Tips for embroidering details on a quilt

I like to embellish with embroidery whether it is a little bit like a lone grasshopper (I've posted a tutorial here),

or oodles of embroidery like that in the border of my quilt There's a Snail in Grandma's Flower Garden.

I've posted a tutorial for embroidering all of these little leafs here.

To start you need supplies:

• embroidery floss (I like DMC floss, especially the variegated colours),
• sharp embroidery needles,
• scissors with a nice sharp point and blades and
• an embroidery hoop (my preferred size is 4").

When I add embroidery details there are some things I do that guarantee that my work will be successful.

• I always works with a hoop,
• I never carry my thread across any distance because it can distort the fabric and the thread will often show through on the front,
• I never leave the hoop in my work if when I'm not sewing,
• I don't rush and
• I make every effort to have the back of my work look as neat as the front.

This is my favourite hoop - it is 4". It keeps my work nice and taught and the size is just right for my hand. Any larger and I have difficulty reaching areas and any smaller and I'm constantly having to repositioning the hoop.

Here is an example of the back and the front. I can now see areas where the floss could use a little trimming close to the knots (this is a piece I started back in 1996 so it is old) but nonetheless it is reasonably neat.

The Back

The Front

Most often I work with two strands of floss. I cut a length of floss and select two strands.  I gently blow at the point where the two strands are separating from the others. I tie a tight double knot at the end and I trim the excess floss as close to the knot as possible without actually cutting the knot.

When I've finished my embroidery I knot off the thread and again trim the floss close to the knot. If however I embroidered a running stitch or a back-stitch I will weave my floss through five or six stitches on the back. Then I tie it off with a single knot and trim the floss.

If I need to travel I can sometimes weave the floss back so I can move from one spot to the next. This leaf is an example; my stitches are shown from the back side.  I started the spine at 1 and stitched to 2. I wove my floss through the stitches as indicated by 3. I embroidered the vein at 4 and then wove my floss back through those stitches as indicated at 5. I repeated the same steps for 6 and 7 and continued on until all of the veins were embroidered.

If I am making French knots and there is space between them, as in the example below, I do not carry my floss from one to the next. Instead I tie off the floss at each French knot. It takes a little more time but the finished product is much nicer. Here are French knots from the back 

and  from the front.

I hope these tips are helpful. I'm not a professional embroiderer but I've learned from mistakes and wanted to share with you what I've figured out on my own. Just a little bit of embroidery can make a quilt special so don't rush it! Just take your time and enjoy watching the design develop under your fingers! I think you might find this post helpful when I release Part 2 of my Soupcon QAL tomorrow! And if you haven't started but are thinking about it, check out Nellie's latest hexagons. If they don't tempt you, nothing will!

Until I post again, happy embroidering!

Karen H