Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014 - January's Block

January's block for Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014 is done!  

This is my first try at Brazilian Style Dimensional Embroidery.  At a quilt show some years ago, I bought The Art of Dimensional Embroidery by Maria A. Freitas. The descriptions and diagrams of the stitches were detailed and easy to understand.

However, my first attempts to work with EdMar Rayon thread, the type of thread used in this style of embroidery required the patience of Job... and here's why, vermicelli!

When this thread is unwrapped it springs into tight waves which must be steamed straight. I prefer to steam the threads over a pot of boiling water. In my opinion, the steam iron flattens the thread and defeats the purpose of having light bounce of the curve of the thread, if you can imaging thread being tubular. So having tamed the beast, I now had to learn the names of the different weight of threads, Gloria, Iris, Frost, etc., and the various suggested needles to work the stitches with for the best results.

It was a bit frustrating.  The rayon thread is slick and is Z twisted as opposed to S twisted, see Mary Corbet's Z twisted thread explained.  In essence, what this means is that some stitches for example the stem stitch, instead of holding the thread under the needle, you now must keep the thread above the needle.  The stem stitch does not look quite the same as when done with DMC cotton, there is more texture to it. It's not bad, just different.  All in all, I quite enjoyed learning how to use EdMar rayon threads and I love how the light reflects of the stitches.

Now I move into February's block.  I have some ideas for working that block so stay tuned...

If you would like to leave a comment and I hope you do, please click on the post title...Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014 - January's Block and the Comment dialogue box will open.  Thank you and Enjoy!