Gabrielle's Mimi

I teach at my LQS, and am running a once-monthly year-long class for the Spring Bouquet quilt you are making. I showed the women in my class possible stitches, but suggested using the blind hem stitch as it is much less noticeable than the blanket stitch, and less apt to tunnel than the satin stitch. I use stitch length 1.2 and stitch width 1.4, but would encourage you to experiment with different stitches, stitch widths and stitch lengths to see what works best for you. In the end it all depends on what look you want. IMHO, the blanket stitch looks more rustic, or country, the blind hem stitch looks almost invisible, the zig zag shows a bit more, depending upon size, the straight stitch shows quite a bit, I feel, and the satin stitch is thread-dense and may tunnel. I also showed my students how to fuse light weight interfacing to the back of each block to avoid the mess of tear-away stabilizers. We all received the thread as part of the kit, but if you did not, I like Isacord because of the many colors available. If your tension is set correctly there is no need to change bobbin colors; just use a neutral cream, gray, etc. in bobbin weight (I like Superior's Bottom Line or So Fine). Please PM me if you need fabric cutting directions or the packet I put together on appliqué techniques. Good luck...it's a beautiful quilt!

sylviasmom

I do needle turn applique using YLI silk thread and a straw needle. A straw needle is very fine, so you must use a thimble. And while the silk thread is expensive, I like the way it seems to fade into the fabric. For the most part experiment with various threads and methods and go with what feels comfortable to you. You will find that you will choose a different method according to what project you are doing.

Sandi

Rachel,
I have a friend who did a fused quilt with top stitching around each bouquet of flowers using the aurifil thread. It too was an Edyta Sitar BOM quilt and it turned out beautifully. She changed the background color for the bouguets to blue
and did QAYG with the top stitching. She used smaller stitches and sewed about 1/8 in from the edge.
Hope this helps

Sandi

Gabrielle's Mimi
I would love to know how you fused the lightweight interfacing..i.e. what did you use?

piecNpat

One of my favorite techniques with the Clover bias is to top stitch it with a double needle. Really holds, keeps it even and it and really looks nice.

fangman

All beautiful quilts.

crafty pat

I have done turn under and blind stitch by hand. It is long and slow but turns out very pretty as you can't see the stitches.I have never used silk thread but after reading how many of you do I am going to use it on my next applique project. We learn so much on here.

carol40965

Ladies, quilting is new to me. Where do you purchase silk thread?

misseva

ConnectingThreads.com has silk thread. Because I live far-far away from quilt shops, I was able to find some fine thread, I think poly, that acts almost like silk. That's what I use. Very strong and it does disappear into your applique too.

gramquilter2

I am also one that loves YLI silk thread to do hand applique. It is a fine thread that doesn't show up that much when you are doing needle turn applique.