A New Banner Coming Your Way! February Valentine! And a Give-Away........

Prairie Cottage Corner "Banners of the Month"

We are never weary, are we? Well, yes, we are, sometimes, but Sunbonnet Sue is always there to cheer us up and help us forward. In our current campaign to get all of our promised "Banners of the Month" out on the market, we've produced our next one: February.

Here's February's Valentine Banner

Like all the banenrs, the center applique piece is a 12" block, several borders and a simple, pieced corner block. It's made to be a wall hanging, a banner to hang on the porch or to be part of a larger quilt. It's up to you.

We added 1/4" heart buttons to Sue's bonnet, pinafore, pumps and kitty. A small piece of lace trims her pinafore. She's all set for Valentine's Day. Is there a Sunhat Sam in her future? I think so. He's waiting in the wings.

The block is simple and fun to piece. This banner requires just four different fabrics but can be made from scraps, too. You can embellish it any way you wish. You can buy this pattern HERE.

And don't forget to go over to MooseStash Quilting and tell Joan what a wonderful sample of this banner she has made for us! Quilter Cum Laude, yes, indeed. We love you, Joan.

To Enter the Give-Away, just leave a comment on this post of your favorite thing about AUTUMN. The contest is open until 5 PM, Monday PDT, October 20th. The prize will be your pattern of choice from Prairie Cottage Corner.

8 Great Potholders Embroidery Suggestions

Basic Embroidery Stitches for Appliqué

Over the next little while, I’ll be showing you the stitches I use with my appliqué projects.  Our model today is Sunbonnet Sue with her doll.  This is a 6” potholder design from our pattern, “Eight Great Potholders”.

We’ll be looking at and learning about the Blanket or Buttonhole Stitch, Chain Stitch, Lazy Daisy, Stem Stitch, French Knot and Satin Stitch.  In the Sue, above, you can see all but the Satin Stitch used.  I’ll also include some rarer stitches such as the Ribbed Spider and the Bullion Knot.

The first stitch of importance to appliquérs is the Blanket or Buttonhole Stitch.  This is the stitch that makes a nice, protective edge to your appliqué pieces, whether they are turned edges or raw edges with fusible webbing underneath.

Begin the stitch by going down through the appliqué piece about 1/8” to ¼” from the raw edge and coming up right next to the raw edge.  Always go DOWN through the appliqué piece.  Coming UP through the appliqué piece tends to raise it and may cause its position to shift.

To make your next stitch, go down through the appliqué piece again, about 1/8” to ¼” away from the first stitch, holding your working thread so that when you come up through the background piece at the edge of the appliqué, you are making a loop.  Pull the thread firmly (but not too tight) so that the fabric is not pleated or pinched. 

Continue this way until you need to rethread your needle.  To stop, make a stitch and immediately go down through to the back, anchoring your last stitch.  You can make a small knot or weave the remaining thread through your back stitching to tie it off.

 Here are some examples of how to use this stitch.

Here you see the Blanket Stitch in blue along the edge of Sue’s bonnet, in company with the Lazy Daisy and Chain Stitches.

Here you see it used on the tiny head of her doll as well as on her hand and dress.  This embroidery is over two-sided, fusible webbing.  For small, intricate shapes, the webbing works very well, as you can tell.

Here is the stitch used on her shoes in company with a tiny chain stitch.  We used one strand of embroidery floss here, since the shapes are so small.  These potholders bear up well with use but I see a lot of people just hanging them in the kitchen as decorations.  The embroidery does make them a little precious, I think.  I love appliqué with embroidery.

Here is the back of Sue’s dress and a bit of the sleeve with almost all the stitches in view.  They work very well together.

I hope you enjoy using these stitches.  I think I’ll give this pattern away for our next drawing coming up.

Happy Stitching!

Coming Soon!  "Red, White and Blue" 

Patriotic Pieced Quilt

Listen to the music of Anthony Kearns - God Bless America

Don't forget to leave a comment and automatically be entered to win a chance for a free pattern.  Drawings will be held each Tuesday morning, weekly.  This week's pattern is "The Ultimate Apron."

Watch for this new pattern coming soon to 

Prairie Cottage Corner.