Our Newest Patterns Out Now! AND A PRIZE GIVE-AWAY!!!

Great New Embroidery Patterns from Prairie Cottage Corner. Win one Free.....

Yes, we've been very quiet out here on the prairie! I've been drawing and drawing and drawing, which is why you haven't heard from me until now. I almost missed our February visit! See below for how to enter the give-away.

Look! Here are the results.....

First....

"Valentine Sunbonnet Sue"

Here's a close-up of one of the block patterns:

And "Prairie Pioneer Girls"......

And a detail from the patterns......

And, third, "Easter Egg Hunt"......

With a detail from the pattern set.......

These patterns are traceable and available on Etsy as physical or digital patterns and on Craftsy as digital. All are $5 each. They're good for embroidery, crewel, applique', fabric painting, needlepoint, tee-shirt art, quilt blocks and all kinds of linens.

To enter and win your choice of one of these patterns, just leave a comment and answer the question: 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SPRING?

I think my favorite thing is warm days and daffodils....well, that's two things, isn't it? There are more, actually, but I won't bore you with them here. Contest ends Friday, March 4th at 5 PM.

Let's celebrate! I'm kicking up my heels (so to speak....I can't really kick them up anymore, but.....oh well, it's all in the mind, anyway) !!!!

"Working the Stem Stitch in Embroidery"

It’s important, when using this stitch on appliqué, that you try to stitch through all layers, not just the top layer.  If you are stitching through just two layers, it’s easy.  More than that, will be harder, but try to go as deep as you can.  The stem stitch is great for, um, making stems….on plants and flowers….and little vines.  It’s also great for outlining almost anything, especially appliqué piece edges.  It’s great for “drawing” with thread to describe details of a piece such as how you see it in these pictures of the “Wilkommen”, from our pattern of the same name.   

 

   

It makes a nice twisted thread line on the surface of the piece.  Here’s how it’s done.

When I teach a class, I make up little samplers for the participants out of some simple materials.  I make each student an embroidery “hoop” out of tag board; two circles, basically, about 6” in diameter.  I staple these to opposites sides of a piece of white cotton cloth and draw some lines on it for them to follow.

Most any needle will do, but if you plan to continue to embroider with your appliqué, you will use a couple of different needles quite a lot.  The needle on the left is an embroidery needle.  The one on the right, is an appliqué needle. 

 Notice the size of the eye.  The embroidery needle has a large eye, which makes it good for using varying amounts and sizes of thread.  I usually use two strands, but for work that needs more bulk, up to six strands can be managed. 

By contrast, the appliqué needle is thin with a tiny eye, making it useful for working a single strand of strong thread in tiny stitches needed for the blind stitch used by most stitchers to anchor appliqué pieces.  It goes through several layers of fabric without too much trouble.  It’s also a little flexible, which is useful for maneuvering.  More on appliqué, itself, in another session.

"Oh, What a Tangled Web..."

To begin, one of the most frustrating problems for beginners is that of getting one or two strands of floss out of a skein without tangling up the whole thing. Here's how to overcome that little problem.

Pull about 18” of six-strand floss out from the skein and snip it off.  You don’t want to sew with a longer length  than this because it will wear out and break before you ever get down to the end of it.  Beside that, it tangles horribly.

So once the six-strand length is cut, hold the thread in your left hand, near the end you will thread through your needle, and pull one strand straight up and away from the bunch, holding back the strands that gather as the strand is pulled, with your other hand.  Lay the strand aside and smooth the remaining strands out straight again.  Then, pull another strand out the same way.  We will be using two for this project so that is all you will need here.  But, even if there are only two strands left of the hank, you still must separate them in this same way so they come untwisted from one another.

Moisten, trim and thread the two strands through the eye of the needle.  Always thread the end that came out of the skein or off the spool, first, through your needle.  Thread has a slight “nap” to it, according to how it is twisted during spinning.  Using the right end will prevent additional tangling and help your thread to be your friend and not your enemy.

For this exercise, you can make a knot in the end of the strands, if you like.  Later on, I’ll show you how to weave your thread ends into the back of your embroidery so that the back is smooth and almost as pretty as the front.  For appliquéd quilting, though, the back is never seen in the final product so knots are okay.

Bring the thread and needle to the front on the line of travel.

Insert the needle about 1/8” to 1/16” from the start point and bring it back up in the same hole made by bringing the thread to the front.

Tug the stitch firm and hold the working thread down below the line of travel.

Make your next stitch as before.

Continue on until you have finished the line or run out of thread.  Before you run out of thread, always be sure you have enough to take to the back of the work and weave through or make a knot.

Here is the back of the piece we just stitched.  This is how the back of the stem stitch looks.

Weave your remaining thread under the stitches on the back of the piece 6 or 7 times….enough to hold it and keep is from undoing itself.  Or just make a couple of half-hitch knots through the first stitch, if the back is not to be seen.

This is how the finished woven fix looks when done.  Snip off your thread close to the work….closer than I’m showing here, so the ends don’t show in the front as a shadow on the white background.

