Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Stencils & Quilting with StencilGirl Artist Terri Stegmiller!

Hi! Terri Stegmiller here!

I love using stencils to create unique, one-of-a-kind fabrics. Projects made from these fabrics seem extra special. Since I’m also a quilter, many of my sewing projects get quilted and sometimes I find myself wondering how to quilt a particular item. I can usually find great inspiration from my stencils.


Quilted patterns on fabric add wonderful stitched texture and depending on the thread color you use, you can add subtle design or an extra pop of color. For the zippered pouch shown above, I’ll give a brief explanation on how I added the X-12 stencil design.


I typically mark designs onto my fabric with one of the marking tools shown above. All of these are easily removed from the fabric, however you should always test the marking tool on a scrap piece of your project’s fabric before you begin...making sure it will disappear as you expect. The blue capped pen marks a blue line that is removed by spritzing with water. The purple capped pen marks a purple line that disappears on its own. The top marker is a chalk pencil and you brush or rub the markings to remove them. I usually use only white chalk in this pencil for use on dark fabrics. I choose my marking tool based on the fabric colors I’m working with so that I have good contrast. I want to be able to see my marks.


After choosing your marker and stencil design, go ahead and mark the fabric. For my zippered pouch project I had two panels like the one shown above. I had previously adhered my fabric to the batting with fusible web before I added the stencil marks.


After I have marked the surface of my fabric, I then start quilting the designs. I am free motion quilting, which means the sewing machine is set up with a free motion presser foot and the feed dogs are lowered so that I am in control of moving my fabric under the needle. With the free motion method of quilting you can move your fabric any direction you want making it easy to sew in many directions without totally turning your fabric around each time you want to change your stitching direction. I don’t worry about following the marked lines exactly when I’m stitching. They are just there as guidelines and if you wander off the marked line, that’s okay!


After I finished quilting the design on both panels, I finished the construction of my zippered pouch.

Below are a couple of other projects I’ve made using stencils as quilting guidelines.


Above is a handbag I made. In the center area of the upper fabric you can see the Curvy Stems stencil design was used.
Below is a detail photo.



In the pillow cover shown above, I first created a central area of design with textile paint and the Slices stencil.
I then used the same stencil as a guideline to quilt around the four sides of the painted section.


I hope you’ve enjoyed my quilting projects and I hope I’ve inspired you to try some free motion quilting with stencils.

Featured Stencils:
Slices

It's time to celebrate Terri Stegmiller on the blog today!
For today only...take 10% OFF any of Terri's StencilGirl stencils!
Just use coupon code STEGMILLER10




3 comments:

  1. ooh Terri those are just AWESOME!! i quilt as well and gosh what fun ideas! oh why are there not more hours in each day to play? Thanks for the sweet ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are fantastic projects -- beautifully done!

    ReplyDelete

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