November 2, 2017

Big Stitch Accent Quilting Tutorial

UPDATE! For tips and tricks on hand quilting you can also visit my Instagram highlights where I talk about the accent quilting on my Swoon quilt. Click through past the FAQs and you'll see it.

Hello and happy Friday to you! I am excited to share with you my project for Minki Kim's first line for Riley Blake called Dear Diary.


I made a baby quilt featuring a panel of Minki's adorable drawings in the middle, with rows of squares on point. I do not have a pattern ready for it at this time, but I will show you how I do the big stitch hand quilting in a minute! If you stick around to the end there's a giveaway too.


There are several things I love about this fabric range. The first is the heart and soul evident in its making. Minki's love for life and beautiful artistry are so inspiring to me! In sewing with her fabric, I feel like I was able to get to know her better, and the happy, talented lady that she is. Look at these cute little sketches, with the phrases "Stay True" and "Shine Your Light". So uplifting!


Another thing I love about this line is the shade of pink it uses. It's absolutely perfect- warm and not too pale, and just dreamy. The dark blue is another favorite shade.



I also really enjoyed the text prints, which come in 3 colors. They have little punches of bold lettering in contrasting colors with words like "respect", "trust", and "honesty". What great little messages of love and life lessons to add to a baby quilt.


I'll show you briefly how I like to add hand quilting to my projects. First, I always machine quilt it. I like the layers of interest you get when you mix the two, plus then it's already well basted for you. In this case I did not quilt it myself, it was done on a longarm by Starlit Quilts, my go to gal! The design is called Abacus and I just love it on this quilt. Star is such a sweetheart and even sewed pieces of fabric from her stash on the sides when the backing I sent wasn't quite big enough. What a trooper! Thank you Star!


Now for the tutorial. As with anything, I don't think there is one right way to hand quilt, but I'm sharing how I like to do it.


Materials:
  • quilting ruler 
  • disappearing ink fabric pen to mark 1/4" away from the outer seams. This pen has one end that disappears on its own after time, and one that disappears when you spray with water or dab with a damp cloth. I use both.
  • long, thicker cotton darning needle with larger eye to help your thick thread get through all those layers
  • any thick thread like 6 strand embroidery floss or perle cotton. I got a big rainbow pack and use it all the time.

Tips!
If you're having trouble getting the thick thread into the needle, get it wet (I put it in my mouth!) and cut a clean end, then pinch it between your fingers and push the eye of the needle onto it. Stitch along the marked line, with the actual stitches being larger than the spaces in between. Go through as many times as your needle length will allow. The more you do in one swipe, the straighter they will be. I tried to do 6 stitches per side, though some had 7 and one had 5. It's hand stitching so it won't be perfect, that's the whole point! Don't worry about the needle going straight up and down perpendicularly through the layers. Keep it parallel to the quilt and if it doesn't go all the way through to the backing on every stitch, that's ok! Sometimes you have to tug a little to pull it through.



My ends are knotted twice and sewn into the binding on both sides of the quilt. I know there's a way to hide ends in the middle, but I'm not that tricky yet! Pretty sure it involves magic :) And for the record, the back side of my hand stitching always looks much different, and quite frankly much worse, than the front. I usually try to pick very busy backings when I do this, or stick to pillows where it won't be seen. 


I used Bonnie and Camille Basics in navy scallop for the binding and Riley Blake Cotton Shade in Granite for the backing, which hid my tiny, wonky backside stitches perfectly. Can you spot them?


Now, for the giveaway! One lucky winner who leaves a comment on this post will receive 3 prizes- thread from Aurifil, Minki's book from C&T Publishing, and embroidery scissors from Warm Crochet.


Thank you for stopping by! Big thanks also to Minki and Riley Blake for having me. Be sure to check out the other projects from the showcase that happened all week. There were some amazing things!

Oct 30 Monday        -    Samantha Dorn    @aqua_paisley
Oct 31 Tuesday       -    Saija                      @saija_elina
Nov 1  Wednesday  -    Sue Daley             @suedaleydesigns
Nov 2  Thursday      -    Ayda Algin           @cafenohut
Nov 3  Friday           -    Alli Jensen           @woodberry_way

50 comments :

  1. Darling quilt, My sister often mixed machine and hand quilting, she is great at the big stitch qui.ting, me not so much.

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  2. Sweet quilt, and I like the letter fabric in red. I have never machine quilted and never used big stitch quilting but it looks good on your quilt, maybe I should give it a try

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  3. Such a lovely quilt in great fabrics! Love the combination of the quiltings! A great idea!

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  4. I always struggle with my hand quilting because my back is not as perfect as my front, so I use it only in pillows. Your quilt is gorgeous and that fabric is lovely.

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  5. This is beautiful, and really sets of the lovely fabric. Love the machine and hand quilting done on the quilt. The whole quilt is gorgeous!

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  6. Wow this is a beautiful quilt. I love hand stitching so this is something I must try. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  7. Such a nice detail! Pop of extra color with hand quilting embellishment. Also love your First Snow pattern.

