Cross Stitch Incorporated Into A Quilt... Questions
 

Hi, My aunt is considering putting some of her cross stitch into a quilt and asked if I knew anything about how to go about it.

I don't! And so I thought the best place would be to ask here.

Are there any do's and dont's that would help, and any advice that I can pass on would be great.

I'm not sure which pictures she's wanting to use, but she sews on all sorts of colours of backgrounds using 14 Aida.

One thing I did think of is, does the cross stitch have to be backed with iron on interfacing?

Thank you for any help or suggestions.

Joanne, on behalf of Carol

Personally I'd back it because it would prevent migrating of the batting through the looser weave of the Aida cloth it is likely worked on. Have seen them done both ways; I suppose it depends on how much active use one expects the quilt to receive.

Jan in VA

I talked to my Aunt, who cross stitches and quilts, and said she mainly has done this for wall hangings. With that said, all she did was zig zag the edges of the Aida cloth to keep it from fraying and then just quilted the fabric that was added to it.

Now, if it were me, I would do the zig zag also, but I would also use some kind of interfacing so that batting would not come through just like "Jan in VA" stated.

I wish you both the best and can not wait to see a finished picture if your Aunt would be so kind to share.

Julie

Jan and Julie, thank you so much for your advice and suggestions.
I'll be seeing her again later this week and will pass on what you've both said. I never thought about the batting coming through the holes, I was just thinking about the threads may come loose with use.

It definitely looks as though I'm in on the organising bit of her quilt with her, so I'll let you know what she decides to do and get some photos during the process.
Joanne in UK

My mom does cross stitch and I put a lot of her things in quilts and wall hangings for her. I always put lightweight interfacing on them to help stabilize them, keeps them square, I trim after interfacing, and it helps secure the threads so the cross stitch does not come out.

I am working on a christmas quilt for my Daughter. It's all snomen and snoflakes. All the little snomen are cross stitched. I backed them with muslin (the real fine kind). I did wash them first (didnt want them to bleed when she washed the quilt). I wash them in dish soap, rinse well, towel dry... then lay them out on the kitchen counter to dry. I give them a little tugg and pat as I go by. Once they were dry, I turned them over and pressed them into a thick towel with a warm iron. It makes the stitches stand out a little. I havent finished sewing the quilt together yet, but will post pics when it's done.

I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures. Years ago I did a lot o counted cross stitches wall hangings for Mother - and wondered about putting them in a quilt.