How Outline Quilting Works

There will be occasions when you don’t want to hide your quilting stitches and our next
quilting type is a wonderful example of one such time. Outline quilting will follow all the
scenes on the top layer and if you’ve used to appliqué as a technique, it will really
highlight your work. You’ll soon discover the quilting patterns that suits you best and
many will allow you far more creativity as you progress and you can really do as you
please when you’ve got the hang of it. We’ll now take a look at some examples of
quilting and explain how they have been done.

This is an example of cording or Italian quilting as it sometimes known. Although this is
slightly more advanced, you’ll pick it up very quickly indeed. As before, prepare a quilt
sandwich but this time, we don’t use any wadding because it would detract from the
raised cord design. Italian quilting is purely decorative and not designed for warmth. Pick
a straightforward design as anything too complex would look rather messy. Have a look
at this sample we have here. The design still has detail in it but it’s spaced out to create a
neat and tidy pattern.

Once you’ve chosen your pattern, transfer the design to the back of the piece your
quilting. You can use an embroidery pencil for this so it would wash off easily. All you
need to do then is use running stitch all the way along the design ensuring that the two
parallel lines of stitching remain at about a quarter of an inch apart, roughly six
millimeters in metric.

Once you’ve stitched all the lines around the design, the fun really begins as you need to
thread the cord through the parallel set of lines. Wool is probably the best yarn to use for
the purpose of Italian quilting. However you can get special wadding as you see here,
from your craft supplier. Just make sure you buy a thickness that will fit through the gap.
Use a tap string needle between sizes 18 and 40 which should fit nicely and also give you
a big enough eye to thread the wool into.

Now insert the needle into the gap and start to thread the cord through. All you have to
remember is that once the needle can't be pushed in any further, poke it out of the fabric,
pull it through, and then reinsert it back into the same hole and carry on.

Always do this on the wrong side of the fabric, so if you do make a mistake and can't get
the needles go back down to the same hole, it would not be too noticeable. When
complete, you can of course make a cushion add for a piece like this or a whole quilt if
you wanted something that was totally decorative. While were on the subject of cushions,
this star would be a very good point at which to begin, if you’re looking for a project that
won’t take years to complete.

Classically elegant, this square cushion has a beautiful quilting pattern that was first
designed on paper before being stitched with great precision. The fabric chosen is
intrinsic to the design and would certainly fit into any modern interior no matter how
minimalist. Patchwork does work very well with certain decorative styles especially the
ever popular shabby chic. But generally, it can tend to be consigned to the bedroom.

This cushion just shows how if you give your imagination free ray, the results of quilting
are anything but old fashioned. Also, there’s no need to keep this wonderfully diverse
craft just for quills. You can mix and match it with plenty of other styles adding just a
touch of quilting as an accent. The age of these delightful cushions sets off the piece of
treat and if your looking for a project that it doesn’t too ambitious to get you started, a
small amount of quilting will give you a great sense of satisfaction.

Remember there’s no need to think big if you don’t want to, and you can of course be
even less traditional if you so choose. This closing block is ready for completion so that it
can be framed as a picture. The use of appliqué will be a delight to quilt and with the rose
bud embellishments already in place, this certainly will end up with a very contemporary
feel. Incidentally, the rose buds have been made by cutting circles of fabric which are
then hemmed. A piece of wadding has been placed in the center and the circumference
has been gathered to complete the effect. Nevertheless, if you do get beaten by the
quilting bug and it does happen before you even know it, sooner or later you will want to
tackle a full sized quilt.

Here are four examples that we’ve been looking at through the course of this program in
close up detail. Firstly, this machined quilt has been created with a mixture of traditional
patchwork blocks and appliqué. With teddy bears, ducks and even elephants, it would be
wonderful for a child’s room. Also take note of how carefully the colors have been
matched using pastel shades. Although almost quilts give the impression of being
random, the best once are anything but. So make sure you scrutinized carefully aiming
that you get to see to pick up as many tips and ideas as you can.

Our next quilt has also been machine made. But the shapes on this one are far more
geometric. Look closely and you can see just how immaculate this machine stitching is. It
would be impossible to have stitch so accurately, and of course the strength of the
sewing, would make this work of art from a hard wearing for everyday use. Equally,
notice how much stronger the colors selected are on this occasion. However, the tones
still compliment to each other perfectly and this wouldn’t look out of place in a more
contemporary bedroom.

Moving on to a hand stitched quilt, there’s no denying the fact that this masterpiece
before you nap took a number of years to complete. But the lady, who created it, says she
enjoyed every single stitch and has put it aside to hand down to a grandchild who used to
sit and watch her sewing for hours to an end. The time involved is in part due to the
amount of work that went in to the patchwork top layer. Early, we saw what’s known as
English patchwork with the hexagons made on paint for templates.

By contrast, this patchwork was made using the American style which doesn’t use paper
templates at all. Here are all the left over patches and as you can see, there was an awful
lot of cutting out before the sewing even got started. To stitch the patches together, they
are put right sides face to face and to see missed stitch on the wrong sides. This gives a
flawless finish when pressed out on the right side and makes quilting very easy indeed.

This quilt also demonstrates how very effective it can be to leave the edge of the design
plain for some freehand quilting. And if you look closely, you’ll see patterns that echo of
the style of the entire a piece. In fact, if you look at the back, you can see the stitches
even more clearly and they are just as neat as they are on the front. If this all seems just
too daunting for words, remember that it was basted with a grid as demonstrated earlier
on a much smaller scale and the patterns was simply drawn on the wrong side with an
embroidery pencil, and followed stitch by stitch. And naturally, because this quilt is all
made of cotton, there was no problem at all washing it and of course the guidelines
magically disappeared.