Hey everyone. This week you will learn why the quilting world wants your stitches out in the open, how one shop turned two weeks of fall into a whole event, and why customer reviews are suddenly choosing our thread for us. Three different lessons. All of them useful.
The short version: visible stitchwork is the headline — sashiko-style mending and patchwork built from the back forward. A two-week fall event is built around one 60-inch topper you can grow into a throw. And review-led buying guides are helping quilters pick piecing thread, hand-quilting thread, and project bags with real sewers' experience behind them.
Why does everyone want the stitching to show?
The newest Quilting Arts episode over at Quilting Daily is all about visible stitchwork. One maker builds patchwork from the back forward, using the backing and batting as the foundation and letting the stitching balance simple piecing with more complex texture. The other uses sashiko and bold hand stitches to turn mending itself into the design, working on repurposed denim with sashiko thread, embroidery floss, and a size 90 Jeans needle.
Our take: we really, really love this direction. For years we hid our repairs. Now the repair is the point. Start small, y'all. Mend one worn knee or one tired tote with a contrasting thread and big, even stitches. It does not have to be perfect. Visible means honest, not flawless. Slow down through the thick denim seams, or the needle snaps — that part is not a suggestion.
Can one fall topper carry a whole two-week event?
Over at Fat Quarter Shop, fall is not a single post. It is a fortnight. Two weeks of autumn quilting and embroidery projects, recipes, cards, a charity project, and specials, all anchored by a quilt along built around an oversized table topper — about 60 inches square, with lattice blocks and star blocks. Want a throw instead? You simply make more of the same blocks: three more lattice blocks and two more stars, and the topper grows up.
Our take: this is smart planning, folks. One design, two honest sizes. No new pattern to learn halfway through October. Here is what we use in our own sewing rooms for a job like this: sew the topper size first. Live with it on the table for a week. If you still want the throw, you already know the blocks cold. Completely up to you — and that choice is the whole lesson.
Who is picking our thread and notions now?
Meanwhile, Missouri Star Quilt Co has been publishing a different kind of guide on its blog: best-of lists built from customer reviews. There are review roundups for cotton piecing thread, for hand-quilting thread — traditional versus big-stitch — and for the practical stuff we all argue about, like zipper cases, project bags, fabric glue, and basting tape.
Our take: teach first, sell second — and this is teaching, in a way. A star rating alone tells you very little. A room full of quilters telling you which thread shredded, which bag zipper held, and which tape left residue? That is personal proof at scale. Read for the complaints, not just the praise. The complaint that repeats three times is the one to believe. If I can do this, y'all can do it — it takes ten minutes and saves real money.
Corey & Linda's game plan for your sewing week
- Make one mend visible. Pick a worn denim piece, sashiko thread in a colour that shows, and a size 90 Jeans needle. Big stitches, steady pace, no hiding.
- Sew the small size first. A 60-inch topper before a throw, a runner before a quilt. Our Craft Project Ideas series is full of one-weekend makes in that same spirit.
- Let reviews narrow, not decide. Shortlist two threads or notions from what other quilters report, then test one in your own machine. Browse fabric while you plan the project those notions will serve.
- Back the slow project properly. Visible stitchwork and big fall toppers both deserve a backing that will not fight you — our Know Your Widebacks guides walk through the no-piecing options.
Quick answers
What needle do I need for sashiko-style stitching on denim? A size 90 Jeans needle for machine work through denim layers, with sashiko thread or embroidery floss for the visible hand stitches. Slow down over stacked seams.
How do I turn a 60-inch topper pattern into a throw? Make more of the same blocks. In the fall fortnight design, adding three lattice blocks and two star blocks grows the topper to throw size.
That's the roundup for this week. Tell us what you're stitching — and if you need the fabric, batting, or backing to finish it, you know where to find us. Thanks for sewing along with us. We'll see you next time. Bye.
— Corey (Chief Quilter) & Linda, Linda's Electric Quilters
