Thread Painting

This month’s challenge was about the beautiful Aurifil thread colors and of course, the also beautiful Island Batik fabrics. We were to use the Aurifil for quilting, shading, dimension, and just general fun. I decided to start with an appliqué shape and see how I could enhance with the thread.

The fabric I choose for my project was Buttercup by Kathy Engle. I used a Layer Cake along with Yellow Solid batik fabric and Blueberry Basic batik fabric. I also got to try the Hobbs Fusible Cotton batting, the Schmetz Super Nonstick needles, and, of course, several beautiful colors of Aurifil 50 weight thread.

I started with a very basic drawing and darkened it with a marker so that I could see it behind my fabric, using a light box for placement of my pieces. I choose some of the light fabrics and cut them into strips to use for my background.

I numbered my shapes, cut them out of Lite Steam-a-Seam 2, and then placed them on the background. I liked the Steam-a-Seam, because I could change my mind and move the shapes around.

I added a third flower and changed my leaf placement from the original plan. At first, I planned to turn under my edges and machine appliqué, but later decided changed to raw edge and sewing around each shape.

After my shapes were fused and sewn in place, I added my borders. I had just watched Deb Tucker’s Tips and Tricks on Facebook, and decided to do the mitered borders she demonstrated. I liked how she sewed the two borders together, then sewed them on the project. I also liked her spelling out the math. I usually wing it, so she made me think a little more about what I was doing, which is always good. If you didn’t see her Tips and Tricks, you can click here.

I layered by project with the Hobbs Fusible batting and the Yellow Solid batik fabric. It was so nice to not have to pin baste. I also liked the thickness of the batting for this project.

Then came the fun and games: taking all those beautiful threads and adding dimension to the leaves and flowers, using a little ruler work, and then free motioning all over – which is what I love to do.

The threads I used for embellishment Colors L to R: 2840, 2882, 1133, 2120,5006,4140,2740

The back is as fun as the front. I hope you enjoyed my little project this month. Just wait until you see the beautiful fabric I get to use next month! It’s November already!?