Sunday, September 17, 2017

Step by step, stitch by stitch

     It is easier to paint a flower than create it in fabric. For the water lily, I originally cut the whole flower outline out and I cut it out of a double layer of Kona white held together by dots of washable Elmers. It needed more dimension, so carefully, looking at the photo, I cut out petals that I wanted to appear closer, again, out of a double layer of fabric. I used a double layer of batting.
     Once it was mostly laid out, I began sewing by using YLI invisible thread to stitch all the edges down. The 401 would not do little zig zags on the sandwich reliably. I went back to the 301 and tacked it all down. Sometimes the needle splays the fibers out all over the place. Hate raw edge. 
    I gathered the Glide threads and started with a light gray for the clouds and water reflections. I did not have a good medium gray- the one I had was too dark. I used some Nickel Glide, white, and two yellows. I used over 2 bobbins worth of thread. The wonderful Singer 301 just keeps chugging and stitching and the slant needle gives me great visibility.




5 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I agree about the fraying on the edges being irritating. Maybe a narrow piece of wonder under at the edge to hold the 2 layers tightly together and doing a zig zag on them before attaching to the quilt would work. Overall though the piece looks wonderful and some people might actually like edges not being perfectly smooth.

Debbie said...

It is still beautiful. There is one technique for applique using modge podge for fabric that might be good here. It keeps the fabric from fraying, stays soft and is easy to sew thru.
The second option is lots more thread painting to shadow the edges and obscure the fraying. Personally I love it the way it is:) Perfection would be a photograph....this is fiber art.

Missy Shay said...

It turned out gorgeous!

Cheryl said...

I really like this, you created great depth in the image.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Those raw edges are frustrating but honestly I think they add something to the finished piece (in moderation, of course). Congratulations for staying the course and making this beauty work!