How to Hand Embroider A Quilt to give it more texture and more color, quilts are always beautiful, but some hand embroidery stitches will make them to look even better!
Many quilters around the world are working on their quilts every single day, and every quilt is a piece of art that is made many times by hand, making a quilt can take lots of work, time and money!
Some quilters love to take their work to the next step and some will try to add some hand embroidery stitches here and there. I’m one of those quilters, one day I tried to add some embroidery stitches on a quilt I liked, to see how my quilt looked, as it got more texture and more color on it.
A quilt is never finished, until the quilter feels her/his work is done on a quilt, today I will share with you two simple hand embroidery stitches you can try on your quilts.
How To Hand Embroider A Quilt
Hand Embroidery Tools and Materials
- Assorted embroidery threads
- Sharp scissors
- Needles – With big eye and sharp point
Every quilter will try a few different tools and threads to find which ones are the best to work on their quilts, I like to try new threads, but as for the moment is not easy to go shopping, I worked on this post with the threads I have already at home.
I always recommend using a good quality embroidery thread as you can be sure it won’t bleed when you wash your quilt, if you have an embroidery thread that you’re not sure if it will bleed later, make some stitches on a scrap of fabric and put it in a glass of water, you can check this way if the thread will bleed, and not later, and it will help you to know if the thread is good to use on your quilts.
Hand Embroider A Quilt Tutorial
1 – Why To Hand Embroider A Quilt
For a long time, I made my quilts with the traditional hand quilting technique, when I finished the hand quilting, the quilt was ready to use or to giveaway to one member of my family.
I don’t remember when or where I saw a quilt with some embroidery on it, I just felt in love with that quilt and I decided to give it a try, on the photo below, you can see on the right side of the quilt, it’s already quilted with the traditional hand quilting work, on the left side of the photo below you can see how the same quilt looks with two hand embroidery stitches, the herringbone and the quilting stitch made with embroidery floss.
Is up to you to decide whether you like it or not, but I think some quilts will need some embroidery on them while others will be beautiful with the traditional hand quilting only, and both ways are right.
2 – Herringbone Stitch
The herringbone stitch is easy to make and it will help you to cover the seam between two blocks on your quilt, it’s fast to work with it and it will add some texture to your quilt.
To work with the herringbone stitch you will need a thin embroidery thread like perle thread #8, or with two threads of embroidery floss.
The herringbone stitch is easily made by making small stitches down and on top of the seam always horizontal and parallel to the seam. I recommend keeping it small and it will look nice always on your quilts.
3 – Hand Quilting Stitch With Embroidery Thread
Using embroidery threads to work on the hand quilting can be fun and it will add some more color to your quilt.
I always work on my quilts on the hand quilting with the recommended thread for hand quilting as this way I’m sure my quilts will last for many years in good conditions.
Then I like to add a few lines of hand quilting with embroidery thread, I work on this step with two threads of embroidery floss
Cons
- Embroidery threads are not made with long cotton fibers, some will break easily as you work with them, and this is a notice that the stitches you made on your quilt may not last for many years in good condition.
- Always use short threads when you work with embroidery floss.
4 – Making A Quilt With Hand Embroidered Blocks
If you have at home many blocks with hand embroidery, they will make a nice quilt for sure.
I made this mini quilt a few years ago, and I made first the hand embroidery on this block, and then I add some borders to it to make the quilt.
5 – Machine Embroidery On A Quilt, Yes or No?
As I quilter, I like to test different quilting techniques, I’m not the best quilter at the time to work with the sewing machine, but I liked how it look.
With more practice, it might look better, but I can say, if you like to work with your sewing machine, always go for it, make a sampler first on a small quilt, or with a scrap of fabric, the time you spend working on it, would be a well spent time!
I like to visit these sites to get inspiration about how other quilters add hand embroidery to their quilts.
Hand Embroider A Quilt Closing Thoughts
As a quilter myself, I like to test different techniques, and since the first time I started to work with hand embroidery I loved the results, I usually add some embroidery stitches here and there to any quilt.
As a quilter yourself, you might want to try some different techniques also, I would recommend you to go for it!
As you keep working on your quilts you will develop your own style, try the hand embroidery on a quilt and find the stitches you want to work with. Start with a small quilt, give it a try and you might like the results.
Now, it’s your turn, which is your favorite hand embroidery stitch? Leave your answer in a comment below!
Puedes leer el mismo tutorial de patchwork en español en mi blog de Ale Cose y Cose – Cómo Bordar A Mano En Una Quilt.
You can watch the video here