A few of my readers asked after my last post on English paper piecing Glitter blocks (see the post here) if I could write a little diddy about how I get totally invisible stitches (when viewed from the front side of the block).
The wonderful @srhshlmn on Instagram, a fellow member of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild, demo'd this technique at our last meeting, and it's fantastic. It's a little fumbly at first while you teach your hands to hold your pieces and stitch in a different way, but it's worth the work!
I included some affiliate links, below, to Amazon.com* for the supplies I used for your reference (or pajammy shopping pleasure)*.
Happy hand piecing, everyone!
*this post contains affiliate links to Amazon at no additional cost to you. For more information, please visit my DisclosureStatement and Advertising Policies page.
The wonderful @srhshlmn on Instagram, a fellow member of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild, demo'd this technique at our last meeting, and it's fantastic. It's a little fumbly at first while you teach your hands to hold your pieces and stitch in a different way, but it's worth the work!
I included some affiliate links, below, to Amazon.com* for the supplies I used for your reference (or pajammy shopping pleasure)*.
Supplies:
-(everything you'd normally use for EPP - needle, thread, templates)
-I use/am using an Aurifil 80wt*, but have used their 50wt thread* with success as well
-tape or WonderClip*
Directions:
- Baste your pieces as you normally would (I like to glue baste, it's a lot faster than stitch basting for me).
- Once you're ready to start stitching your block: I place my two pieces right sides together with corners matching and I take a few stitches as I normally would in place to anchor my corners together.
- Then, open your pieces up so that their edges are sitting against each other, (here's where I use a WonderClip (from Sarah: you could use a piece of tape on the front side) to hold the two pieces together, and start with your first stitch, inserting your needle in the seam allowance on one side and directly across to the seam allowance on the other piece, keeping your needle parallel to your pieces, like this:
- Then, travel along the same side repeating the above directions, always inserting your needle first on the same side (in my picture, from R - L), much like you would with a whip stitch
- Continue in this manner until your two pieces are attached, and I finish at the corners with a double or triple stitch in the same place, again to anchor (kind of like a back stitch) before attaching my next piece to the adjacent edge
- And here's what the front looks like:
- ...and here's the finished block:
Happy hand piecing, everyone!
*this post contains affiliate links to Amazon at no additional cost to you. For more information, please visit my DisclosureStatement and Advertising Policies page.
