Quilting Arts - USA (2021 - Spring)

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

• French knots are typically worked
  close to the fabric’s surface with
  tight tension. Alter the stitch by
  putting the needle back into the
  fabric a short distance away for
  knots with ‘tails.’ Try a looser
  tension to get loopy knots.


• After practicing with couching
  stitch, try couching a thicker
  thread or yarn with different
  stitches, such as blanket or fl y
  stitch from Part 2 of this article
  series in the December 2020/
  January 2021 issue (page 75).

2. Use suggestions from “How to
   Change a Stitch for Effect” to guide
   your explorations.

Explore design by

drawing

Glue or tape the photograph to

a journal page. Place the template

on the same or another journal page

and trace a number of 4" squares to

try out different formats and styles.

Consider how the featured stitches

could be used to represent the textural

elements in the photo. Make sketches

or write notes to help with planning

an approach to a stitched piece.

Stitch Challenge: Texture

Use the photo, sketches, and

notes from your journal pages as a

jumping off point for a stitched piece.

Refer to your stitch sampler and

the suggestions in “How to

Change a Stitch for

Effect” to create

stitches evoking

texture.

Thank you to my

stitching students for

creating samplers for this

series.

How to

Change a

Stitch for

Effect

• Change the weight of
  the thread


• Change the type of thread


• Change the size of the stitch


• Change the space
  between stitches


• Change the angle of the
  stitch


• Distort part of the stitch


• Combine two or more
  stitches to create a
  new stitch
  NOTE: Find more details in
  Part 1 of this article series in
  the October/November 2020
  issue (page 39).

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These pages show the exploration of the prompt in pen, paper, and photograph.