How to Satin Stitch with Machine Quilting
Heather ThomasHeather Thomas introduces several techniques on how to add satin stitching to your quilts. Find out how many ways you can incorporate satin stitching into your pieces. Learn how change the density of your stitch to create depth in your quilts. Use these tips to add a design element or thickness to your quilt.
We have so many choices and options these days when it comes to our quilts. And one of those choices is how are we gonna quilt this thing? A lot of us believe that there are certain things that we have to do, or can't do. But I believe that if you can do it, you can put it on your quilt. I have a lot of fun in the quilting, it's my favorite part of the whole thing.
But I like to explore. And one of the things that I really have had a lot of fun doing lately is quilting with a satin stitch. So, you know, a satin stitch is what happens when you put your zigzag stitch really, really close together, so the stitches are almost on top of each other. But it can be a lot of fun, and you can really kind of play with the thickness or the width of that stitch and explore. On this little piece, I simply wanted to make color sit on top of everything else.
And so, to do that, I needed to have that thread either be really heavy, or the stitch be rather large and dense. So I chose the satin stitch. I outlined the flower with a much thinner satin stitch, and then started getting wider in the frame, and wider out here with all these wonderful undulating lines. Here, I'm using that stitch, not just to quilt things together, but as a design element too. I really had fun with this piece.
One of the things that's really, really cool about changing the density of your stitch is that you can create different depths or planes in the quilt. So when we look at this, we can see automatically that the circles of fabric are sitting on top, so they're coming closest to us, and they're in the forward space. But when we check out the two different types of stitch, we've got the regular stitch line done with a regular straight stitch and one little thin thread. And then on top of that, we have all these wonderful satin stitch lines that are sitting above those little tiny skinny lines. So now we have three planes present, where before we only had two.
So we've got the plane that's farthest back with the really thin stitch. The plane that's in the middle with the thicker heavier satin stitch. And then, we have the plane on top that has the design motifs of the circles. We can take that satin stitch and spread it back out to its zigzag stitch and have fun with it too. Now, this border on this quilt is kind of like a crazy quilt design.
And so I thought it would be really fun to just put one decorative stitch in there, and so I chose a zigzag. Now you can quilt with a zigzag all you want, but remember that that zigzag is also gonna show on the back. So the back is gonna have a zigzag also. But, it can add a lot of fun and a lot of interest to the piece. So the next time you're thinking about how you're gonna quilt that quilt, think about using a decorative stitch, think about using a satin stitch, it can really change it up and add some great interest.
Love this idea. Did you do the satin stitch quilting using the free motion method.
Loved this! Thanks!
when creating these small quilts, what batting or stabilizer did you use, and is it stitched through to the backing or did you cover the baking with anther fabric.
DÄ›kuji za inspiraci, mám nový stroj a zkusÃm nÄ›co podobného vyrobit. Krása.
Enjoyed this and learnt something new
Thanks!!! I love it, good teacher and clear explanations, I think son buy membership