Prague Posy Tablerunner Part 2

Here are the pictures I took as I completed appliqueing Prague Posy.

I stitched the pink and purple accent pieces in a 100 weight Invisifil Thread by Wonderfil in purple.  It accents the piece nicely I think without taking too much away from the print.

Here I've added the small circles I used a lighter green on the small green circles to try to make them stand out from the other lime green fabric.  I'm happy with how it looks, but next time I think I'll darker in thread color instead of lighter.  I've also added the stems of the flowers.

Now the large circles in the center of the flowers are added.  I used a matching thread because I didn't want the thread to stand out.

Here is the finished applique.  I love the way the dark blue circles help tie everything together.  Originally there was going to be one circle connecting the two stems, but I decided to add two and I'm glad I did because I think it makes it more interesting.

Here is a a closeup of the completed Prague Posy.  Now I get to decide how to quilt my table runner!

Hope you all had a fantastic winter holiday!

Suzy

Blog Quilt #3 - Size 60, 80, and 100 Thread

Sometimes I like to use really fine thread to blanket-stitch with.  I use it when I want a really fine line or when I really don't want the thread to show.  You can tell that the thread in the far right picture is really fine.

The thread on the left is YLI 60/2 cotton thread.  The 60/2 means it's a 60 weight thread and it's made of two pieces of thread twisted together.  The thread in the middle is Wonderfil 80 weight Deco-bob.  It's shiny and great and very thin.  The thread on the far right is Wonderfil 100 weight Invisifil polyester thread.  It's very fine and wonderful to work with.  

The picture above shows all the different weights I used in this project.  40 is on the left, then 50, then 60, then 80, and finally 100 weight.  You can tell the difference in thickness.  It will be nice to have a sample to look at when I'm choosing threads for projects!

Suzy

Applying What I've Learned

In the course of writing this blog I have learned a lot about thread selection for blanket-stitch applique.  I have learned what to use when I want something to recede and what to use when I want something to stand out.

Receding: thin or flat (not shiny)
Use a thread that is flat and not shiny.  I would recommend cotton for this.  You can also use something really skinny so it leaves a lighter line line InvisaFil 100 weight polyester thread by WonderFil Threads or Bottom Line 60 weight polyester thread by Superior Threads.  Both of these threads are thin.

Standing Out: off in color, shiny
Use a thread that is slightly off in color (lighter makes it pop more than darker) OR use a thread that is an accent color in the fabric instead of the main color.  It also really makes things pop when you use a really shiny thread.  There are many, many threads that have great shine.  I like Fufu Threads, Deco-Bob by WonderFil Threads, Glide by Fil-Tec, and just about any rayon thread out there.

Here is a block that I did after gaining this knowledge.  I used it to make my choices.

The first pieces I put on when building this block are the outer petals and the accent piece (top) on the middle petal.  In this case, they were both yellow.  I knew that I wanted the top piece to have a thread that didn't stand out, so I used Gutermann polyester thread because it doesn't have a lot of shine.  The other yellow pieces that had more print I knew I wanted to use the darker shade of yellow so the thread stood out more.  I also chose a shiny thread to make them pop.  I used Madeira 40 weight Rayon Thread.

Then I added the dark blue piece with the yellow and orange dots.  If I'd used a yellow or orange thread they would've popped those colors.  However, I really wanted the piece to be blue.  If it had been orange the orange thread would've run into the orange petals and created a line connecting them which I didn't want to see.  If I'd used yellow it would've bled into the top yellow accent piece which again wasn't what I wanted.  So I settled on blue.  I used Fufu Thread which has a nice sheen to it and was really, really dark blue.

Then I added the orange petals.  I knew I wanted them to stand out.  There is a slight variation in color to the batik so I went with the darker of the orange and used Deco-Bob by WonderFil threads which has a nice sheen to it.  I am happy with the results because the slightly darker color of the thread pops out which is what I wanted it to do.

Then I added the two dots.  I stitched the red dot in Deco-Bob by WonderFil threads because it was shiny and slightly off in color which makes it stand out.  The dot was a challenge because it was a pale peachy-orange color which is hard to find.  I used a Glide by Fil-Tec thread that I had because it was the only color that complemented the fabric at all.

Now you know why I chose the threads I did!  Happy appliqueing!

Suzy

Wonderous WonderFil Weights

I have used a lot of WonderFil InvisaFil 100 weight polyester lately.  I enjoyed it.  But it got me to wondering what would happen if I tried using thicker thread instead.  I have two sampler packs of Wonderfil Spagetti 12 weight cotton thread that I bought once upon a time in Houston.  I decided it was time to take off their wrappers too!

