To Knot Or Not To Knot

Do you knot or not knot? I thought I'd clear up the mystery as to when knots are appropriate and when they're not. Ha, ha, ha! Okay, enough of the not, knot stuff!

With counted cross stitch, it's generally recommended that the thread tails be woven in behind the stitches on the back. Cross stitch fabric, esp. evenweaves and linens are thin so knots would show through on the front, giving the finished stitched piece a lumpy appearance.

With crazy quilting, I would say that it's a matter of personal choice. For the most part, I knot my threads. With the foundation fabric and all the various surface fabrics, any knots on the back will not show through on the front:



There is one exception to that in crazy quilting. With Silk Ribbon Embroidery, I weave the tails under stitches in the back. I used to knot them. But too many times, while working in other areas of the block, I'd catch that knot and end up pulling the Silk Ribbon, messing up my stitches on the front. It's best to weave those tails under other stitches.

With redwork and outline embroidery, lumps from knots can show through on the front. The choice however, is really up to the stitcher. Most of the vintage embroidered pieces that I've seen at flea markets and antique shops have knots on the back. My own grandmother taught me to knot my threads so I will openly admit, that I knot when I do redwork and outline embroidery:



I hope you find this post helpful. Instead of just posting photos of my stitching, I've been trying to offer you helpful hints along the way.

If you like my Redwork Cat and would like to stitch him, you can find the patterns for him and his friends here.

To Hoop Or Not To Hoop

That is the question that was posed to me last week. I thought for today, I would discuss the pro's and con's of hooping.

The purpose of using a hoop is to keep your fabric tight while you stitch. This prevents bunching and buckling around your stitching.

Be it cross stitch, embroidery or crazy quilting, I always use a hoop, with only one exception in my almost 40 years of stitching. Yes, I am older than I look. Older than I behave too!



My Lucky Crazy Quilt is a 29 inch square whole cloth quilt meaning, it was pieced on one very large piece of fabric. I worked this quilt entirely in-hand and by the time the stitching and embellishing was complete, I was just as crazy as my stitching!

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't just hoop the area I was working on and then move the hoop. The reason for this is that certain fabrics will not recover from the tension of a hoop. Plush fabric such as velvet will be crushed by the hoop and it won't bounce back. Silk and satin will retain the hoop-mark as well. And certainly, once the beads, sequins and buttons start going on, well I'm sure you can imagine that moving a small hoop around on a large quilt would be impossible.



With cross stitch and embroidery, moving the hoop the around is certainly feasible although when possible, I do try to use a hoop that's large enough for the entire design. This isn't always possible but when it is, I see it as a time saver!

With crazy quilting, you most definitely want to use a hoop that your entire block will fit into:



My favorite hoop is a 12 inch Quilter's hoop. Nine inch blocks fit perfectly in this hoop. I've also found that the wooden Quilter's hoops are a better quality hoop than the wooden embroidery hoops.

For my cellphone pouches and ornaments I use a 7 inch round screw type plastic hoop. The one that you see in the photo of my redwork cat.

For projects larger than 9 inch blocks, I have some custom frames that my husband made for me. I think he used a good quality pine which a soft wood. When I attach my block to those, I simply use thumb tacks to hold the block in place. Blocks can be laced on to frames as well but in my opinion, that's a waste of perfectly good stitching time.

If custom needlework frames aren't an option, Michael's Craft Stores carry wooden snap together frames in sets of two and in a variety of sizes. You can mix and match them to create whatever size frame you need for your piece. I have several of these as well and my husband actually glued them together with wood glue which makes them quite sturdy.

Another way of supporting your stitched piece is a style of hoop called Q-Snaps. I have some of these and honestly, I don't care for them. They are so heavy to hold and I've found that they slide around a lot. Whenever I've used them, I was constantly taking my piece out and readjusting it. I don't recommend them but I know there are stitcher's out there who swear by them!

So, in answer to the question I mentioned at the beginning of this post, yes, I do recommend using a hoop. There are times when it isn't an option, as in the case with a large whole cloth quilt. When possible though, you'll be much happier with your final stitched piece if you use one.

Just A Quickie

A quick little post before we head out in -12 degree temps. for breakfast. I finished stitching on this little cat yesterday:



I'll be taking myself a sewing day this week to do the finishing on my Valentine projects. I have one more little Valentine that I'm going to make, one of my little Redwork Cats:



I'm sure I can stitch that up in a few hours.

Kathy asked me what type of fabrics I use on my blocks. Anything and everything Kathy! I use cotton prints and Batiks, silks, satin, velvets, velveteens, panne velvet (heaven help me, it's so stretchy!). I use lace fabrics, drapery and upholstery fabrics, linens, sequined fabrics and anything else that I like. One of these days, I'll post some photos of my stash. Ya'll better set aside a whole day for all those photos to load!

Button Clusters

If you look closely at this block before I started stitching on it, there were some very sharp corners on it:



I find harsh corners like this to be distracting and quite less than attractive. Button clusters are an excellent way to soften those areas:



I used a mixture of new plastic buttons and a few antique glass buttons. I kept it simple. I didn't want the buttons to compete with the umbrella pin so I used white and cream colored buttons. They show up, but blend into the block.

Groups of 3 or 5 buttons work well together for small blocks like this. Choose buttons similiar in size, color and shape. Pick one to sew down first and then sew the remaining buttons down close to the first one. Overlapping them gives the impression of flowers in a garden. You can add a few tiny leaf beads or some crystals to give them the flower effect.

My next project will be this little cat doll. A gift for my mom for Valentine's Day:



Stay tuned to see more seam treatments from my upcoming book.

Soon To Be Discontinued.....

The following designs will be discontinued shortly:













There is one copy of each design available in my Etsy shop. When they're gone, I won't be relisting them. They will be retired permanently.