Broiderie Perse Tutorial for Crazy Quilting Part 1

This is part 1 of the Broiderie Perse Tutorial for Crazy Quilting.  Please note, since most crazy quilts are for the sake of visual art rather than utilitarian purposes, we can ease up a bit on the rules that would apply to applique on a traditional sane quilt.

Step 1:  Choose a print.  You'll need a good cotton fabric with well defined flowers, animals, fruit or insects.  In this case, I chose a print with pink peonies.

Step 2: Piece your block in whatever manner you're comfortable with.  I always use the "sew and flip" method.  If you need instructions for that, you can find my tutorial for the "sew and flip" foundation piecing process here.

Step 3:  Determine where you want to add your applique.  As you can see, there's an open area underneath the photo image.  You don't have to leave any space.  I just didn't worry about that space because I knew my flowers were going to go there.

Step 4:  You will need to use some fusible web.  I use light weight fusible web by Pellon.  It's called, Wonder Under.

The fusible web is on a paper backing.

Step 4:  Determine which motif from the cotton print that you want to use and cut around it leaving a good inch or more.  Cut a piece of the fusible web a little bit larger than the cotton fabric.

Step 5:  Look closely at your fusible web.  The paper side is smooth and fusible side has a rough feel to it.  Make sure that the wrong side of the fabric is against the fusible side of the Pellon.

Step 6:  Cut the excess fusible web away so that it is the same size as the cotton print.  If you don't do this, you'll have glue on your fabric, your iron and your ironing board.

Step 7:  Again, double check to make sure that the back side of your print is against the fusible side of the Pellon.  Line the 2 pieces up and press with your iron on a medium setting or follow the directions included with the Pellon.

This piece is now fused.  In the above photo, you're seeing the paper side of the Pellon.  The right side of the cotton print in laying against the cutting board.

Step 8: Do not pull the paper off yet.  Using a very sharp pair of scissors, carefully cut the flower motif out from the fabric.

Step 9: Once you have your flower motif cut out, you can carefully peal away the backing paper from your applique.  The glue should now be on the back of your cotton print.

Step 10: Play around a little bit to see where you want your applique.  I knew when I started where I wanted it but be sure it's positioned exactly as you please because once you iron it on, it's there to stay.

Step 11: When you're satisfied with the position of your applique, go ahead and iron it on using a medium heat on your iron or follow the manufacturers directions on your fusible web.

Now, if you find that your edges fray a twinge or if the little points of the petals don't want to stay down, you can use a teeny, tiny dab of fabric glue (just a little bit on a toothpick) to hold it in place.  It shouldn't happen if you use a good quality cotton fabric but occasionally it will and there's no need to fret over it.  A little dab of glue will take care of it.

So that's it for Part 1 of the Broiderie Perse Applique Tutorial for Crazy Quilting.  I'm sure if you've done traditional sane quilting with applique in the past, you may think this is a no brainer but I like to write my tutorials for stitchers who have never tried some of these techniques before.  I want everyone to feel comfortable in learning new things and trying these tutorials so I really try to make them as clear as possible.

Part 2 of this tutorial will be on how to go about highlighting your applique with stitching.  I'll have that tutorial ready in about a week.  In the meantime, get your blocks sewn up and your applique ready.  I'm really hoping that some of my readers will give this a try.  It's a lot of fun and a great embellishment to add your crazy quilting skills!

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Easy Rose Tutorial

For anyone who struggles with Silk Ribbon Embroidery roses, here is a very easy version that only requires 2 stitches.  First, the Japanese Ribbon Stitch and second a French Knot.

I used 7 MM ribbon in my example.  To make a Japanese ribbon stitch, bring your ribbon up through your fabric:

Next, put your needle back down into the fabric but pierce your ribbon so you're going through the ribbon and the fabric:

Pull your ribbon to the back of the fabric but be sure to keep the ribbon loose.  That's the key to Silk Ribbon Embroidery:

You'll need to do 4 of these next to each other:

This makes the base of the rose.  Next, add a single French Knot:

And that's all there is to it!

