to be the focus of a piece for that to work well. But this almost full-color wheel is rich, satisfying, and just red enough to get attention.

For more information about color theory check out Color Theory: The Tug Across the Wheel and Thermal Shock: Shocking Color Choices.

Rethinking Cut-Away Applique

| ellenanneeddy

Most of the time when I applique fabric, I use a fusible like Steam a Seam 2 and I cut out my shapes. Except when I don’t.

Cut out applique works well for smaller, stable pieces that can be cut and moved around. Cut-away applique is better for elegant curved lines you just can’t cut out and move around..They shim out of shape too easily. And then they never lie flat.

Direct Applique

  • Attach a layer of fusible to the applique
  • Cut out the object before you glue
  • Stitch down free motion zigzag
  • 1 step process, just stitch it on
  • Thicker lines

Cut- away Applique

  • No fusible glue
  • Lay down a sheet of applique fabric
  • Straigh stitch in the design on top
  • Cut it away excess fabric
  • Stitch it down free motion zigzag
  • 2 step process
  • Softer, smoother lines

For this frog, I wanted a sinuous curved vine with curlicue tendrils. Not something that is easily done in direct applique. Larger cut-away applications can distort a bit. If we put a layer of the applique fabric over the top, stitch it down and cut it away, it’s a much cleaner, smoother line.

In cut-away applique, we stitch the design on an extra layer, and then cut-away what the excess.

Then we stitch down the edge with a free-motion zigzag stitch that can be smooth and lyrical like the design itself.

Here is the cutout vine ready for applique. What has changed? I used to draw and cut the leaves as well. I’ve done those separately to avoid some of the distortion.

Cut-away applique with Lace

The same process works with these lace butterflies. Rather than glue them on, and have the glue show through, I stitched around them straight stitch and then cut away the excess fabric. I had though I was adding butterflies, but I think they look more like the shadows of butterflies, which is much more cool.

Cut-away works as well with lace. These butterflies were part of a lace fabric. I stitched down the leaves and bugs, cut away the background, and stitched down the lace with a small free-motion zigzag stitch.

These techniques are neither right or wrong. It’s about using different techniques to get the results you want. It’s all a part of your tool box, for you to use as you want.

What happened Here?: Keeping Process Shots

| ellenanneeddy

But the other side of that, at the end of the studio day, you have you, your phone, and whatever happened that day. It’s a natural thing to take some pictures. And in the end of that, you’ve got a record of what happened here.

This is another story about technology. Most of us have come to that moment where your phone is your camera. It took me awhile. First off, they needed to be good enough to be your camera. They’ve been that for a while.

But if your camera is always there, you can always use it. Recently I got a new-to-me Iphone 12 Mini. Apple hasn’t continued a line of mini phones, but for me, they’re ideal. My hands are small and I really can’t hold on to a big phone. But the camera is just as good as you could ask. My latest book, Thread Magic Stitch Vocabulary Book, was completely shot with my phone.

I post these in a regular way on my business Facebook page, in albums, because it’s fun for you to see, and it’s good for me to keep track of.I also regularly put some of them in my blog as I talk about my work. But my other reason is that I think it’s really important to have these for the owner of the quilt. Lately, I’ve been sending those photos with the quilts when I sell them. It’s their baby. They should have baby pictures.

I hope you keep pictures of your work on a daily basis. It’s good documentation. Your phone is right there. Use it.

You’ll find the process shots for many of my quilts on my business Facebook page.

Stop Children, What’s that Sound?: A Cautionary Tale about Sewing Machines

| ellenanneeddy

Yesterday I got my 770 Bernina back from the shop. It had been gone for two months.

That sounds like forever, and it kind of was. Blessedly I have backup machines. I welcomed it home with a leftover project I found when I was cleaning through storage bins. I thought we’d both work back up to it.

What happened? Several things, some of which might have happened to anyone. Some of which were strictly my fault.

My 770 is a very smart machine. And it’s experienced. We are now up to 16,000,000 stitches together. And when it feels it’s had enough, it requests a trip to the vet.

Did I listen? I was sure it could stretch for another two weeks. Which stretched easily into two months. That did not help. But that was not the biggest problem

The last time I broke a needle, it shattered. One tiny bit ended up in the back of the housing and shaft. The shock from that pulled it from a circle to an oblong shape. When we tried to put a bobbin in, it threw it across the room. I hadn’t seen that before.

I did consider holy water, but didn’t work either. It took the excellent Emily, mechanic miracle worker of Feed Mill Fabrics and Quilts, some while to get the parts and figure it out. Emily is a treasure.

My point is, somebody really ought to learn from my stupidity. First off I could have followed my own rules. New day, new needle. New project new needle. That doesn’t stop needle breakage but it does cut it down. I had cut some corners.

Secondly, I should have been listening. I do listen to books and music while I sew. But I should have been listening.

I can tell even in a full classroom when someone has a dull needle. And any bad noise should precipitate a full stop. Don’t try to keep going. Stop right there. I should have.

We think about sewing with our eyes and our hands. Visually and tactically. But it’s aural too.

So it’s simple. When you hear a bad noise, stop. Don’t push on. Do not collect $200. Stop right there. And give your machine what it needs.

Me waiting for my machine.

In between, while I was cleaning, I found this very cool unfinished frog. I’m warming up the machine on that, just to become reacquainted.

Emily is the mechanic at Feedmill Fabric and Quilts at Onida, IL, She is indeed a miracle worker and a miracle herself. I trust her with my machine every time. And Beth has an explosion of new fabric in. You should go there.

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