My question I wanted to know for this block was this:  what do the thinnest and thickest threads (that will go through the needle and don't have to be bobbin drawn) that I own look like in the same block?

I started with adjusting my machine for Spagetti thread.  I put in a size 100 topstitch needle (it was the largest I had and the thread wouldn't go through a size 90 microtex needle).  I grabbed my spare bobbin case that I used for making adjustments and set it for Spagetti thread.  I keep a spare that I adjust tension on so that my master bobbin case never gets messed up and I always know it will work on most of my threads.  This really comes in hand when I want to bobbin draw or work with thin/thick thread.  You can see from the picture below that I put some pale pink nail polish on the outside of the bobbin case so I will always know which case is which.

Next, I set my top tension lower to 1.0 and tried sewing a single blanket-stitch.  The machine gobbled the thread up into the throat plate...not good.  So I tried straight stitch.  Here are my results:

After many attempts I decided it was time to switch my bobbin thread to something thinner.  I put in lime green so I could see what was happening better.

The bottom was first, then the middle, then the top stitching example.  To achieve the top I set my upper tension to 0.5.  Now I was ready to try it with one layer of stabilizer (rinsaway) and one layer of fabric:

I was happy with this result, so I went for it.  Since the thread was so thick, I used a single blanket-stitch instead of a double blanket-stitch.

Here is the final block:

The turquoises are stitched in WonderFil Spagetti 12 weight cotton thread.  The purple petals with blue dots are stitched with WonderFil Deco-Bob thread.  The two dots and central purple petal are all stitched with WonderFil InvisaFil 100 weight polyester thread.  You can really see in this example how thread weight affects the outcome.  The Deco-Bob and InvisaFil stitching were done with a double-blanket stitch and they are still not as thick as the Spagetti thread.

After working with Deco-Bob I went and read about it on WonderFil's website.  It turns out that it is an 80 weight polyester thread.  That's thin!  It surprised me because I expected it to be more like a 40 weight.

Overall, I decided that I like the Spagetti thread, but it was too thick for this purpose.  It was easier to do a double blanket-stitch with a thinner thread to get a thicker line.

I need to order some more colors of Deco-Bob!

Suzy

Gradations

I enjoyed working with WonderFil InvisaFil 100 weight polyester thread, so I decided to try it in a new way.  I used light thread on the dark colors and dark thread on the light colors making a inverse gradation.

It's interesting to see the effect of the inverse gradation.  I like the dark thread on the lighter pieces, but I'm not so sure about the light thread on the darker pieces.  I'm not sure I would do that again.  I only had a few pinks to choose from (see below), so perhaps with a larger gradation it would work better.  I also think the light pink thread looks almost white.  Perhaps starting with a more medium tone would be better.

Here are my InvisaFil choices:

I made sure to leave an equal space between the dark pink petals and the center this time.  It looks so much better when the space is even.

Now that I've used really thin thread, I think it's time to try really thick thread....

Suzy

WonderFil Threads - InvisiFil 100 Weight Polyester

I love WonderFil threads.  They are a Canadian company and I have been buying their products since I first saw them at International Quilt Festival in Houston.  I love to do a lot of micro quilting and often use their InvisiFil 100 weight polyester thread for this.  I have all the original 6-pack colors.  Clearly, it's a thread addiction!

Since this thread is REALLY thin, I wondered what it would look like for blanket-stitch applique.  I found that I needed to make a few adjustments to work with InvisiFil.  First, I switched from my regular needle, a size 80 microtex needle, to a size 70 microtex needle since the thread is so fine.  Second, I adjusted my top tension from the usual 2.0 to 1.5.  Last, I found that if I didn't put the thread through the very last guide above the needle it worked better.  You can see this in the picture below:

I stitched this entire flower with different colors of InvisiFil.  I really enjoyed working with it.  When using it for blanket-stitch applique it is definitely a thin line created (remember I do double blanket-stitch), single blanket stitch would be even thinner.

The other thing I learned with this block is that I have to be careful when placing pieces.  I was using my lightbox to put the pieces down, but if you look at the two green petals you can see the amount of gray fabric showing between them and the light blue fabric is different.  This bothers my eyes.  I replaced one piece (the gap was even bigger before), but next time I really have to make sure to check that before I fuse them down!

I can't wait to try out some of my other WonderFil threads!

Suzy