The simplest designs to create are silhouette designs. You just define the shape and fill in with stitches. Your eyes will tell your brain what you should see there and the image makes sense. You do not need to spend a lot of time creating stitch details with silhouettes. You can add one small element of contrasting color for added interest.
You can use any image from the EQ7 program or from your own files.
Bring the image into the EQStitch embroidery worktable .
Set the drawing board options to be an embroidery design with no outlines and select one of the textured fill stitches.
Choose a textured fill stitch from the drop down menu. Textured stitches add interest to a simple shape. Be sure to click the OK in the bottom of the box to set the preferences.
Click on the tracing image tab at the bottom of the screen and bring in an image to trace for your design.
Once the image is on the tracing image tab, click on the artwork tab and trace the image shape with the drawing tool of your choice. Remember, you must have a closed shape in order to fill it with stitches. You could choose to leave the silhouette as a simple shape or add another decorative element.
Click on the stitch tab at the bottom of the screen and add the stitch properties of your choice. Export the stitch file to the format required for your machine.
Placing a single element onto a quilt background gives it more of a presence and your eye is directed to the simplistic beauty. This design style would work really well on a bag also.
The design is simple and does not take long to digitize, but stitching can take quite a long time especially if it is a large area. The solid fill also uses a lot of thread.
I will be teaching at the EQ Academy in April. Registration is happening now through the EQ website. I hope to see you there!
01-16-2017
8:56 am
Thanks for your timely blog! Just yesterday I pulled out 12 silhouette blocks that only had the silhouettes fused to each block. They’re all of horses, so I decided to pad them a little with fusible batting (within a quarter inch of the pattern) and will work on stitching today. I’m also visualizing borders and sashing as I go. I have a huge stash of fabric, so I’m confident I’ll find the “look” I want. I will lay out the quilt in EQ before finalizing the design and completing it. Thanks for your tips!
01-16-2017
9:40 am
Thanks for the feedback. I love hearing what people are inspired to do with the information from the blog. There are so many different ways you can apply the designs for a special unique look. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Yvonne