"Using the Stem Stitch on Curves"

The stem stitch works well on curves but I like it to have the same look on an inside curve as it does on an outside curve.  Draw an “S” on your sample fabric about 2” tall.  When you look at it, the first curve I am stitching on this “S” is an outside curve.  Holding the thread to the outside of the curve makes it lie down very nicely and it holds the line of travel very nicely.  But when you go around the other curve, at the top of the “S”, the stitch doesn’t look quite as good and doesn’t describe the line of travel quite as well.  I call the upper curve of the “S”, the inside curve, just for the sake of this demonstration.

To stitch the  inside curve (below), move your thread above the line of travel just before you begin the curve and continue as before, all the way to the end of the curve.  The transition is nearly invisible in the line of the stitch, and the inside curve looks as smooth as the outside curve.

The finished “S” with both curves lying quite smooth and sweet.  End of lesson.  Now, you can stem stitch to your heart’s content!!!

By the way, I will be giving away a copy of

 the "Eight Great Potholders" pattern this 

week to someone whose name we draw 

from our readers who leave a comment on 

this post by Midnight, PST, Monday, 

March 12th, 2012.

Here is a sampling of each potholder figure.....four are Sunbonnet Sue and four are Sunhat Sam.  These patterns can be used as quilt blocks as well as potholders.

To leave a post, just click on "COMMENTS", below.  Be sure and leave your name, so I can find your email address in my contacts list.  If you are not in my contacts list, you can email me your information by going to Prairie Cottage Corner using the link at the top right of this page.

Happy Stitching!!!

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!

"Simply Sue" - A great way to

 welcome SPRING!

Don't forget to leave a comment.  When you do, you are automatically entered for a chance

 to win a free pattern (below).

Yes, I said SPRING!  It's high time we looked  Old Man Winter in the eye and said it:  SPRING! SPRING! SPRING! SPRING!

So there!  I've put our "Simply Sue" pattern on sale this week at 30% off, in celebration of the Spring that must surely come soon.  That's a savings of $3.00.

Here's the "Simply Sue" quilt hanging in The Quilt Crossing in Odessa, WA

The pattern is really simple - you can do as much or as little embellishment as you want.  I like embroidery, so use it for all the small things like the shoes, flowers and accessories.

Here, I used some fabric pens to "paint" the baby doll face and blanket.  I added some eyelet for the petticoat and hat; and embroidery for the flower.  It's fun.

I hope you will try this pattern for yourself.  You can do all kinds of things with it.  Here it is in pastels AND crayon colors:

                                  

Happy Stitching - Visit Prairie Cottage Corner Store to buy this pattern.

"A Valentine for Your Stitching Friends"

Valentine’s Day is coming up fast.  It’s the after-Christmas bright spot, in my view, so I make the most of it.  I still have some red candles left over from Christmas, for a romantic dinner for two.  More about that, later.

Your friends who stitch need Valentines, too.  Here’s one that will last a while and remind someone they are special and loved.

This is our newest pattern for a little needle case we call “Heart Etui”.  It takes a few hours to make…….just a few.  It’s about 5” x 5” all in all and consists of two hearts hinged on one side and tied on the other.

I added appliquéd leaves and a flower to the front but you could add whatever decoration you like such as ruched flowers, fussy-cut pieces or yo-yo's.

I cut the fabric pieces out using freezer paper and ironed them to the wrong side of the various fabrics (cotton setting, at least; no steam; 5 seconds), and added a ¼” seam allowance.

 I quilted the batting onto the front and back of the etui so the stitching would show on the outside.

 Each of the three leaves and the six petals were finger-pressed to the back side of the freezer paper and basted all around, except for the bottom inside, which would be under other pieces.  It takes a little planning to figure out how much NOT to baste.  You can see what is needed by, first, laying the pieces out as they will appear in the finished product.

I added the leaves to the front, first pinning, then blind stitching them in place.  I trimmed the inside ends of them, removed the basting, and pulled out the freezer paper

 I laid out the petal pieces to see the order of them and began pinning and blind stitching them in place, starting with the bottom-most petal.

I left the inside ends of the pieces open and removed the freezer paper from there.  Once the basting threads are out, it’s easy to pull the paper out.

Inside, I added a pocket that buttons shut.  Behind the pocket is a space for little scissors, held in by a ribbon.  I used gross grain ribbon for this.  It’s kind of wide, but it wears very well.  Satin ribbon is pretty, but wears out after constant use.  I had some  novelty buttons, as you can see, which add a little whimsy to the effort.

I embroidered the needle pad before attaching it to the inside heart pieces.  All the additions were made before the fronts and insides were sewn together.  You can add any message you like.  Print one out on your computer in a font you like, and trace it onto the pad.

 I added French Knots and Stem Stitching for detail on the flower and leaves.

 The Heart Etui is easy to slip into a purse or bag and take along with you.  You can sew while you wait for an appointment.  I keep several different needle cases with me and have each one fully equipped.  Since I do a lot of appliqué, I can keep my little project in a tote or a baggy with the etui, and sew when time allows.


You can purchase this pattern at Prairie Cottage Corner today.

Sunbonnet Sue is alive and well at Prairie Cottage Corner.  Please visit and see our new quilt patterns and selections.  There's a SALE going on now, too, in our catalog store.  Visit often, please, and tell us about your latest adventures in quilting with Sunbonnet Sue, quilting, applique and other needle adventures.