Working with Thick Threads by Hand and Machine combined with Beading

*Compost*
 30" inches by 44" inches
It has been quilted with thick Aurifil 12 weight and 28 weight thread.
 
I wanted to do a quilt with one of my favorite fruits as the main design *The Apple* and show off how beautiful it can be even when it is in it's rotten stages.
After I designed and painted each block, I didn't like the *too white* background around each apple, although it can be ideal for showing off the true colors of the paint. To fix this, I chose a light green 28 weight thread to do the quilting around each apple. It gave it just enough color to tame down the white and, in my opinion, give it more depth.
Then I chose a black 28 weight thread to quilt on top of the black and white dotted fabric and red 28 weight thread for the curved red inserts; it gives enough coverage to allure the viewer.
Let me show you how I did it:
I designed the stencils in my Silhoutte Cameo machine and with painsticks I painted the designs on white muslin fabric.
I loaded my sewing machine with 12 weight Aurifil thread and started sewing/drawing around each shape.
With the same thread I did hand embroidery.


And then some beading.


When I was happy with each apple, I sewed the blocks together. Then I loaded the sewing machine with 28 weight thread this time. Although there are so many quilting designs to chose from, I decided to use the *classic* meandering around each apple and loops on the dotted fabric.
(looks like white thread but it is actually a light green color)
Detail of one block.

As you can see, the thick threads adds extra dimension to your work, calling the viewer in, surprising them with the texture achieved and the unexpected hand embroidery and beading. I hope you will give it a try.


25 comments:

  1. A simple design, elevated by the shapes with embellishments you've added.
    What type of machine are you using? I'm keeping track for a future purchase.

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    Replies
    1. Holly,
      I did some blocks with the Bernina 350 and some with the HandiQuilter Sweet 16. I used two different machines because I wanted to learn how to work with these threads in different settings.

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  2. I love your work. I too use a Silhouette and am curious as to what material you use to cut your stencils. To date I have had the most success with Yupo.

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    Replies
    1. Tricia I used *Duralar film* to cut the stencils. I haven't try Yupo yet :)

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  3. Hello Margarita,

    The colours are fantastic! The green, gold and red together look really effective. I love adding beads and shell buttons for extra detail and have had a few near misses with the hopping foot when doing the FMQ afterwards.

    Love from England,
    Muv

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right, the trick for doing the FMQ after your beading is to go slow and to sew them not to close to the border of your design.

      Thank you Muv for your nice comments :)

      Delete
  4. I love your apples. Great ideas to give a try.
    Love from Amsterdam

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  5. Stunning! I love how you added beading!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, I think the beading adds a surprise element :)

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  6. Spectacular! I love how you thought out how each element would add to the overall design. Thanks for sharing so much of your process.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the nice comments. Now that you know the process I hope you will give it a try.

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  7. Really amazing! I love the combination of all thse different techniques! You are a real artist!
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com

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  8. So Beautiful! I love how all the detail really makes the apples pop.

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  9. I LOVE your quilt, the texture is amazing. I will for sure try some of this in smaller scale at some point. Would it be possible to add the beading after doing the free motion quilting?
    Thanks for showing how you did it.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, you can do the beading after the motion quilting BUT you will get knots on the back of the quilt and I like the clean finish :)

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  10. Love the mix of hand and machine work

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  11. Ciao Margarita, hai un bellissimo blog e delle idee meravigliose, Assunta.lefiabedituassan.blogspot

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  12. The many techniques work very well together. You are very talented. Beautiful work! I love Shiva paintstiks. They are what my post this week was about.

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  13. The techniques work well together. Beautiful job. I love Shiva paintstiks. They are one of my favorite. tools. They are what my blog post this Friday was about.

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    Replies
    1. Went to your blog and love how you use them. thank you for visiting.

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  14. Thanks for sharing, I love your Compost!

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