Fabric Lessons freshly Learned

Novelty prints can be so cute and fun! They can give a whole new look to our patterns for various holiday seasons.

About 3-4 years ago I fell in love with some non-batik valentine novelty fabrics(see the picture above) that I chose for Sweetheart Sorbet. So different than what I usually select.  If I had made it by machine there wouldn’t have been a problem but I decided to make it by hand reverse applique. A bit cockily I thought, “I’m experienced, I can stitch on anything.” And I am…I can…I WILL…because I’m determined and stubborn. But it’s been a hand stitching nightmare….and I did it to myself.

 Between stitches and boo-boos, kicking myself and laughing at myself, I thought I would share with you my experiences so you will be forewarned, and therefore forearmed, should you decide to do the same thing. 

A good quality batik for making the same pattern.

1. If you’ve made our patterns before, you know I recommend batiks (see above) or good quality hand-dyes. That’s because they have a high thread count…220…which makes them easier to work with. The high thread count insures that when you do the basting the no. 7 Sharps needle and thick hand cotton thread will leave a nice hole for following the design line. Then when you get to stitching you can see the holes for doing the reverse needle turn applique. 

My cute novelty fabrics leave me no such hole.

There is no hole left where the basting thread is gone.

 The saving grace is that because it’s taken me so many years to complete this piece that the basting thread has been in it for several years, and has left an impression in the fabric. So even though I can’t see the holes, the fabric roughly folds back on the design line: those holes are acting like perforations do in paper and the fabric roughly folds back on the design line. (When I stitch in silk fabrics I can see the holes better than in these novelty fabrics.) 

2. This fabric is a poly/ cotton, not a 100% cotton.  It builds up a static charge on my thread, causing it to knot up a lot, even after running my thread through Magic Thread.   

White basting thread, though it contrasts the black, was the WRONG thread color. Orange or Yellow might have been a better choice.

3. When we baste we are to use a thread in a contrasting color to the top fabric. I saw the black fabric, so used a white basting thread…WRONG. My white basting thread gets lost in the white tic-tac-toe design. In hindsight perhaps an Orange basting thread would have been better. But by time I figured this out the piece was completely basted. So because I’m lazy, I’ve muddled along. 

A scissors slit repaired by Bonash.

It means that at times, even trying so carefully not to, I have cut the top fabric outside of the shape to be stitched down.  On one spot I sealed up the slit with Bonash. Once the piece is quilted you won’t see it.

This cut into the top fabric will require an applique patch repair or a creative applique patch that makes a new design statement.

Another spot I’m going to have to be more creative to fix it; and I still haven’t quite decided how I’m going to repair it. I will probably applique a piece of top fabric over the slit and hole, but I could applique a new shape over it and make a design statement out of my boo-boo. 

I’m rethinking the 8 bars and will either leave them off of the design or applique them in the red.

4. The design has 8 very narrow bars that I’m rethinking. I’m rethinking them because of how hard it is to see where the shape is so I know where to cut, and my experience with how easy it is to cut in the wrong place.  I’m thinking I will either leave these bars out of the design or I will applique them on instead…perhaps in the red fabric (if I can find where I stashed that fabric from 4 years ago).

So my valentine’s Sweetheart Sorbet is packed up again for another year. Why is it taking so long? Partially because it has been so challenging. It is slower going when it’s very difficult to see the basting holes, I have to be extremely careful…triple-checking that I’m cutting in the correct place (and I still cut wrong), and my thread constantly knots, etc…. This all adds up to it being a frustrating stitching journey.

 The good news? I only have an eighth of the design left to stitch.

Why do I keep stitching? Because I still think it will be cute when it’s finished, and I’m stubborn and determined that I’m going to win, not the fabric. So when I’ve had enough frustration for any given year, I shake my head, have a laugh at myself, fold it up, and put it back in its bag until the anticipation of the next Valentine’s Day. Maybe it will be finished in 2025, maybe in 2026.

 Note to self: Next time you fall in love with non-batik novelty prints, make it by machine!

 In the meantime, it’s a good reminder for you as to why I recommend batiks, quality hand-dyes or even tightly woven silks over fabrics like this for our patterns.

Quilting is a creative act of hope. Happy Quilting!

Want to know how I got my stripes to go in different directions in the background fabric? read the blog Piecing the Background Fabric: Stripes, posted February 5, 2020.