Friday, October 18, 2013

Hand Quilting Experiment

I thought I would try a little hand quilting on my hexie pillow.  This little project started out with scraps from THE bedroom quilt (you regular readers are SO sick of hearing about that quilt, I will do you a favor and NOT include a link this time...you're welcome).
After hand sewing the hexies together, I decided to applique them onto the background fabric with a simple zig-zag stitch (not sure I love the result...will try something different next time).  I then used my new favorite marking pen, the Frixion, to draw echo lines.
An action shot of the quilting in process:
The thread is Sulky 12 wt. cotton.  Here is the result:
 I needed a little pillow for this funky chair in my bathroom.  The shape and the colors work fine.
 However, the hand quilting looks a little flat, maybe even too tight.  It almost gets lost against the linen background.  What went wrong?

  • Stitched through two layers (background and batting) and not three (no backing)?
  • Pulled thread too tight?
  • Linen background not cotton?
  • Ironing off the marking flattened the stitches?
  • The pillow is stuffed too full?
  • Color of the thread should have been brighter?

After I finished this and was pondering what I could have done differently, I found this great tutorial from the amazing Susan at Canadian Abroad.  I am not discouraged; I will try again with perle cotton and figure this out!

Linking up with crazy mom"s Finish It Friday.
Have a great weekend!
Kathy

10 comments:

  1. It looks pretty good to me - I would not change anything!

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  2. I would say it's probably one of the first two: stitching through two layers and not three or the thread is pulled too tight. The first thing I thought (before I saw that you only used two layers) was perhaps you didn't catch the backing on all your stitches. :) Sometimes I get that look if my stitches catch very little of the back or are a lot smaller on the back than they are on the front. Hope that helps. Looks good though! I love the colors.

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  3. No one is sick of that bedroom quilt! And the hexagon pillow is lovely.

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  4. Ditto, here. Not sick of THE quilt. I hopped on over to Canadian Abroad's blog, and I agree. Perle cotton might be your new best thing. It would work well with your style of stitching.

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  5. Oh, I do like this pillow! Yes, perle cotton would be a little 'fluffier' then the Sulky. Either way, these colors are great!

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  6. I love that pillow! Love love love! And I also love perle cottons, so that's my vote. :)

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  7. Love the hexagons on that pillow! And your quilting does look great. I don't really know anything about hand quilting. Hope your next experience using the helpful tips you've found will give you the results you are looking for.

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  8. I think it's super! Kudos for had quilting - I can't sew a button on! I think the color of the thread is a bit close to the color of the linen... could be? Just MHO. :)

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  9. Such a pretty pillow! I know little about hand quilting but just love it as an accent like you have done.

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How nice of you to take the time to comment!

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