Quilted Drawn Thread Embroidery

I antiqued through the states of Iowa and Nebraska last week. My favorite shop was found in Missouri Valley, Iowa, at Missouri Valley Antiques, just west off Hwy 29. I had a particularly good time in this booth!I spent a whopping $23 and I gathered at least a dozen linens. My choice to pop on the frame when I got home, was this beautiful, drawn thread embroidery. I started with a cotton backing, then a layer each of 80/20 and wool batting, then a piece of shiny, blue polyester.Next, I put a piece of lightweight, shiny white poly. I always like a little bit of shine under the open work. I could have left the blue to come through, but I wanted to tone it down just a bit.I use the channel locks on the long arm to square the linen to the backing. The locks allow the machine to literally lock into a horizontal or vertical track, therefore keeping my stitching square. I spray a bit of water on the linen so that I can manipulate and slightly stretch the piece to square. I stretch and stitch with a vertical channel lock in this photo. Lots of one handed work on these linens. I also let the embroidery or cutwork guide my lines.

Next, I cutaway any of the excess underlying material.

I like to outline all of the embroidery and cutwork before I start to quilt. It's like getting my canvas ready for the paint! At this point all of the prep work is finished and the quilting begins.

You can see at this point how much pouf there is to the drawn thread areas that weren't quilted. This is where I like to add glass beads, then I always yell, TA-DA!