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  8. Great quilt! Thanks for the tips on hand quilting...I would have never thought of marking for a 'top stitch' type straight line of quilting. Makes perfect sense. sjvonfumetti at yahoo dot com

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  9. I love this quilt! It's so inspiring, I really like panels and larger prints, but don't really know how to use them to their best advantage. This collection is really special, thank you for sharing.

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  10. Such a cute quilt. I recently purchased a packet of the large needles
    To use for the Big Stitch quilting. This is perfect for trying them out.
    Thanks for the tutorial! Love the fabrics !!!!

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  11. Alli, I love your innovative use of the panel, it's fantastic! A great project and I can't wait to check out the book and fabrics in person. :)

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  12. Cute quilt, I love that panel going through the middle. The fabric is beautiful.

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  13. Beautiful Quilt............I never would have thought to use hand quilting with machine quilting. I love the machine and hand quilting you have done. I love the way you used the panel. Thanks for sharing all your tips on this quilt. It is a darling quilt.

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  14. Cute quilt and pretty fabrics! I'll have to try the hand quilting. It is a lovely addition to the quilt besides the machine quilting which I love. Thank you for the generous giveaway.

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  15. SO NEAT! LOVELY PROJECTS!HAND QUILTING IS SPECIAL TOO!THANKS FOR SHARING!
    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  16. I love the quilt. it is so simple and so dramatic. love the big stitch also. thanks for sharing.

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  17. What fun fabric, and what a beautiful quilt!

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  18. This is lovely! I hope you'll make up the pattern for us! Thanks for sharing!

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  19. This quilt is beautiful, love the fabric and also the addition of hand quilting with machine quilting, great tut.

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  20. This quilt is just adorable. I love the extra special touch that the hand stitching gives to a quilting project. So appreciate the big stitching tutorial as well.

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  21. Lovely quilt! Thanks for all the detailed instructions, I'm a beginner and I'm always looking for clear tutorials.

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  22. This quilt is the best! I love the pearl cotton larger stitches, I just don't take the time to do them.

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  23. Such a lovely quilt, and great hand quilting tips!

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  24. Such a creative use of a panel! Lovely colors.

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  25. Thank you for the hand quilting tips! I love how it looks mixed with machine quilting. This fabric is so pretty!

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  26. This Quilt is so cute, I would really want to this, and when you get the pattern, sure would be nice to have. Good Job on this baby quilt.

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  27. I love your baby quilt and hand quilting! Absolutely darling and the fabric is to die for :). Would LOVE to win!

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  28. I just love how this turned out Ali. I like your work. And love the hand quilting. I'm always too scared to try. Great tips! Thank you!

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  29. I’ve never tried this but you make it look easy, and it sure is pretty! It’s now on my to do list! Thanks!

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  30. Such a lovely quilt and I do love how the panel is center stage telling the story. Beautiful work.
    Glenis

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  31. The hand quilting accents the quilt beautifully. Thanks for sharing.

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  32. I think your quilt is so charming and I really love “big Quilting” , thanks for the giveaway and your tips

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  33. This is such a pretty quilt. And I'm so relieved to hear you'd hand stitching doesn't look the same on the back. I thought it was just me!

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  34. I absolutely love this fabric, and your quilt is perfect for the prints to show off Minki's adorable panel of her drawings. Thanks for sharing your tips on hand stitching quilts. I like to do this also, just a small bit to add a little extra love as I create a quilt for a special person.

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  35. Love the quilt with the big stitch quilting, Thanks for the close up pics. Beautiful work!

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  36. Great idea. I would never have thought of adding hand quilting to a machine-quilted quilt.

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  37. I love the look of your hand quilting along with the machine quilting! I need to try this on a pillow I'm working on - just need to get over the fact that it will be imperfect and know that's ok.

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  38. Love the fabric and your quilt! Thank you for always inspiring me!

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  39. Love your quilt! Keeping all the 'meaningful" parts together is a great idea!

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  40. Your quilt is so cute! I've wanted to try hand stitching on a quilt for some time now and this makes me even more anxious to give it a try.

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  41. I absolutely love your quilt and I hope you will have a pattern for it. I am inspired to try this pattern and you have showcased Minki's fabric perfectly! Thank you

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  42. How adorable is this? Even I could pull this off. The sweet panel used in the middle is just what a baby blanket should come from. Light and love. I love the simple color scheme Nd the innocence of the pattern.

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  43. What a stunning quilt!! Wow!! I love how yo combine the fabric so much!! What a nice brand to try. Thank you for sharing!

    instagram online

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  44. You inspire me! I’m interested in big stitch quilting, I haven’t tried it yet, but I bought some pearl cotton so I can try. When buying needles why darning? I thought embroidery needles are what we are supposed to use. Keep doing what you’re doing I love it all!♥️

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  45. I love big stitch quilting! Your quilt is beautiful!

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  46. Love the quilt and am anxious for the pattern to come on your site. Already have my material for the panel. Winnie the Pooh print. I cannot figure out how to put the panel in with the points. But hopefully your instructions will help me. Love the big hand stitching. May pull out some of my baby quilts I am making and add to them.

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