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Tips & Techniques
Quilting Upside Down
The Basics of Bobbin Drawing
Along with collecting beautiful fabrics, many of us have stockpiled gorgeous threads that are too thick to thread through a sewing machine needle or too fragile to withstand the machine's tension disks and thread guides. Take heart! Presented here are ways to use your beautiful threads.
Bobbin drawing is a technique of machine sewing from the back (upsidedown) so bobbin threads show on the front of the piece. Although an unlayered quilt top can be embellished using this method, we will focus here on bobbin drawing as a technique for quilting.
Because threads move through the bobbin more slowly than on the machine top and are subjected to less stress, you can use threads in the bobbin that will not work in the machine top. Bobbin drawing broadens the range of threads you can use on your quilts.
Another benefit to quilting "upside down" is that you can avoid marking the quilt top. This is helpful for delicate fabrics and prints that are too dark or too busy for markings to show clearly on the top. You can mark motifs on a backing that has little or no print, quilt upside down following printed motifs in the backing or quilt free motion without marking at all. Remember that asymmetrical designs will be reversed on the top.
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Choosing Threads
Threads for bobbin drawing must be smooth enough to feed through the bobbin tension without snagging and they should be uniform in thickness. Extremely loopy or nubby threads are not appropriate for this technique.
Most regular construction sewing is done with 50-weight thread. If you wish, you can use regular thread for bobbin quilting without having to adjust the tension of either the top or bobbin thread.
A tiny dot of top thread will show with each stitch, so choose this thread in the color you prefer for the look you want to create. The color can blend or contrast with the bobbin thread. Also choose a needle that is compatible with the top thread. For regular thread, use an 80/12 needle. A thinner thread needs a needle with a more slender shaft; thicker threads and specialty threads often require a special needle with a large eye and a deep groove (or scarf) to keep the thread from fraying.
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