Friday, February 21, 2014

The Awl Saves the Day


So, as you can see, my embroidered wall quilt L'Herbier is back on track. In the last post I'd had a challenging day stitching the ribbon embroidery through the two tightly-woven layers of fabric in the circles.

In the introduction to one of my silk ribbon embroidery books, one of the recommended tools is an awl, so you can "pre-drill" the holes for the ribbon. After the first day, I remembered that I have one!


A year or two ago I bought this for $1.99 at a hole-in-the-wall fabric store that mainly sold lycra and sequins for costumes. I recall that I thought it would come in handy one day. It sure has! Today's stitching was a piece of cake.


I'm so relieved! The muslin lining was otherwise so nice and useful, with a great hand, that I really didn't want to give it up. So now it can be full steam ahead! Whew!

10 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh!! This quilt is going to be so gorgeous!! The ribbon embroidery is beautiful. I'm so glad you remembered you had an awl to make your sewing easier. I can't wait to see more!

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  2. So have you decided to keep the muslin under the embroidery? Thank goodness for the "buck 99" special from the "dollar store". (I have several items from there in my tool chest as well). I'm really interested to see where you will take this project. Where ever it is, it's going to be beautiful. You are teaching me a great deal about embroidery and embellishment.

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    1. Thanks very much! I pretty much plan to follow the pattern on this one, with just a few tweaks here and there. It's a kit, so there's not a lot of leeway with the materials.

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  3. this is going to be a wonderful quilt, your ribbon embroidery looks very pretty I am sure the awl will get plenty of use a great buy

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  4. The geometric background is very interesting, It makes a striking contrast to the ribbon romantic flower.

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    1. Apparently the setting is inspired by a 19th century American quilt, only instead of a pieced centre she has substituted the embroidery. I like the contrast too, I think it is what originally attracted me to the project!

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  5. The colours are working wonderfully. I have only ever used my awl as a laying tool.Must remember the intended use! Well remembered, you.

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    1. Thanks, Jillian! The really amazing thing is that I actually found the awl where I expected it to be!

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  6. Now why didn't I think of that lol. SO glad you have been able to make your stitching easier.

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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