Combining Embroidery with Quilting
 

Tuesday I went to a trunk show by a well-known embroiderer from South Africa, and she had just finished a quilt top where she had put some of her larger embroidery designs into squares and then made the blocks into a quilt top following a BOM from one of the well-known (and mentioned on here before ) quilting bloggers. It was beautiful AND really inspiring because I do love my embroidery machine, and we have had discussions on here about combining embroidery with quilting. I was going to post a picture I took of her top, but I am not sure that would be allowed since it was not mine.

Anyway, let's not forget we have so many choices - not just fabrics.

I just finished 2 quilts with embroidery on them, I don't always use embroidery but sometimes I think it works beautifully.

I embroider quilt blocks all the time, then put them together into a quilt. It's one of my favorite ways to make quilts. :)

I think of embroidery as just making your own fabric. Instead of a preprinted fabric to fussy cut you just embroider what you want. No reason the two shouldn't be combined if that is what you want.

I love hand embroidery in quilts but not machine embroidery. I'm just not a fan of machine embroidery at all....

I love my embroidery machine to make quilt blocks.

I do hand embroidery in the evenings when watching TV. Very simple line only redwork type florals. I get the designs from various books or free on the internet. I love Jacobean outline type designs. When the blocks are finished, I set them into a quilt with appropriate colors and donate them to our local heart hospital. They seem to enjoy receiving them. I usu start w/10" fabric, do the embroidery & trim to 9.5". I have an embroidery machine but prefer this method.

Adding hand embroidery is my favorite way to personalize quilts. For rag quilts, I usually add a layer of batting since this provides depth. However, as I learned too late on my first rag quilt, the batting will retract into a lump around the embroidery unless secured around the edges. This "lumping" can easily be prevented by stiching a quarter or half inch from the edge of the batting.

That's a great tip - thank you.

Quick question. I have a collection of hand embroidered, cut out squares that with large and unfinished center areas. Ieoid like to use my Diamond's embroidery capabilities and finish the squares. (New at the Diamond) The squares need to be enlarged to hoop. Appropriately sized strips of muslin sewn around the edges and removed when the embroidery is done? Don't know exactly what I am going to do with the squares when this is all over so I am trying to avoid cornering myself. Help, please.

Forgive me if I am in the wrong place to ask this. Newbie.

Thanks,

A