Thursday, September 3, 2015

Words about Words!!!

At the beginning of August, I picked up a set blocks from my UFO pile. I had won these blocks through a Block Of the Month (BOM) activity at my guild at least two Decembers ago. The block was a Christmas package. I stitched a couple and then not long after, I managed to squeeze seven more out of the fabrics I had in my stash. I liked them so well, I decided to keep the nine blocks. Then I had none for the block contest so I made three more blocks! I haven't set the nine blocks; but, that is a story for another blog!

I won these six blocks. My plan was to make them into two wall hangings. I decided to use my machine embroidery to insert words between the blocks as well as in the outer border. 

I want to machine embroider words on a border on another WIP. So this would be a good practice project.

I gave myself three days to complete the words and a week to quilt, bind, label and sleeve one of the wall hangings. After three weeks, I'm was still struggling with words!!!





I have had words about words!!! I have learned that for small letters-- these are about 3/4 of an inch tall--step fill patterns don't show and that the satin stitch looks cleaner. The photo on the left is an example of a practice stitch to see what color thread and pattern I liked best.














I decided would try stitching a border. This is practice fabric that is pictured. I had challenges trying to position the next stitching with the previous stitching line when I rehooped the design.



Thanks to JoJo Hall,  I learned that words look better when the letters are spaced more like one would write them. 


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my machine to cut the jump stitches between the letters so I cut these stitches at the end. I did stitch the short words (Joy, Love, Hope, Peace) and insert them into the blocks as sashing strips.



I liked it and thought that I could stop here; but I wanted a border on the outer edges so I tried another sample. I was getting closer, but still far away from being happy with the results.



I scheduled an appointment with the owner of Quilting Delights  to help me achieve the results that I have pictured in my head. After a two and a half hour one on one class, I think I'm a few stitch outs from success. Check back next week to view my progress.

Words are hard!!!!



4 comments:

She Quilts It said...

Love the words! Such a great idea.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

I'm beginning to think that words are invading my prospective projects as I'm thinking, "Hmmmm, that would be a good word to add!" Thank you for your comment!

BJ said...

Words on a border would be especially difficult. I found that if I use a really good stiff stabilizer it makes a huge difference. I use Madeira Cotton Stable, which has a temporary fusible. It is tear away and does tear pretty well, but it also is all cotton, so when washed it gets a lot softer. I love your project.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

BJ, I haven't used Maderia Cotton Stable. Pellon, Floriani are a couple brands of stabilizer available around me. I think the weight of the embroidery has something to do with how it reacts with the cotton fabric. I'll keep my eyes out for the Maderia product. Thank you for the tip.