They make pretty roses on hanging vines as you can see in my example:

And here's the block that I'm working on:

I couldn't help myself, I had to add pink to this block!  I expect to have it finished up later today or tomorrow.

Embroidered Spider Webs with Kreinik Metallics

Awhile back, I wrote a tutorial on how to create Embroidered Spider Webs on Crazy Quilts.  I also wrote a tutorial on how to make a Beaded Spider.  I love stitching spider webs on my crazy quilts so I thought for today, I would talk about making them with one of my favorite threads, Kreinik metallics.

Kreinik Mfg. Co. Inc. produces a variety of beautiful embroidery silk and metallic threads.  As you know,  all that glitters is gold to me so I naturally gravitate to anything that sparkles and Kreinik threads are at the top of my sparkly thread favorites!

Kreinik offers metallic threads in a variety of sizes including #4 and #8 Braids which are excellent for Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments however, for spider webs, my thread of choice is Blending Filament.

Blending Filaments are intended for blending with other threads such as 6 strand embroidery floss.  1 or 2 strands of Blending Filament added to a couple of strands of embroidery floss will certainly add glitter and sparkle to any cross stitch project!

A single strand of Blending Filament, used alone for a spider web on a crazy quilt will most definitely give the look of realism since the thread is so fine.

There are a few challenges to stitching with a single strand of Blending Filament.  Here are few tips:

• These are very delicate, thin threads so gentleness and patience is a must.

• Use a needle with a large enough eye.  Getting a strand of this thread through the eye of a tiny needle is impossible.

•  Use a length of only 12  - 15 inches and keep a long tail.  Without a long tail, it will keep sliding out of the needle.  You can also try a slip knot and tie it to the eye of the needle however, I don't care for this option.  Once that knot is on the needle, it's difficult to remove.  

• Be gentle with it.  Blending Filament breaks very easily so don't tug on it too much.

With a little patience, beautiful, natural looking spider webs can be created using these gorgeous glittery threads.  Take your time and you'll be thrilled with the results.

Kreinik Blending Filaments are very affordable and come in huge variety of colors.  Be sure to visit Kreinik's website to see what they offer!

How To Assemble A Crazy Quilt - Steps 3 & 4

Steps 3 and 4 in the Crazy Quilt assembly process are both optional.  In the case of my Marie Antoinette quilt, I wanted to sash my blocks with a pretty pink trim..  This has to be done at this point.  If you choose to use trim to sash your blocks, add that now:

I hand sewed the trim on down the seam lines.

Step 4 - Adding Borders

Again, this step is optional.  If you choose to add borders to your crazyquilt, this is how I do it.

First, you'll have to decide on how wide you want your borders.  I wanted 3 inch borders on this quilt and since I'm using 1/2 seam allowances, I cut my fabric strips 4 inches wide.

There are several ways to sew the borders on but I chose the easiest for this quilt.  I added the side borders first and then did the top and bottom borders.

Lay your first border face down on your quilt.  Line up the edges and pin, pin, pin!

Repeat the process on the other side border.  Now you can sew them down.  If you're wondering how to find your 1/4 inch or 1/2 seam allowance when the markings on your sewing machine are covered up by the foundation fabric, what I do is to measure and mark my seam allowance:

I use an air dissolving pen but you can use a pencil if you'd like.  Mark you seam allowance every 2 inches and keep your marks small.

When you have both the side seams sewn down, remove the pins and press your seams.

Next, pin those first 2 borders down onto the foundation fabric, then add your top & bottom border repeating the process:

Again, remove the pins, press your seams and pin those borders down to the foundation fabric:

Trim any excess border fabric and then top stitch the edge of the border to the foundation fabric.  You just want to sew it down along the outer edge.

At this point, I chose to hand sew more of my trim around the seam where the borders meet the quilt blocks:

If there is anything else you would like to sew on to your quilt, now is the time!

In Step 5 & 6, I will show you how to add a sleeve for hanging and how to add the "pretty" back at the same time.

Be sure to see Steps 1 and 2 of my How To Assemble A Crazy Quilt on my Tutorials Page.