Stabilizer Question for Machine Embroidered Blocks
 

Good Evening~I have a question for those of you who have made machine embroidered blocks for quilts. What kind of stabilizer do you like for embroidering blocks with a fairly "light" (not very dense) design on them. I'm thinking I would want to use something fairly light that I could just leave on the back of the block???

I'd love to hear what works well for this before I get started. Thanks!

I don't know but maybe a tear away would work best for when you begin the quilting. Less bulk to deal with.

I think like you and would use a light cutaway

I like to use an iron on no show mesh. It's considered a cut away.

For machine I like tear away its a bit thick but works well for hand embroidery I use a fine muslin

i like a tear away so there is not extra bulk behind the embroidery design. the extra stabilizer behind the design helps the emb design 'pop' on the quilt block.

Look into battilizer. I'm using it now in a class for applique but it should work for machine embroidery. My instructor has assured us it's light enough that you can use regular batting when you sandwich the quilt. We are cutting 14" squares and spray basting background material to it then after machine quilting an interesting background design we trim the block down to 12 1/2". It comes like regular batting in a roll - 22" wide. It's on the expensive side but it's real easy to work with. It gives nice definition to the block without creating a lot of bulk.

Like Nancy, I like the tear-away, and love the way it makes the embroidery design pop.

I too would use tear away - Depending on how light the embroidery is - the iron on mesh might work, but oddly enough I usually only use that mesh to iron over the back of a dense design on clothing that will be worn next to the skin !! It makes the back smooth and not itchy.

I use wash away-tear away stabilizer, I hoop the stabilizer and a thin piece of muslin along with my fabric. This gives the design something to hold onto after the tear away is torn off and lessens my chances of pulling the stitches out. I use the wash away because some of my designs have been a bit dense and the wash away will dissolve and keep the quilt block soft but still has some shape due to the thin muslin. I'm talking really cheap thin muslin so make sure you wash it first because it will shrink.