A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to take a class from David Taylor. I'm sure if you've seen his work you'd recognize the name (or the other way around...). He's an amazing quilter with such artistic sense, and the way he pulls his works of art together are through machine applique using monofilament as a top thread. Makes sense, as the monofilament pretty much can not be seen (both figuratevely and literally). His technique is really quite simple and I have started to embrace it quite a little bit. I almost didn't even take the class once I saw that it was machine applique, but I tried the class anyway, thinking, "I can always stand to learn something new". I did learn something new and am quite glad I took the class. But, that darned monofilament...
To call it a thread may be a stretch. Ha! That's humorous in its own right as that monofilament has quite the stretchy quality to it. I think I like the idea of using it...I think my machine tends to think otherwise. It likes to twist and get tangled and get stuck and then it messes with the tension, so while I'm sewing, I have to constantly watch what the top thread is doing as it's threaded through the machine while also watching where my stitching is going (I think I need more eyes to watch everything)...
Despite the frustrations some of our materials provide, sometimes perseverance and practice will pay off. My current piece is for a musically-inspired quilt challenge, so I'm trying to see if I can get my piece put together for our show in October.
To call it a thread may be a stretch. Ha! That's humorous in its own right as that monofilament has quite the stretchy quality to it. I think I like the idea of using it...I think my machine tends to think otherwise. It likes to twist and get tangled and get stuck and then it messes with the tension, so while I'm sewing, I have to constantly watch what the top thread is doing as it's threaded through the machine while also watching where my stitching is going (I think I need more eyes to watch everything)...
Practice, though, over and over, and listening to my machine, I'm starting to "hear" when the monofilament is tangled and know it's time to stop sewing and give the monfilament some attention (as it's clearly begging for some), and then I can go back to sewing. Thank goodness that machine applique isn't a "sew at the speed of light" kind of activity.
In the end, using the monofilament for machine applique does produce rewards, and like a game of golf, keeps you coming back for more. You make that one cool looking applique item (or golf shot), that you figure, "I've got this", even though you know there's a frustrating part coming (a bad shot, or in the case of monofilament, a tangled mess). You just have to keep on keepin' on, though...
As I worked through the tangled messes, I have managed to create a cool rendition of the Earth, using David's technique and the spool of monofilament I received in the class. The creative fun with the technique just opens up another door of design, and I think I'll continue to explore the fun it can produce. My Earth has overlapping colors which help create a transparent nature, along with a large leaf to just change up the shapes and bring in another interesting component that's "Earth-like".
 |
| Close up, you can see some of where the stitching got more prominent that I'd like...but...I think it still works... |
 |
| Here's my contemporary rendition of the Earth. I think it's kind of cool with the overlapping, transparent circles. |
Have fun embracing new techniques as you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. As with most things, you just have to figure out how to work with the different technique personalities.
Cheers!
Linking up with Nina Marie @ Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever
...and Free Motion Mavericks today.
I love your Earth appliqué, and I may have some tips about monofilament. First tip is to try a different brand, and try a different fiber content (some are polyester monofilament like Superior Threads MonoPoly, whereas others like Aurifil monofilament is nylon). Next tip, try a bigger cone because monofilament wound on a skinny spool has a tight pigtail curl that makes it more likely to kink up and tangle than the gentle waviness of monofilament that was wrapped around a large cone. I am sure David told you to reduce your upper tension drastically with monofilament thread. And finally, sitting that thread on a thread stand behind your machine creates a longer thread path that helps the thread to relax and straighten out before it gets to your needle. I am really loving Aurifil’s nylon monofilament lately; it performs better in my Bernina machines than some other brands I’ve tried and I was really surprised to see a difference from one brand to another.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas, Rebecca! I will give those a go. I should have known there's more than one type of monofilament thread. : ) Machines love some threads and hate others....so great idea to try a different brand. I'm using a Janome machine, so I'm sure that'll make a difference, too. Appreciate you sharing your insight!
ReplyDeleteHi Carla, I haven't gotten that bug yet but having read Rebecca's comment above, that sounds good. I've heard about her recommendations...so maybe I'll give it a try. It would be particularly useful to use when you want a clean, modern look to your appliqué (like yours which is awesome!), as opposed to a more traditional zig-zag stitch. Thanks for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks. I'll be publishing very soon!
ReplyDelete