This second article on embellishment will look at ways that I have used ribbon, braid and other types of trim in my quilts.  As I mentioned last week, this series was inspired by The Quilter’s Directory of Embellishments by Sally Holman, C&T Publishing 2006.  To read more about this book, click here.

In Part 1, Embellishing Quilts with Decorative Stitching, there was an example of a crazy-pieced heart block where the seam lines were covered with decorative machine stitches.  This heart block makes use of interesting lace and trim to cover the seam lines.

Ribbon
I have used ribbon a couple of times to add a three-dimensional bow to a quilt.  The first example, which I showed you last week, uses two strands of silk ribbon.

The second example uses a wider wire-edged ribbon, which helps the bow to hold its shape. 

From one of the many Baltimore Album books written by Elly Sienkiewicz, I tried the technique of making dimensional roses out of wire ribbon.  The result was a ribbon basket of roses block, which I used to make this cushion.

Weaving ribbon is an interesting technique presented in Sally Holman’s book.  I thought this was a great idea and sat down last week to give it a try.  I pinned ribbon strips of two different colors and two different widths to a padded, portable ironing surface.  Then I wove strips through the other way, leaving a little space in between each ribbon for the background fabric to show through.  Here is my little sample with some fabrics I thought would go nicely.  Stay tuned to see what I make of it!

Couching
Flat lace, ribbon or braid can be appliquéd by hand or straight-stitched by machine.  Rounder or thicker embellishments, such as cord, are best applied by couching.  This also can be done by hand or by machine.

In this sample from my Fabric Mosaic workshop, the edges of the butterfly and the antennae were outlined with a strand of navy blue perle cotton.  The cord was couched by machine using a couching foot (a very worthwhile investment!) and a zigzag stitch.

Here’s a couching story for you:  it took me five tries to couch the cord surrounding the four blocks in the quilt Instruments of Praise.  The first time, I couched the cord onto the quilt top by machine using a zigzag stitch.  Unfortunately, this created a lot of puckering and distortion so I had to remove it.  I tried again, using a wider zigzag stitch and a looser thread tension.  It was better, but not good enough.  On my third try, I couched the cord by hand and this seemed to do the trick.  That was until my friend pointed out to me that the cord might not lie flat after all the quilting was done.  Sigh, off came the cord again.  After the quilting was completed, I sat down to couch the cord again by hand.  With less than 12 inches to go, I ran out of cord!  I must have been using a shorter off-cut without realizing it.  I couldn’t believe I would have to remove it yet again – but five time’s a charm, right?

To create the strings on the lyres and the violins, I decided to use an iridescent black Sulky Sliver thread.  This thread is actually flat – like a thin sliver.  The only way I could figure out to attach it so that it stayed flat and untwisted was to couch it by hand using invisible thread.

Lace
The best example I have of using lace – and a variety of other trim, for that matter – is the quilt Butterfly Kisses.  I made this quilt on commission using baby clothes worn by the daughter of my client.  These lovely little outfits had all kinds of frills that just had to be included within the quilt, one way or another.