Sharp Points with Blanket Stitch

Hey Everyone! I've been missing in action again with a super busy schedule of vending at quilt shows and family stuff. I just finished up my last show for a little while and I'm glad to be home to get some work done for a few weeks! The last show was right here near home and it was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed and have a friend help one day and my middle daughter home the next day. Unfortunately I didn't think to get a picture this time! And I even set up the booth a little bit differently. Oh well, I'll be sure to add TAKE PHOTOS to my to do list next time! I would have loved to have a picture of Melanie since she won't get to help again for a while as she is moving away shortly. We'll miss her being nearby.

Since having a few days at home, I've been able to do a little stitching on my next design. This quilt will be similar to Pennies In My Garden, but the "pennies" will be diamond shaped this time around.

As I'm stitching the cotton and wool layers together, I've figured out a better way to make sharp points when using the blanket stitch. I've prepared my cotton shapes using the starch method I use for EPP basting. Usually I prefer Needleturn for Applique, but I am learning to love the crisp sewing edges that come with basting with starch. It makes sewing the Applique down effortless for the most part! These pre set points also help make a better point, but the stitching is also important. I'm sure I will still use Needleturn Applique in the future, but for this quilt, I'm enjoying using my Starch Brush to prepare the seam allowances. Now back to the sharp points...

After reaching the point and pulling the last blanket stitch tight, I'm taking another very tiny blanket stitch right at the point. The thread I prefer using for wool Applique is Genziana so it is very thin compared to floss or pearl cotton. This may too bulky of a stitch to take at the end of a point if you use floss or pearl cotton, but it's worth a try to make a sharp point.

Next I'm using the needle to tuck under any seam allowance poking out from behind the Applique shape.

Then I'm holding the tip with the hidden seam allowance very firm so that seam allowance won't poke out again!

Then proceed with a few more stitches. New topic for a moment... Notice the blue wool point above the one I'm discussing and how it is a bit bulging out of the stitches? I'm going to trim that excess away very carefully. Notice in the next picture how much better it looks compared the the picture above.

In this pic you can see how nice the red cotton fabric point looks with this locking blanket stitch after its stitched. You can also compare this point to the yello point with no locking stitch. (Yes, I'll go back and lock that one!). And finally you can compare the blue wool point in this picture to the previous picture to compare points before and after a trim.

Just a little tid bit of info I've learned lately. Hope it helps you also!

Take care,

Missie

 

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