embroidering a poem on a quilt border

[Diane O.]

I have a baby quilt that I want to do a poem on the outer 4" border. The design I have digitized on Embird has lettering about3/4" tall. Do I embroider the saying first, then cut out the borders?? or do I put the border on first, then embroider it? What do I do for stabilizing, I don't want any extra thickness of a stabilizer afterwards. Is my satin stitch lettering going to be too thick, should I go to a finer lettering?? I don't want alot of puckering either. Then when I quilt the border, do I quilt over the lettering??? I'm really lost here, can you tell?

[Jo H.]

I have a baby quilt that I want to do a poem on the outer 4" border. The design I have digitized on Embird has lettering about3/4" tall. Do I embroider the saying first, then cut out the borders?? or do I put the border on first, then embroider it? What do I do for stabilizing, I don't want any extra thickness of a stabilizer afterwards. Is my satin stitch lettering going to be too thick, should I go to a finer lettering?? I don't want alot of puckering either. Then when I quilt the border, do I quilt over the lettering??? I'm really lost here, can you tell?

I personally would embroider the lettering before attaching it to the quilt. For me, it's just easier with less bulk.

What font are you using? How wide is you widest part of a letter? For example, in your software you should be able to see what is the widest width of a stitch. So in an "A" at 3/4 inch tall, with a typical script font, the right or left side of the "A" might be anywhere from 4 to 7 mm wide. I work in mm because it's easier, but 6 mm is nearly 1/4 inch wide.

You can use a tear-away but I'm not fond of using it except on hats. I would use a soft cut-away or even an iron on soft stablizer that stays in. The weight change is minimal and actually makes sewing the border easier for me. Let me know if you need specfic names of stablizer for sampling prior to stitching on your actual border.

You shouldn't have a problem with puckering as long as you have your settings correct.

I personally would not quilt over the embroidered lettering but that is just my preference. Others may feel differently. Instead you could quilt a shadow outline around the lettering to make it stand out and then quilt normally after that in the border (grid work, meandering, etc.).

Hope that helps.

JoJo

[Diane O.]

I agree, I think doing the embroidery before you attach it to your quilt would be easier. If you cut your border strips and they won't fit in your hoop, just sew on some scrap fabric to get it large enough to hoop. However, it may be better to over cut your borders, then trim them to the correct size after you have done the embroidery.

If you aren't sure you are going to like the satin stitch for your lettering, stitch out a sample, and hold it next to your quilt to see how it looks. Try different fonts/stitches to find one you like. They may not look the same stitched out as they do on your computer screen, so it would be best to do some test sew outs before putting them on your quilt.

Personally, I wouldn't do any quilting over any type of embroidery, I think it takes away from it, and especially with lettering, it might make it harder to read if you have stitching over the letters.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Diane in Colorado Springs

[Diane O.]

I agree with the test stitch outs. That way you can tinker with the width of the stitches and the density as well. And for a stabilizer, mayber a water soluble one would work for you. But definitely over cut the borders. better to trim down to the right size than to add on, especially if that seam would be in a bad spot. best of luck, Lissette

[Diane O.]

Every class I've taken on embroidery has always stated - Do a test sample - always, always, always. Bobbi

[Diane O.]

I'm slow at responding, but I took your advice JoJo and used a woven interfacing, loosened up my tension slightly and did it on the uncut borders. It worked really well, When I quilted, I just did loops on the borders, and avoided the embroidery. It turned out really cute. I will have to try and post a picture of it in my gallery. Gave it to my daughter who was going to give it away as a shower present, but she wants to keep it! It's the first quilt I got paid to make!