How to Embroider a Quilt

Quilts are the perfect gift for a special occasion, an original touch to brighten a room and bring the decor together. Embroidery can add a beautiful design, a special message, or a recipient or maker's name to a quilt, making it an even more precious item.

Things You'll Need

• Finished quilt or chosen quilt pieces
• Design
• Stiff plastic sheets
• Permanent marker or pen
• Craft knife
• Temporary fabric marker or chalk pencil
• Needle
• Embroidery thread
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Choose your purpose. If you want to embroider the recipient and maker's names on the back, you should do it before the quilt is put together. When adding an embroidered design to the front of the quilt, it can be done during the quilt-making process, or after the quilt is finished and bound, depending on whether you want the design to show only on the front of the quilt or on both the front and back.

2. Choose your design. If adding names or other words, you can either write them out by hand to guide your stitches, or choose a nice, but not complicated, computer font to serve as your stitching template. If you plan to embroider a decorative design, you must create a template from the pattern or picture you're using.

3. Make your template. You can either print it on paper and lay the fabric over the paper to trace with a chalk pencil (this only works if you have a single layer of light colored fabric), or you can create a plastic sheet template. To do this, you need a sheet of clear stiff plastic. Trace your design on the plastic, and carefully use a craft knife to cut the lines you are embroidering.

4. Transfer the design to your fabric. You can use a temporary fabric pen or a chalk pencil for this and simply trace the lines on your template.

5. Choose your stitches. There are a wide variety of embroidery stitches, and your individual quilt and embroidery design determines which ones works best. A small chain stitch is perfect for lettering. It provides an elegant line for the words you're applying. For special designs, consider incorporating other stitches.

6. Apply an embroidery hoop to keep your fabric taut, and begin your stitching. If stitching on a single layer, you can knot the thread on the back of the fabric, and it will be hidden when the quilt is put together. If stitching all the way through the finished quilt, you need to "sandwich the knot." To do this, make a small knot in the thread. Insert the needle at an angle, approximately one inch from where you want the embroidery to start. Slide the needle under that layer of fabric, being careful not to go through the entire quilt, and bring it up where the first embroidery stitch belongs. By holding the thread and fabric taut and giving a little tug, you can pop the knot through the fabric where it will stay safely hidden in the batting of the quilt. Repeat this process at the end of your embroidery to finish it off.

Tips & Warnings

• If using a temporary fabric marker to transfer the design, test it on a scrap of fabric to ensure that it fades or washes out as expected.

Resources

• This website offers detailed directions on a wide variety of embroidery stitches.