Winner of the Favorite CQ Stitch Poll!
The overwhelming winner of the Favorite CQ Stitch Poll was Feather Stitch with half of the votes submitted! I have to admit that it is probably my favorite stitch as well!
RESULTS
Feather Stitch - 10
Herringbone - 4
Cretan Stitch - 3
Chevron Stitch - 2
Chain Stitch - 1
Buttonhole - 0
Fly Stitch - 0
I was a bit surprised to see that two of the basic stitches received no votes whatsoever!
When working on a project, I try to include all of the basic stitches as I feel the variety adds interest. Here are examples of some of my favorites of each of these basic crazy quilt stitches.
Let's start with the least favorites. What's not to love about Fly Stitch? It offers so many possibilities!
Fly Stitch (on the bottom). Also note the stacked Chevron Stitch above as well as the glimpse of chevron stitch to the right.
Layered Fly Stitch (on the left)
Buttonhole is another great stitch with so much to offer! It makes a fantastic foundation stitch to layer other stitches with. It probably is the stitch I use the least, but when I move beyond the basics, I love this stitch!
Buttonhole Stitch on a curve.
Buttonhole layered with other stitches.
A slightly more traditional buttonhole stitch pattern.
My all time favorite way to use Buttonhole Stitch is with these little leaves!
I was surprised that Chain Stitch was not more popular. It's such a great versatile stitch that can be easily substituted for stem/outline stitch. See the photo above for one example of how chain stitch was used in a serpentine pattern.
Here an alternating or zig-zag Chain Stitch is used to secure down the rick-rac.
Chain Stitch made great stems for this seam.
Chain stitch was the perfect stitch to emphasize these interlacing scallops!
Chevron is one of the first stitches that I got excited about when I first learned to crazy quilt. Nearly any thing you can do with Herringbone, you can also do with Chevron. And that little bar at the top and bottom of each triangle offers so many possibilities!
The first ever Chevron Stitch that I stitched, sitting on top of the lace.
Chevron combined with silk ribbon embroidery
Yet another Chevron Stitch example. Also note the buttonhole stitch "hills"on the left under the flowers. And on the upper right is a great example of detached fly stitch.
Cretan Stitch is a kissing cousin to both buttonhole and feather stitch. As such, it is wonderfully versatile and no wonder its a favorite of many!
A stacked Cretan Stitch. Love the honeycomb shape you can get with it!
Here it is used to hold a piece of rick-rac in place.
A simple, but elegant Cretan Stitch seam.
Herringbone Stitch came in second and that doesn't surprise me at all!
Herringbone stitch all around the white patch on this CD pincushion.
A bold take on a herringbone border.
Herringbone is such a fun seam to work with!
This curved Herringbone is possibly the most favorite seam I have ever stitched using Herringbone ~ and also the most difficult! But worth the fuss as it is spectacular!
And finally, a look at the favorite - Feather Stitch! With so many great variations on a basic stitch, it's no wonder it came in first.
It's beautiful in it's most simple form.
With just a little bit of embellishment, it can be quite lovely.
With so many subtle variations, the possibilities are endless.
I'm guessing that at least half of my seam stitching is some variation of Feather Stitch.
So, so many possibilities!
It can go from the simplest seam possible to one of the most complex!
I hope this glimpse into a variety of the basic seam stitches will inspire you to consider doing more seam stitching on your crazy quilts! If you need more inspiration, In the coming weeks, I will be featuring each basic stitch and showing how to expand it into a fancier seam on my YouTube Channel. Stay tuned!
Layered Fly Stitch (on the left)
Buttonhole is another great stitch with so much to offer! It makes a fantastic foundation stitch to layer other stitches with. It probably is the stitch I use the least, but when I move beyond the basics, I love this stitch!
Buttonhole Stitch on a curve.
Buttonhole layered with other stitches.
A slightly more traditional buttonhole stitch pattern.
My all time favorite way to use Buttonhole Stitch is with these little leaves!
I was surprised that Chain Stitch was not more popular. It's such a great versatile stitch that can be easily substituted for stem/outline stitch. See the photo above for one example of how chain stitch was used in a serpentine pattern.
Here an alternating or zig-zag Chain Stitch is used to secure down the rick-rac.
Chain Stitch made great stems for this seam.
Chain stitch was the perfect stitch to emphasize these interlacing scallops!
Chevron is one of the first stitches that I got excited about when I first learned to crazy quilt. Nearly any thing you can do with Herringbone, you can also do with Chevron. And that little bar at the top and bottom of each triangle offers so many possibilities!
The first ever Chevron Stitch that I stitched, sitting on top of the lace.
Chevron combined with silk ribbon embroidery
Yet another Chevron Stitch example. Also note the buttonhole stitch "hills"on the left under the flowers. And on the upper right is a great example of detached fly stitch.
Cretan Stitch is a kissing cousin to both buttonhole and feather stitch. As such, it is wonderfully versatile and no wonder its a favorite of many!
A stacked Cretan Stitch. Love the honeycomb shape you can get with it!
Here it is used to hold a piece of rick-rac in place.
A simple, but elegant Cretan Stitch seam.
Herringbone Stitch came in second and that doesn't surprise me at all!
Herringbone stitch all around the white patch on this CD pincushion.
A bold take on a herringbone border.
Herringbone is such a fun seam to work with!
This curved Herringbone is possibly the most favorite seam I have ever stitched using Herringbone ~ and also the most difficult! But worth the fuss as it is spectacular!
And finally, a look at the favorite - Feather Stitch! With so many great variations on a basic stitch, it's no wonder it came in first.
It's beautiful in it's most simple form.
With so many subtle variations, the possibilities are endless.
I'm guessing that at least half of my seam stitching is some variation of Feather Stitch.
So, so many possibilities!
It can go from the simplest seam possible to one of the most complex!
I hope this glimpse into a variety of the basic seam stitches will inspire you to consider doing more seam stitching on your crazy quilts! If you need more inspiration, In the coming weeks, I will be featuring each basic stitch and showing how to expand it into a fancier seam on my YouTube Channel. Stay tuned!
Comments
Louise Keene
Thanks for sharing your beautiful work!
Sara at ladystitch.com