I wanted to show how I stipple. Drop your feed dogs and put you stitch length to zero. I actually didn’t realize until after I had my husband do the video that I was stippling white thread on white fabric and it is really hard to see. Towards the end of the movie you can see the stipple work in the shadowy part of the white square.
I absolutely love the look stippling adds to a washed quilt. When I first learned how to quilt I knew I wanted to master stippling. I was told to think puzzle pieces when I am quilting. I actually find it more helpful to think of coral. I also find that when I shut my mind off and just go, it turns out much nicer. The goal with stippling is to have all curved lines that don’t cross each other. Should you cross you lines, congratulations, you have mastered meandering. Meandering is also a free stitch, meaning you control the direction, which allows for lines to cross themselves.
There are several books and methods on learning to stipple. I am a jump right in kinda gal. But, one of my sewing friends has used tissue paper with her stippling design drawn on and then pinned to the quilt and she follows her lines. A word of caution, should the thread be white don’t use a pencil. The pencil will stain your thread. Another friend uses a chalk pen and draws right on the quilt top and follows that. You can also purchased pre-printed papers with a stippling design on it. Which ever method works best for you is fine.
