Another Fine Mess: Globbing: What’s on Your Floor?

‘

Dragonflyl Mountain

What’s on my studio floor? Thread! I collect large wads of thread ends. It’s just what happens when you’re embroidering by machine. It’s everywhere, but it pools it places on the floor. It is pretty It seems like a waste, but like most things, it doesn’t have to be.

Threads

Let’s be clear about this. You can save all your thread ends, if you want. But they aren’t all the same. The threads you sewed your jeans with are probably not going to be pretty in an art quilt, unless you want a pretty rough looking texture. I save thread ends that are either poly or rayon, or more wonderfully thick#8 metallic like Candelight, Razzel Dazzel or Glamour. Or Sliver like threads. For me, this is all about the shine.

Nesting Ladies

What does that do for your quilt? It makes a floor of it’s own. Nature is messy. There’s all kinds of bits of things, on the forest floor, or at the bottom of a pond. A nice blob of thread looks a lot like that. It puts in a bottom without a hard line.

So you have this wonderful glob of thread. It’s pretty. You want it on your quilt. How are you going to stick it on?

Angelina moon

You can glue it. Steam a Seam will hold it down. You can trap in angelina fiber. It’s a beautiful addition to a moon.

You still have to stitch it down. If you try to just stitch it down with a darning foot, it will trap your foot and make you crazy. It makes me crazy.

My best answer is to put something over it. Some folk use tulle. It dulls the colors. I prefer using a corn starch film, like Aquafilm or Solvy. I pin it over the glob, and stitch it down. When you’re finished, spritz it with water until it disappears. Problem solved.

Hunters Moon 2

Globbing makes a beautiful addition to a quilt. And it uses up all that pretty thread.

All About the Line: Choosing the Right Stitch

For those of us who use a lot of embroidery, there are really two go-to stitches: straight stitch and zigzag. There are fancy embroidery stitches, but those two hold up the bulk of my work. The other stitches just don’t maneuver as well. You either want exactly what it can do or it won’t do what you want.

That’s ok. The variations between are vast and wonderful. The angle which your fabric goes through the machine controls how wide your stitch is and how the stitch itself is angled.

But you don’t often see people mix straight stitch and zigzag. There are reasons why, but we’re quilters, aren’t we? There isn’t any rule.

I was working on this batch of butterflies that I intend for a series I’m working on. They were meant to be black and white, although color always creeps in. The blue and purple you’re seeing at the edges is the felt I used to stabilize them. I did that on purpose, to make the lace patterns more visible.

Part of the fun was picking through my lace collection. I went through my black and whites and found some special things.

The border of this leaf lace made great wings.

But back to stitch types. This isn’t sexy but it’s the basics. Zigzag can go at a right angle through your machine and it makes a bulky solid stitch. At an angle, it makes a smooth outline. And if you run it straight either left or right, it makes a stitch that looks like a straight stitch, with some of the stitches missing. And then there’s the straight stitch.

Straight stitch won’t outline. It won’t make a bulky stitch without a lot of work. It is lyrical and can go any direction without looking scattered.

Zigzag covers edges well. It outlines well. It puckers up like it wants a kiss. And the out to the side angle fills in space very well.

How does that work out. Here’s some details and full shots to show you.

Pure zigzag

The zigzag stitching outlines really well. I’ve used it for shading inside the wings as well. It’s a feathered kind of stitch that gives a loose line.

I

I used a straight stitch to feather the wings on this bug. I love the smoothness of the stitch.

The lines on these wings were done with that zigzag out to the side. The line is a bit jagged but more pronounced.

When do you use zigzag?

When you want a strong border.

When you want to fill in a space .

When you aren’t worried about distortion.

When do you use straight stitch?

When you have an open space where the straight stitch will show next to the zigzag,

When you are worried about distortion.

When you want a clean and simple line.

Of course, you are the one who makes those decisions for your work. And everything does work. Play with it. See what you like.

Spring Dyeing!

Years ago, I did a very bad thing. I had dyed fabric all day and I went to the pool. You don’t get pretty dye on yourself when you dye. And it all soaks through to the skin. You mix all those colors and you get brown. Mostly down your belly and your tits.

So I was walking around with nothing but a towel over my shoulder when a very kind person looked at me and said in horror, “You don’t have to put up with that.” I looked at her and said, “Actually, I do. I’m dyeing.” I did explain to the poor soul afterwards.

I’m a fabric snob. Sorry about that. I’ve been dyeing my own fabric for my projects since I was ten. It was Rit Dye and we won’t talk about the quality of the fabric, but I understood even then that someone else’s fabric isn’t mine.

Don’t get me wrong. I love prints. I can get drunk on color and add good design to it and I’m a sloppy drunk. You can tell by the cut bits of fabric on the floor.

But I want the colors and intensity of my fabric. And I really hate fabric repeats unless they help your piece along. I’m probably going to dye as long as I quilt.

With the stimulus check (Bless those congress critters!) I’m planning a dye day. I need a new batch for me, but I’ve always got space in that batch for someone who might like to order a box of fabric to choose from, or someone who wants something special dyed just for them. A batch of light source fabric in 3/4 yards? A selection of actually not boring browns. Some deep lake or pond scum fabric. All available.

I’ve also dyed cotton/hemp/bamboo/rayon clothes for people. There are those of us who should never wear white. There is inevitably a day when it is white no more. At which point, I dye it and wear it till the threads fall apart. I can do that for you too.

If you would to either make a general fabric order, or order something special for a project, let me know. I’ll dye for you.

The Space Outside the Quilt: Thinking about Negative Space

Floral Arrangement 25

Most of the time we take in what’s happening inside a piece of art. That’s where our focus is. But for irregularly shaped pieces especially, the edge creates a space outside that frames the quilt much more than a border does. The outside is the negative space.

Jump at the sun

It’s not like the space did something wrong or has a bad attitude. Negative space is the area around an image. It’s not in the piece or the hanging. But it affects everything about it

All Time is Spiral In a Garden

.Why? I think largely because as we walk in and approach a hanging piece of art, the first thing we see is the shape around it. It’s the most distinct thing. You’ve seen works jammed together where you can’t keep one from the other. Ignoring negative space is like putting a gilded monstrosity picture frame around a simple piece of beauty and joy. It’s not a help.

Do I think about the negative space when I’m quilting? Not so much. I’m so involved in including the parts that are important even if they go over the edge. It’s when I’m cropping a quilt or putting it on the wall to see it properly that the negative space pops into view. And if you put pieces together, say on a wall, it’s a make or break item.