Jennifer McDougall’s designs in her What Knot to Love series began in Irish Quilting Volume III Issue 1 and continues for the next two issues. Email editorial@irishquilting.ie for earlier issues. You don’t want to miss a single knot!
9½” (24cm) square of contrast colour for motif 9” (22.8cm) tear away paper 9” (22.8cm square of fusible web 12½” (31.75cm) square of wadding 12” (30cm) square of backing
60” x 3⅛” (152.4cm x 9.8cm) material for binding
APPLIQUÉ
1. Trace the knot and circle pattern on the fusible web on the nonglue side. Cut out the outside edge of the designs leaving a ¼” allowance. 2. Following the manufacturer’s directions, press onto the wrong side of the motif fabric. (Te pattern will be reversed on the finished side.) 3. Starting from the centre, work outwards and cut along the lines. 4. Centre knot on the background fabric. Peel away paper and press following the manufacturer’s directions. 5. Lay the circle in place. Peel away paper and press following the manufacturer’s directions.
Jennifer’s Tip Do not pivot cut! This results in cut out “dog ears” in the corners. Pivot cutting is continuous cutting to and through a curve. Lift and reposition cutter for all curves. Trim as accurately as you can. You must be able to see the pencil line when you are done trimming.
Tear Away Stabiliser
Te tear away paper is used as the stabiliser for the embroidery stitching. Practice on a piece consisting of top fabric and this embroidery paper. Audition different widths of embroidery or satin stitch. Te machine embroidery done on this project was with a Janome 6600 Memory Craft. Te tension is 5, the zigzag stitch (#08) is set at 3.0, and the stitch width is set at .60. Keep a log of what stitch you prefer along with your samples. 6. Pin block evenly to secure. 7. With settings defined, stitch along the knot. Te needle should insert directly off the edge, and cross over into the knot edge. Lift and turn for the curves. Work around the motif; either stopping or stitching through the path of the knot. Use the lock stitch to start and end the stitching on the drawn line at the “under” part of the knot. If you do not have a locking feature on your machine, back stitch two stitches and forward two to lock the threads. Do not cut the threads, just lift over and place the needle down in line with the edge – depending where the needle exited. Lock stitch again and continue stitching. Te stitching of the “over lines”, will cover the stop and go of the under lines. When the outside is completed, carry on with the inside. Te method is the same. Snip any cross over threads on the top only. Leave the bottom ones.