Last week, I wrote about a new book that I recently added to my library:  The Quilter’s Directory of Embellishments by Sally Holman, C&T Publishing 2006.  You’ll have to buy the book to see the amazing and inspiring ways that Sally embellishes her quilts, as well as to follow the step-by-step instructions for each technique.  But reviewing her book has inspired me to write a series of articles on ways that I have embellished some of my quilts.

Technically, to embellish means to beautify; to increase the beauty of something by adding ornaments or decorations.  The phrase “adding ornaments or decorations” implies that there is something else there to begin with.  Sometimes I have used a particular technique exclusively to create a quilt, so I’m not sure if that qualifies as embellishment in the strictest sense.  Nevertheless, I hope you will be inspired with some good ideas over the next few weeks for embellishing your quilts.

Hand Embroidery Stitching
Before I discovered quilting, I did a fair bit of hand embroidery.  I have come to realize that my background in various other needle arts was an excellent training ground for becoming a quilter and learning new quilting techniques.  When it comes to embellishing with hand embroidery stitches, the two stitches I have used most often are the blanket stitch and the stem stitch.

In this wall quilt, the snowmen were appliquéd using fusible web and the edges were finished with a blanket stitch using black embroidery floss.

In the award-winning quilt Instruments of Praise, musical instruments were hand appliquéd partially onto a cream background fabric and partially over a circle of gold silk fabric.  I auditioned the instrument fabric on my design wall, not realizing at the time that silk can look quite different depending on the lighting.  It wasn’t until the first block was stitched that I realized the instruments blended right into the silk in certain lights!  The solution?  Outlining each instrument with a stem stitch using brown embroidery floss.

Machine Embroidery Stitching
Nowadays, of course, our sewing machines can produce a myriad of decorative stitches.  Would it surprise you to learn I still only use a couple of them?  When it comes to embellishing with machine embroidery stitches, the blanket stitch and the satin stitch are my two main standbys although I have experimented with others.

In this miniature-size wall quilt, the fused appliqué patches are outlined in a blanket stitch using matching-colored machine embroidery thread.

Satin-stitching in a coordinating-colored thread sets off these strip-pieced leaves nicely,

and this crazy-pieced heart features a variety of decorative machine stitches.

To outline stitch by machine, the trick is to build up three or four layers of straight stitching.  This will give the appearance of a hand stem stitch or chain stitch, as I’ve done to embellish the pumpkin in the quilt Great is Thy Faithfulness.

Embroidery
Did you notice that in all of the examples so far, the embroidery stitches fell on a seam line?  What about using an embroidery motif to embellish a quilt?  In the quilt Heart’s Desire, I hand embroidered the center sewflake using a stem stitch and embroidery floss.

Sewing machines with embroidery attachments offer amazing possibilities for embellishing quilts.  I must confess that I use mine sparingly and can only come up with this photo of a quilted cushion as an example.

Embellished Quilting
I think this is a great idea:  using decorative stitches as quilting stitches.  I remember one of my early quilting teachers used to zig-zag her raw-edge fusible appliqué through all three layers thus saving a step, but I’m not sure if zig-zag stitching would qualify as embellishing!  I tried using a curvy decorative machine stitch on this baby quilt and was very pleased with the result.

Using a decorative stitch to finish a quilt binding also works well.  The stitching goes through all the layers, like quilting, but also covers the seam line.

Enhancing Printed Fabrics
The quilting fabrics available to us these days are absolutely gorgeous.  I often think many of them are such works of art that cutting them up for patchwork would be a shame!  So why not let them stand alone and just enhance them with a few embellishments?  That’s what I did with this lily fabric – just added a few beads, some quilting, and a fabric frame – but I see now I could have done a lot more with decorative stitching.

Sally Holman has many other decorative stitching ideas that I would like to try.  She uses fancy hand embroidery stitches, like the herringbone stitch, the chevron stitch and the feather stitch, and uses them on patchwork seams!  I am quite intrigued with the idea of using insertion stitches as a way to join together mini-quilts, and I see many more possibilities for enhancing printed fabrics.  So many techniques, so little time!