Embroidery 101: Stitch & Quilt Along

Welcome to the kick off for the Embroidery 101: Stitch & Quilt Along! I am so excited to make a fresh, fun, bright quilt with all of you that incorporates embroidery. Embroidery seems to be one of the current quilting trends, and I'm more than happy to take part. But, it seems that a lot of quilters want to add embroidery to quilts and projects, but don't know where to begin, that's why this is an Embroidery 101 Stitch & Quilt along, because along with fun embroidery designs, I'll be showcasing different stitch tutorials to get your embroidery off to a good start.

The block you see to the left is the first block of the quilt along. I've designed a simple block that will showcase the embroidery, and offer a good sized quilt in the end, without a lot of piecing. The finished blocks are 18" square, and there will be nine total, for a 54" square quilt. However, one could easily complete one block as a wall hanging, or four for a mini quilt, variation is great!

So, today, we're going to start with gathering supplies. For the full sized quilt you will need nine fat quarters or 1/4 yard cuts of fabric, and about 5/8ths yard of a white or off white solid.

I'm using Just Wing It by Momo for Moda. If you're interested in using the same fabrics, then you're in for a treat! We've partnered with Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts and they're offing a kit of the exact fabrics pictured above, as well as 3/4 yard of Moda Bella Solid White. There are only a limited number of kits available, due to the popularity of some of the prints. Click here to get yours!

Here's a better view of the fabrics I've chosen. If you decide to chose different fabrics, I recommend you try to use a variety of different print sizes. Since the blocks will be large and will have larger pieces of fabric, the quilt design will look best with a variety of larger prints mixed in. I also like the color variation, but that is just a personal preference.

I've talked about thread before, and here are the threads I've chosen, Finca Perle Cotton size 8 . I've used it a bit now and am very happy with the choice. I've listed the color numbers above, in case you want to buy/order the same. Otherwise, I'd recommend choosing about nine colors to coordinate with your fabrics. I'm using the Perle cotton because I worry that regular thread may not hold up well to washing, which it would face in a quilt.

And, sampler packs of 10 yards of each thread are also available from Sew Lux Fabric {here}, giving you the option to purchase a starter kit before investing in the entire set {you should be able to make the whole quilt with those threads...but, as I haven't designed all the blocks, I can't make any promises}.

Other supplies: 1/2 yard light-medium fusible interfacing {I'm using Pellon 880F Sof-Shape} for the back of all the white center squares, hoop, needles, and design transfer marker. For more info about those supplies, click here.

More details: I'll have fabric cutting and block piecing instructions next week, then the first tutorials and embroidery pattern the following week. After that, embroidery tutorials and blocks will rotate every other week. I want to give everyone time to complete each block before moving on to the next one {sorry to you speedy stitchers and quilters...one of the reason I always fail at quilt alongs is they are finished before I even start!}.

Practice: You also may want to purchase a small amount {one or two hanks} of regular embroidery thread for practicing any new stitches or portions of the blocks {I did a practice run of the first block - shown above, and I also like to practice some stitches to get a feel for them before I start a block.}

Backing & Binding:  For the 9 block quilt, you'll need about 3 1/4 yards backing for a traditional back.  I am going to try to piece my backing with 1 5/8ths yards and my scraps...but I've yet to make sure it works...  For the binding you'll need 1/2 yard of fabric.

Spread the love: Grab one of our buttons and wear it proudly! Also, the button will link back to the Embroidery 101 index page, which will have an index of links to each post and our approximate timely, so you'll always be able to find the info you're looking for.









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Show & Tell: What's the fun of a quilt along if we don't make new friends and see each other's progress? So, please feel free to join the Flickr group! Also, if you write a blog post about your fabric choice, link up below so we can check it out {there will be a weekly linky for each step of the quilt along!}.

Win, win, win: And, because the ladies at Sew Lux Fabric are so generous, they've also partnered with us for a giveaway to be drawn from the participants who complete their quilt top. Together we're offering six half yards {or 12 fat quarters} of fabric from their shop!

Well, you made it to the bottom of {one of} the longest post in my blogging history...whew! I hope this is as much fun as I am imagining it to be. So go shopping or get that fabric out and choose some thread, and let's get started!

Don't forget to show and tell in our Flickr Group! Did you blog about the quilt along, your fabric selection, or threads? Share your post here:

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