With my new Grevillea piece I reversed my usual construction process by stitching the background before the applique! Now this is not a new idea but one I've avoided because I like the flexibility that finalising the composition first allows. Stitching first requires a bit of a leap of faith!
Step one was stitching the background. Doing the stitching first makes the process very easy, no shapes to navigate around so the stitching is very fluid and it's easy to achieve a good result. It also helps to integrate any additions/variations in the background design.
With this piece I added the applique shapes in two steps. Firstly the main structure of the flower and the leaves and secondly the overlapping flower shapes, stitching them down as I built up the design.
If you have followed previous posts you will know that I have had quite some issues with skipped stitches. These skipped stitches occur because of movement in the layers as the needle passes through multiple layers and are very frustrating!!! By stitching the background first this issue is not longer of concern!! So making this piece has been a much more enjoyable experience .......
'Peaches & Cream' - Grevillea 3 © Carolyn Collins 2017 16" x 16"
Have you tried stitching first and what did you think about the process???
Thanks for dropping by ..... CC