With my machine quilting time at an all time low and my traveling time more than I'd like it to be, I've found myself with a new dilemma...no hand work! After I machine quilt a piece, I always have a generous amount of hand work adding beads and embellishments and this is my sanity time on an airplane or waiting at an airport. I am also a little concerned about my long flight to Australia in September...what is going to keep me busy for those long 14 hour flights?
Many years ago I did a decent amount of hand embroidery and silk ribbon work and loved it. I've decided that this is the perfect time to start meddling around with this again. When I was teaching at Superior Threads last month I indulged in some beautiful silk thread that I plan to use for hand embroidery. I purchased some gorgeous neutrals in different weights. I got several cards that are 16 wt. and are heavy and have a beautiful texture. I also purchased some 30 and 50 wt. Tire silk threads. Superior Threads also has silk embroidery floss and ribbons but I decided to start with these threads first and then start messing around with the rest of it a bit later.
During my workshop there, one of my students told me about a great product that she uses to line her delicate fabrics before starting her embroidery. It is a woven fusible linen interfacing and she highly recommended it. It not only stabilizes her delicate fabrics but it hides her traveling lines when she completes her embroidery. She sent me a swatch and I fused it to the back of this piece and I then trimmed it away from the lace. I LOVE how it feels and love the way that it stabilized this beautiful lace piece. I ordered 10 more yards of it just to have it on hand. I purchased it from Vogue Fabrics (voguefabricsstore.com). Do a "search" for Bosal woven fusible interfacing and they have it in white and black. The white is #300 and it is only $5.15 per yard. I think this stabilizer would be perfect for those delicate hankies that so many of you are using for quilted pieces!
This particular lace piece was a gift from a student and I thought it was the perfect starting point to get warmed up on my hand embroidery skills. I plan to stitch all the main grid lines in a 30 wt. silk...do detail work in the middle with a 50 wt. Tire silk. I will machine quilt around all the hand embroidery and then go back and add french knots and embellishments. I will take pictures as I go.
I posted previously that I was going to machine quilt a large linen piece with the Baltimore Album designs...I've decided that I will hand embroider these first and then go back and machine quilt afterwards. I plan on using the fusible linen lining to stabilize it. This project will definitely keep me busy on my long flight to Australia!
Hugs, Cindy :)
3 comments:
Beautiful Cindy. I have visited the Bosal booth at the CHA Winter Conference. They have a wonderful product line, with many excellent stablizers. I do remember the stablizer you are recommending and, while I haven't used it, it did look high quality and reasonably priced. They also have Bosal Experts that travel, teach & give demonstrations in various sewing centers.
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
Oh my - it's going to look wonderful! Guess I'm going to have to place my order now from Superior and then look for that stabilizer! I'll be watching your progress - yummy, just yummy.
What a beautiful piece of lace. Thank you for sharing about the stabilizer. It is good to find something that does not a stiffness to the original fabric.
Deb
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