Learning experience -

I took a break the other day and played with some monofilament thread and a variety of settings trying to get the tension right for this Confetti project -

With some very helpful suggestions from some friends - I tried it again today - and managed to get rid of the "eyelashing" - but this is about as good as I could get it using a polyester batting -

I wrote down all of the settings on an index card so that I could refer to it later -

Then I tried a different batting - Hobbs 80/20 - 100% cotton - fusible -

I need to slow down and shorten my stitch - and I don't like the bobbin thread "pokies" - but I like it better than the polyester batting - so I wrote down all of these settings, too -

Then I thought - why are you trying it on this stuff? -

Why don't you make a miniature version of the Confetti project and try it on that? -

So I took some scraps and confetti and made a sample piece about 6" square -

Starting with a really quick "first layer" -

One tree - some leaves - sky - ground -

Did some FMQ loops and swirls - to tack it all down -

And made several adjustments along the way -

Then I added some more confetti for a "second layer" -

A second tree - more leaves and ground -

And tacked all of that down -

It didn't turn out too bad for an experiment -

And it was a terrific learning experience! -

I learned that -

If you're going to practice - practice on the same thing you're going to use in the final project - I know now that I want a plain muslin for the backing until I get it FMQ - then I'll add the batik backing at the end - that way all of my wonky stitching won't show on the back -

If you don't want confetti all over the place - PIN the edges down - before you start to stitch -

If you don't want "pokies" to show - use a color in the bobbin that blends with the TOP - not the backing -

If you don't want any of the batting to show - make sure to cover ALL of the batting with fabric or "background" stuff in the first layer - the second layer is for texture effects -

If you want the trees to be straight and stay that way - PIN them in place - before you start to stitch -

And last - but not least -

I learned not to worry about what it's going to look like -

I know that I am no artist -

And told one of my friends that I hoped it would resemble "Autumn Leaves" -

She told me - "Whatever it resembles, it will be one of a kind!" -

She sure got that right - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -