My Thread Painting Journey
When I talk about my work, I am frequently asked about my thread painting and quilting. Most people know what quilting is, although not everyone understands its purpose or how it is done. However, unless you live and breath quilting (really is there any other way to live? :)) you may never have heard of thread painting. It is precisely what it says. The artist is painting with thread.
Ellen Ann Eddy
I probably came across Ellen Ann Eddy’s work in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. I’m guessing it was in the mid ’90’s. It was love at first sight. I HAD to learn how to do that. So, naturally I bought the book and since I was program director of my guild, I invited her to come to teach and lecture for us. One thing that I remember from the class was how to listen to the needle as it entered and exited the hooped work. It should sound like a drum beat or gentle thwacking. Ellen also introduced me to the importance of supporting the work with thin, layering that keeps the work from puckering. Skip forward 30 years and I still hear the thwacking and can layer with confidence.
My Early Work
I made Spring Chorus more than a decade after taking Ellen’s class. Honestly, thread painting intimidated me, but I was ready to give it another go. It was around this same time when I felt I had mastery over free motion quilting. I see both skills as fairly similar, since both require you, and not the machine, to manipulate the fabric under the needle.
Perfect for Smaller Work
Over the years I have returned to thread painting on and off. I use it when I need detail that piecing and quilting just can’t provide. This particularly true of my wrapped canvas work.
Much as I love thread painting, it is VERY labor intensive for the area covered. It took over 50 hours to create I’m Watching You. That measures 12″ x 12″. So, imagine my delight when I purchased the Bernina 990 and the machine came with embroidery designs.
The LOVE embroidery was the central “block” in the double wedding ring quilt I recently made for my son and his wife.
Now I have options. I expect I will continue to both “manually” thread paint and take advantage of the machine embroidery capabilities on my Bernina 990. It really depends what the project is and what it requires.
Question of the Week
What skill are you determined to learn and what journey has it taken you on?
I’m linking up to the following posts:
Your Bernina sure does open a world of possibilities doesn’t it? I liked the tag that went with that company. . .made to create as that is what I enjoy. Currently, I’m challenging myself to be inspired by the book my group has chosen to make and finish a project. Within that challenge, I set up self challenges to stretch my boundaries.
Yes, Terry. It is amazing what comes already installed in the Bernina. It is also easy to purchase designs to download onto the Bernina. At some point, I may even invest in software that allows me to design my own designs. I would prefer software that allows for a type of file that functions like a vector drawing. In other words I can resize and the stitches increase or decrease accordingly while maintaining the image quality/ratio.
Love how your group keeps you active, or more precisely acts as springboard for you.
Such beautiful projects with thread painting. I’ve been determined to improve my skills at paper piecing. I’ve done quite a bit of it in the past 2 years, and think I have improved that skill. I also am trying to work on simple quilting on small projects with my domestic machine.
Thank you, Sarah. I do enjoy thread painting. It very soothing to do.
Paper piecing looks like it should be easy. But the more advanced the projects, the more likely you are to have odd shaped sliver like pieces to stitch. The result is worth the learning curve. One thing I have learned to do is glue my first piece in each section. I use a two way glue. If you apply the glue while it is wet, the seal is permanent. However, if you wait until the glue is dry the glue functions like a post it note. This way the paper can be removed after piecing. Wish I knew that trick when I first started paper piecing.
In 2010, Leah Day posted a free series of videos to help master free motion quilting on domestic machine. I think a new one came out every week. I followed along and did them all. What a game changer. The tutorials are still available and free on her site.
Your thread painting is amazing to see, Gwyned! Aren’t you glad you took that class all those years ago? I just love the squirrel! I started quilting in the late 90s and it has been a wonderful journey. I can’t say that there is a particular skill I am determined to learn right now, but I do love trying new things – new blocks or quilt designs or even different kinds of hand stitching, too. Just keep creating, right?!
Thank you, Diann. Yes, I am delighted that I was able to take the class with Ellen. Can’t say I was relaxed during the class. I do best in the non-distracting atmosphere of my home.
Your love of piecing and trying out new blocks shows in all your work. Yes, do keep creating.
I admire your thread painting — just as I do Jenny Lyon’s free-motion and other exquisite free-hand quilting — but though I’ve taken lessons in both, I’ve never managed to do it very well, being unable to ‘relax into it’. That said, in recent years I’ve taken up creating hooked-rug art, using a traditional technique in a new way. I’ve made several small and some medium-sized pieces but this fall and winter I want to work ‘large’, which for me will be something like 34″ W x 16″ L. The challenge is, given the size of my frame, I’ll be making a landscape. but working it in “portrait” lay-out (i.e., sideways) — a totally weird perspective!
I can imagine hooking “sideways” could be disorientating. Still, don’t you mark the canvas in some way to let you know what yarns to place where?
Your work is breathtaking and inspiring. I’ve never done thread painting, but there was a time when I was heavily into satin stitch hand-embroidery in which I tried to achieve shadowing. I think what you’ve done is much more beautiful. And more labor-intensive!
My grandmother was a master tatter who taught me to crochet. I’ve mastered the crochet, but I’ve yet to try tatting, although I’ve watched a few tutorials. I even have her shuttle! One day…
Both thread painting and hand embroidery, especially when playing with value, can be stunning. They are simply different media. A bit like comparing water color to oils.
We had tatters in my maternal family, too. Wonder when that art will be revived.
Thread painting takes a real skill set. I love the results you get. Beautiful Love Blooms quilt
Thank you, Alycia. So generous of you to say.
Your thread work is amazing! I am looking to learn curved piecing this fall/winter.
Thank you, Cherie. Curved piecing would be a great technique to learn. A couple of tips that have helped me is to 1) pin from the middle of the seam and then out to the start/stop of the seams and 2) use a smaller stitch length.
Your squirrel looks like it could jump right off that branch and into your house! I love how you can « paint » pictures with different colours of thread and a lot of time and patience. I’ve taken many classes over the years …I’m always open to learning new things.
I love that squirrel. I sold it over a year ago. One trick to thread painting is to have a range of hues. However, I have also learned how to let the eye blend thread to lighten, darken, add a hint of yellow etc. when I don’t have the exact color I need in my thread collection. It is a good practice to learn new things.
Thread painting always amazes me. I adore that little squirrel. How wonderful that you now have the ability to have your sewing machine do some of the work for you.
I adored the photo of the squirrel. It was taken by Jocelyn. She gave me permission to thread paint it. I think of my machine embroidery as embellishment. Much the way people wouldn’t expect you to make your own buttons, beads or ribbons when they are attached to the quilt. I feel so fortunate to have the machine.
Always good to hear from you, Cathie.
I really would like to perfect FMQ, but I don’t practice it enough to get the muscle memory. And now with my computer system I am too busy using it to try. Maybe when things slow down, if ever. LOL
When things slow down? Let me know when that happens. Seems there is always something unexpected that must be worked into an already overloaded schedule.I can say that I devoted a year to practicing my FMQ with the guidance of Leah Day’s tutorials. Not only did it help build the eye, hand and foot coordination, she taught me where to start, how to maneuver from one place to another and fill in awkward gaps. I also learned how to quilt in all directions. I’m so glad I took the time. Now FMQ is a joy vs. something to panic over.
Your Wedding Ring quilt is SO stunning. I’ve embarked on a quilt series, a floral series in all kinds of genres. I’ve never done a series, I jump from technique to technique. So far I have 2 done. I’m also, picking up again, graffiti quilting as it is sooo unique and dare I say impressive. So many quilters are afraid to quilt their pieces, me, I love it.
I’m glad you like the double wedding ring. Although it is made up of traditional blocks, I had fun tweaking it from tradition to something more personalized.
Working in a series is such a wonderful way to explore and learn. Sounds like you are enjoying the process.
Beautiful work, Gwyned! I enjoy seeing the progression of your style. That squirrel with the fluffy tail is my fav. Fun you can branch out in computerized embroidery now, also.
