(B)ringing out the old
Posted by cottonmillthreadworks on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Once upon a time, I bought this pattern because I just knew it would be fun to make:
And it was. Lots of fun picking fabrics, fusing. Then I had a dozen blocks sitting around. For a very, very long time.
Do you have the Sept. 2008 issue of American Quilter magazine?
Great article by Ricky Tims on how he likes to applique, using a double blanket stitch with both length and width set at 2.0mm. Hmmm, maybe it was time to unearth those blocks and give it a go!
A 40 wt. high sheen trilobal polyester is used in the top to accentuate the stitching, and of course I have just the thread -
Nature Colors
:
A note about needle size. A Topstitch 90 is usually the recommended size for a 40 wt. thread. However, because these stitches are so close together I thought I'd try a smaller size Topstitch 80 . No problems, works perfectly. Don't be afraid to experiment!
Bottom Line 60 wt. poly went in the bobbin - because of it's very fine weight it will not build up even with the dense stitching. And I always stabilize my applique on the back, using Ricky Tims' Stable Stuff . This prevents any "tunnelling" of the fabric and ensures that the stitches are perfect.
I haven't finished tying-off all my threads, but this is what the back looks like before the stabilizer is removed:
By using a dense stitch at a small setting a very definite ridge of colour is added to the edge of the applique shapes:
Rather than use blending colours I have opted for a bit of contrast:
It looks like these blocks now have a future!
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