Sunday, November 18, 2018

Symphony in Stem Stitch

My piece is ready for the Out of the Box Fibre Artists group's exhibition at the Stittsville Library in December. I have never placed a piece in this venue but when the organiser said that it should be art with a quote, I got an idea 😊  Why not make something with one of the embroidery pieces that I've been working on?

Finding the right words

Google was made for finding suitable quotes (among a few other things of course!) On the Goodreads site I found the perfect beautiful quote by John Keates:

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever"

Symphony in Stem Stitch



I've been working on this project for over a year. It's the second embroidery using free motion quilting (FMQ) motifs. It's been a lot of fun to create since it's very improvisational. I just started by doodling some FMQ motifs with a Frixion pen. I would embroider it using a stem stitch then add more doodling and keep at it. If I didn't like what I had drawn, I would simply iron it off.

This is the first picture of this project that was posted on this blog (see Related links below).
Embroidering colourful FMQ motifs

First stem stitch embroidery -
Étude in Stem Stitching
Adding FMQ motifs a little at a time

The image to the right is the first stem stitch embroidery piece that I started. I used much more muted colours. It's still a work-in-progress (WIP).

I started this to practice my stem stitch after taking a Craftsy course with Jessica Marquez.


This image has the binding attached and ready to be sewn to the back.
It just needs the binding to be sewn to the back
It's such a great feeling when a piece comes together the way I imaged it. It doesn't always happen, and sometimes it's really not a bad thing, or so I tell myself. 😊

What I learned
  • When I had almost finished the FMQ, I squared off the piece, marked it and then quilted it along the line. I then cut it a ½" past the line. This gave me the chance to finish the FMQ along the edges without going over it much. I don't mind loosing a little bit of FMQ when squaring it up, but if I don't mark it before finishing it, I tend to go over the edge - a lot!
  • I finally used my quilting ruler to FMQ the line around my piece. I used Angela Walter's "Shorty" ruler. I was pretty impressed since it's difficult to FMQ a straight line. I will definitely use it again.
  • I had no idea what I would do with these embroideries but I love asking the question...."What if?" So in this case, the question is "What if I FMQ an embroidery? What would that look like?"
  • I must say that I'm very pleased with the results. There is a lot of potential here for interesting effects for art quilts.
  • Now to make the label and packaging for the piece before tomorrow!
  • I was happy to see that my practice with stem stitching payed off. When I decided to finish this embroidery I could do the stem stitch without referring to my favourite embroidery book (see Related links) or the Craftsy class. Of course I haven't done any other stitches in a long while, except for a few French knots, so it may turn out that it's the only stitch I can now do without looking up! 😊
Related links
Linking Parties
I will be linking this post to several fun link-ups. Lets see what's happening in the quilting world! Free Motion Mavericks, Slow Sunday Stitching, TGIF Friday!, Friday Foto Fun, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, To-Do Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday,

Wonderful news! This post is featured on Muv's Free Motion Mavericks.
Project details


Symphony in Stem Stitch
18 ¼" x 17 ¾"
Materials: cotton, embroidery floss, Kimono silk thread,
Techniques: embroidery - stem stitch and free motion quilting (FMQ)






21 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Carla, it really was fun. I'm actually making another one, but a mini this time!

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  2. I love asking the question "what if".....it takes you on wonderful adventures when stitcing. Your stem stitch pretty is indeed a symphony of gorgeousness!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Kim. What if is really a great springboard to creativity :-)

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  3. Oh that is beautiful!! and very unique! I love the colors and the fill quilting - Nice job!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Alycia. I'm really keen to make more and to finish my original one.

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  4. The quote was a lovely addition.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Susie. It really was a great way to use this piece.

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  5. This is really beautiful - and the technique, as you said, has so much potential for future art works.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Shasta. I've already started on a couple of other smaller ones. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out :-)

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  6. Hello Andrée,

    The stem stitch designs are gorgeous! What a great way of combining hand stitching with free motion quilting.

    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks - your quilt is this week's featured project!


    Love, Muv

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Muv. I think that this could be a really interesting combination. I guess we'll see. Thanks for featuring my project.

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  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Susan. Can you tell that I like whimsical? This was great fun to make, especially after I figured out what to do with it.

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  8. It is so lovely! Beautiful colours and quilting too!

    -Soma

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Soma. It was a lot of fun to just pick random colours to make it :-)

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  9. Hi Angela, thanks for stopping by and commenting :-)

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Hi! I would love to hear from you and I will try to answer you. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message. :-)