So glad you enjoyed the journey. I needed a topic for the week. Although I did work in the studio, so progress was made, non of it was at a point where photographing it made sense. So, I’ve been debating about what to focus on for a small solo exhibition I’ll be doing in September and October. The space is small, therefore the work needs to be small. My thread painting work made sense. Let’s just say looking over the trajectory of my work, started on my journey of working out which pieces to include.
The squirrel is one of my most commented upon work. It sold in the last solo exhibition I did at the same place.
Hi Gwyned, your thread painting work is gorgeous but I sure understand why you would want to use your machine to do some of the embroidery. I’ve done some thread painting but it really is never ending 🙂 As for your question, I’m not sure what I want to learn next, which is weird because I’m a perpetual learner. I’m hoping that I’ll know it when I see it. Thanks for linking up to I Quilted This!
Thank you, Andrée. It is the detail and scale of thread painting that is so time consuming. Of course, that is why it can be so captivating. Like you, I am a perpetual learner. There are always new things to learn. The difficulty is choosing what to focus on.
That wedding quilt “surprise project” turned out so successfully. Beautiful! It is not always easy to combine machine embroidery with quilting — I had some early attempts where I chose designs that were far too stitch-dense, creating stiff places in an otherwise cuddly quilt. One quilt that I made for my nephew when he was a toddler had such densely embroidered alphabet block designs that the quilt fabric eventually tore away from the stitching after it was washed a few dozen times (as happens with baby quilts). That LOVE design looks like a much better choice than what I did. Is it an included design with the 990? I STILL have not put the embroidery module on the machine. My poor 990 is pouting and sulking because I make her do mostly straight stitch quilting, with a little bit of applique.
Way before I did machine embroidery, as in over 30 years ago, I made a quilt similar to yours, but with cross stitch for the focus square in the block. It was for my niece. No idea how that quilt fared. Now, close to 100% of my quilts are for the wall. Love Blooms is a wall hanging. Yes, LOVE is one of the designs on the 990. However, I redid the thread chart to match the quilt. One of the things I love about the 990 is you can choose the brand of thread when editing the design. The machine automatically sets the colors on Isacord. I use Marathon. It is time consuming, especially where there are something like 20 different colored threads in LOVE, but well worth the effort. Perhaps some day I will write a post about how I organize and enter my thread swaps.
Your pieces are all truly a work of art. I’ve not tried it but admire those that do! The only quilting technique I haven’t learned is needle turn applique… someday I may give it a try.
Thanks for sharing in the Sew & Tell party.
Needle turn appliqué is my nemesis. Some people love it. I’ve found other ways to cope with appliqué that are “close enough”. So, if you figure out the trick to needle turn, let me know.
Yes, living and breathing quilting IS the only way to live! Thank you for sharing your thread painting journey and beautiful work on those. That is one technique on my list that I haven’t tried yet. That DWR is ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous!! They will treasure it for sure. I’d say I have two “determined journeys”: the first is to finish my now 15 year old DWR (actually a QNM design and only still needing its applique borders). The second is to hand quilt a bed-sized wholecloth quilt. It’s been layered and started for a few years now and is more of a “so many more other quicker ideas than time” issue than a “fear of continuing” issue at this point.
Sounds like a breathtaking DWR you are making. I’ve wanted to make one for years, but never dared. However, with impending nuptials, now passed, I hunted around online for a tutorial. Found one using templates. Must have watched that tutorial a handful of times for each stage of the assemblage. Naturally, me, being me, I designed the layout and tossed in some machine embroidery. Hand quilting is so relaxing, at least in my memory. Perfect project for hanging out with my kids (now 46 and 42) when they were teens. One stitch at time is my moto.
Your thread painting is beautiful and how wonderful that now you have options with your Bernina. The wedding ring quilt is spectacular. I love the colors in this piece.
Yes, I feel very lucky to have the Bernina. It has opened up a whole new way for me to incorporate embroidery into my work. The palette for the double wedding ring quilt were based on the flowers at the wedding.