Tips for printing your own fabric

I have been working most of the day on a special project which is going reasonably well. (A necessity as hubby and friend are putting up a covered way outside and the sound of drilling has forced me to bolt into my sanctuary.) I don't often work on small quilts, unless they are for Linus, but I find that when it comes to adding embroidery to a quilt I prefer to work on a much smaller scale. So this is going to be fun because it combines my love of machine embroidery and quilting, but I have also added some hand embroidery on this one too.
The last small quilt I made and embroidered I entered into a national competition and it did not win a prize but did have a photo shown in Patchwork & Quilting Magazine; so it was a runner up. This is the quilt, it's called 'Fuji Autumn'.


When I made this quilt I decided that all of the fabric would also be made by me, so I printed every single bit of it on my ink jet printer. I was quite pleased with the results as the colours did not fade too much from the original but of course they are never quite as bright as on the computer screen. Here is a close up of the leaves and flowers which were all made the same way and then heavily starched before cutting out and applying to the background. Then I used Robison Anton 'Twisted Tweed' thread to embroider on top of them.



The next photo shows a close up of mount Fuji and again I used embroidery to enhance the effect of the snow and rocks, but this time I used some Madeira thread too.

• Remember to exaggerate the colours because they are going to fade.
• Use simple clear designs which are not too fussy.
• Watch the proportion of elements in the design you may need to use your software to scale up or down.
• Ordinary 'compatible' inkjet ink works ok.
  
• Cotton fabric with a close count like 'percale' works well.
  

Of course I made the fabric myself, but you can buy commercially produced sheets which you use in your printer, but be aware they are extremely expensive. It is much cheaper to make your own!


Hand Embroidery Enthusiasts and Beginners this is for you!

I just have to share this new discovery with all of you, would you believe that Mary Corbet has a series of videos showing all of these stitches:-

Line Stitches & Bands

* Running Stitch
* Whipped Running Stitch
* Backstitch
* Whipped Backstitch
* Stem Stitch
* Portuguese Knotted Stem Stitch
* Coral Stitch
* Outline Stitch
* Couching
* Split Stitch
* Herringbone Stitch
* Double Herringbone Stitch
* Cretan Stitch
* Chevron Stitch
* Fern Stitch
* Palestrina Stitch
* Ladder Stitch
* Mountmellick Stitch
* Knotted Diamond Stitch


Chain, Fly, and Buttonhole Stitches

* Chain Stitch
* Heavy Chain Stitch
* Double Chain Stitch
* Raised Chain Stitch Band
* Alternating or Checkered Chain Stitch
* Cable Chain Stitch
* Rope Stitch
* Rosette Chain Stitch
* Wheat Stitch
* Vandyke Stitch
* Fly Stitch - Horizontal
* Fly Stitch - Vertical
* Feather Stitch
* Double Feather Stitch
* Blanket Stitch / Buttonhole Stitch
* Buttonhole Wheels


Detached Stitches & Knots

* Lazy Daisy
* Seed Stitch
* Spider Web - Ribbed
* Bullion Knots
* French Knot
* Colonial Knot
* Oyster Stitch
* Drizzle Stitch
* Woven Picot


Filling Stitches

* Fishbone Stitch
* Cretan Stitch
* Detached Buttonhole Filling
* Satin Stitch
* Lattice Work
* Bokhara Couching
* Roumanian Couching
* Trellis Stitch


Miscellaneous Embroidery Techniques

* Bullion Rose Bud Tutorial
A little over 13 minutes, this tutorial demonstrates how to make rose buds using the bullion knot. It also covers beginning and ending your threads when working small embroidery motifs.

They are all to be found on her website so if you want to sit back and learn a new stitch then just go here
You will see the videos at the top right hand side of her website under
'Video Library of Stitches' so just click on this and then scroll down to the list of stitches which is in exactly the order I have posted it above. Enjoy.