How to work Wheatear stitch

Wheatear stitch is an easy yet versatile stitch that is often used to depict wild grasses and wheat, as in the sample above. This sample uses various forms of wheatear. Wheatear consists of two straight stitches worked diagonally in a V-like shape before a chain stitch laces together the stitches at the …

French knot

French Knot Tips and Tricks A french knot is a difficult stitch for some people, but I have a tip or two in this tutorial. I am putting them upfront so you notice them before you embark upon learning the stitch. Stitcher’s problem #1: Your knot pops through the fabric …

Detached Chain Stitch

Detached Chain is often one of the first stitches people learn. Many people call this stitch: ‘daisy stitch’, ‘lazy daisy stitch’, ‘tall chain stitch’, ‘loop stitch’, ‘tied loop stitch’, ‘picot stitch’, and ‘knotted knot stitch’. But don’t let those names lead you into thinking that you can only make flowers …

Cretan stitch

Cretan stitch can be used in many decorative ways. With it, you can fill a shape, create a border, or create a line. If you arrange rows of Cretan stitch in lines, it makes a wonderful filling stitch to work within a shape. You can also use it to couch …

Buttonhole Stitch

Buttonhole stitch, or blanket stitch, as many people call it, is actually the foundation stitch for many varieties of Buttonhole. This stitch is often used along the edge of projects — often blankets — hence the name. Never underestimate a stitch-like buttonhole, as it is a marvellously versatile stitch. You …

Madame Worth’s New Manual of Fancy Work

As regular readers know, I am addicted to the Antique Pattern Library as it is such an interesting and free resource. If you have not discovered it before now take a coffee break and have fun poking around these old books. Yesterday, I was doing just that poking around the …

I Dropped the Button Box quilt – a Millennium quilt

The “I dropped the button box” crazy quilt is a Y2K quilt. What is a Y2K Quilt? It is a Millennium quilt. At the turn of the century as it approached quilters made quilts that had 2000 or 2001 different pieces of fabric in them. Millennium or Y2K quilts were …