Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Come spend some time with me in Paducah at the AQS SEAM RETREAT—four relaxing days away from home, all about hand applique. I’ll teach you all the techniques you need (and then some!) to make my brand-new wall quilt, Christmas Cottage Cheer.
This cute quilt has never been published before. It’s made in two layers: the inner globe is appliqued onto a square, and then a floral layer is appliqued on a larger square. Once both layers are complete, we trim them up and stitch the circular center in place. Gold circles make it fancy :-).
This class is great for all skill levels—even if you’re brand new to applique. If you’re interested, click here. And if you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at becky.pieceocake@gmail.com.
Just so you know, my days of in-person teaching are winding down. So if taking a class together in person is on your bucket list, now’s the time to jump in. I’d love to see you there!
Have you made one of these cute needle caddies yet? If not, you can find the FREE ePattern for the Big Needle Caddy at pieceocake.com, While you are there, you might be interested in the other FREE ePatterns. But you don’t have to make a needle caddy to be interested in knowing more about hand sewing needles.
I am careful to pair a needle with the kind of sewing I am doing, and the thread that goes with it. Since I do a variety of kinds of stitching, I like to have a variety of needles to choose from with me when sitting down to sew. This is how I filled my own needle caddy.
First, you need to identify each needle so that when you need more, you know which package to choose. Cut a strip of paper to write the needle particulars on, grab a pen or pencil, and gather your needles. Which needles, you ask? Why… these needles!
#9 Crewel Needle by Bohin: This is a very versatile needle with a long eye and strong body. Use it with wool thread, perle cotton, and 30-40 wt cotton thread. Great for embroidery, big stitch hand quilting, and some hand sewing.
#9 Piecing Needle by Tulip: An all-purpose needle good for a variety of hand sewing jobs, especially hand piecing. This needle is a little long, with a sturdy shaft. If you have trouble handling smaller needles, this and the crewel needle above might be good choices.
The next four needles will work better with fine thread like Superior’s 50wt/2-ply thread that only comes on prewound bobbins. Presencia’s 60wt/2-ply thread, Aurifil’s 80wt, and Aurifil’s 50wt/2-ply thread are also good choices with these needles.
#10 Big Eye Appliqué Needle by Tulip: Tulip applique needles are smaller and finer than their size number would indicate. The big eye on this needle makes it easier to thread. It is longer than #11, but not as long as a milliner’s needle.
#12 Black Gold Appliqué Needle by Clover: This needle is tempered and honed to a very sharp point. It is rigid, not bendy. I get a very nice, small stitch with this needle.
#11 Appliqué Needle by Tulip: Very much like the previous needle, but this one is more flexible. I use them interchangeably except that sometimes my fingers have a preference. I don’t know why, but that’s true.
Note that when the package says “appliqué” needle, it is often a sharp. A sharp is a needle most often associated with hand sewing. It could also be a longer milliner’s needle which is associated with hat making. Look close and the package will probably tell you which it is.
One of the best features of this needle caddy are the little pockets, shown in the photo above. Mine pockets hold round wooden toothpicks, Leather ThimblePads, and 1-2 flat needle threaders like Roxane’s RX Needle Threaders.
Each caddy has two bamboo felt “pages”. My 2nd page holds needles I use less often. Any of the first three listed below would be good with strands of embroidery floss.
#24 Chenille Needle by John James (JJ): Chenille needles, with their big eyes, are designed to carry thick thread. They can get clunky but this one is finer than most. Good for a #8 or #12 perle cotton.
#12 Black Gold Between by Clover: Use this needle for finer hand quilting. It is sharp, very short, and used for fine hand quilting thread.
These are applique needles that I sometimes use:
#11 SuperGlide by Colonial: I almost never use this needle. It’s bigger than my preferred appliqué needles, but not as big as the #9 piecing. It is easy to thread!
#12 Appliqué Needle by Mary Arden: This is an excellent, inexpensive needle. The eye is kind of big which is not a bad thing. The needle is a good size, fine, and sharp.
There are two more little inside pockets inside the back page on the other side. I will add a Domed Under Thimble with adhesive pads in one of them.
Click the names of individual needles above to find them on my site or go to Everything In My Needle Caddy, to find them all.
Cynthia Helton sent photos of this quilt that her mom, Shirley Ray Hatley Alford, started in 1995. Shirley passed away in July, 2007. Cynthia, thank you for sharing her quilt with us, I know you all must treasure it.
I remember Shirley! She was in my North Pole class at Sharon’s Quilt Depot way back in 1995 when the book, A Sampling of Santas, was new. Shirley was a lovely woman and I have a smile on my face when I remember her.
This is excerpted from the very well-written documentation patch:
Shirley hand appliqued the blocks and machine pieced them together. As her health began to decline due to breast cancer, Shirley invited Corinne Lageose to finish the hand quilting. Carolyn MIller sewed on the outer binding by hand. And Shirley’s daughter, Cynthia Rae Alford Helton sewed on the red berry buttons and other embellishments. This quilt was lovingly finished by Cynthia while sitting at the bedside of Shirley in July, 2007. This is Shirley’s Masterpiece!
If you are interested in the pattern, A Sampling of Santas is included in our ebook, A Slice of Christmas.
I hope you can join me February 29-March 5, 2016, at the Academy of Applique in Williamsburg, VA. Registration for classes will open at noon today—click here for registration instructions.
I am just one of a dandy roster of teachers. Between us, we are teaching a variety of applique classes. Click here to open the interactive class schedule.
Carolyn says that she started this quilt in 1998, finished it that day. She has made a lovely version of the Simply Delicious pattern. Very nicely done, indeed!
Piece O Cake Blog 