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.



Hand Embroidery and Beading on Stenciled Fabric

I wanted to make a quilt with a simple shape. I chose the apple since it is my favorite winter fruit. My goal was to work with this shape, do some variations to make it interesting, and at the same time end up with a set of cohesive blocks so I can sew them together to make a quilt!

I started designing stencils in my Silhoutte Cameo Machine. I made five different ones. This is the first one in the series.

Colored plain white muslin with paintsticks. Sew strips of fabric around.

With polyester batting underneath, since I'm planning to do trapunto sew around the shapes with Aurifil 12 weight.

It looked like this when I finished.

Then, I used the same thread to add hand embroidery and seed beads for details. Next time I will show you the next block.