ITH Mylar Divas Quilt Embroidery Project

Read through the instructions thoroughly before beginning and assemble all the materials needed to complete the project. All seams are ¼”. Use the large sheet of Mylar judiciously; it is added in small sections to the embroidery. Here is the quilt from the front and back—step 3 has an overview of where the strips of fabric are used. Use this as a guide for assembly. You’ll notice the quilt back is all dot fabric except for the print fabric which was placed as the backing for the embroidered blocks. The embroidery is done first with quilting in the hoop, then assembled with sashing/batting into three rows. The rows are then joined together with sashing/batting between. More sashing/batting/borders are added to each side, top, and bottom. Once the quilt is completed, it is squared up and binding is added.

The designs are large so make sure you have a hoop large enough to stitch them. The two fabrics listed in the materials section worked well together; chose the fabrics you’d like to use to coordinate with the designs.

Here is where all the pieces will go on the quilt front and back. Every effort was made to ensure accuracy in all the measurements, but please double check—as is always the rule, measure twice, cut once.

Load the embroidery designs on the machine. Each design takes approximately an hour to complete. The first couple of steps in each design are the same as are the last two steps. The rest of the steps vary in each design. Begin by hooping a piece of poly mesh stabilizer. Stitch Color 1, the placement line. Place down one piece of white Kona Cotton over the placement line. Stitch Color 2 which will tack down the fabric.

From there, follow the color sequence placing down the small pieces of Mylar as indicated. For the sections with Mylar, there will be a placement line, the Mylar is placed down, then the next color will tack it in place.

From there a light density fill will stitch. The excess Mylar needs to be removed when indicated in the color sequence. If your machine doesn’t trim the small jump stitches in small areas, stop the machine and trim them before continuing on.

After all the details of each girl are stitched, the machine will stop. Remove the hoop from the machine but do not remove the fabric from the hoop. Flip the hoop over and spray one side of the batting with temporary spray adhesive. Place the sprayed side down over the back of the embroidery. Spray the back side of the print fabric and place it right side up over the batting. Load a bobbin with the same white thread used on the top. Return the hoop to the machine (make sure the batting and back fabric stay flat) and stitch the color to tack all the layers together. The final color to stich does the quilting around the embroidery design.

Note: for the embroidery design of the girl with glasses, the eyes will stitch and then a placement line is stitched for the glasses, at which point the vinyl is added.

Place down the vinyl and stitch the tack down line; trim the vinyl when indicated and then follow the rest of the color sequence to finish the design.

After all the designs have stitched, use the outer most stitching line to square up and trim the fabric, leaving a ¼” seam allowance.

You’ll have fun stitching all the designs—the Mylar really makes the details sparkle. Next will be to add the sashing with the dot fabric.

Decide on the placement of the embroidered blocks. Follow the outline shown, or decide how you would like them placed.

Measure and cut the sashing pieces to go in-between the embroidered blocks—they are longer than needed but makes it easier for stitching and squaring up the blocks.

Begin by stitching the sashing fabric to the bottom of the upper left most block. Place the right side of one sashing to the bottom of the block, and a second sashing piece right side to the bottom back of the block. Basically, you are sandwiching the bottom of the block between the two sashing pieces which are right sides together. Sew the seam.

Open up the sashing back as shown. To help keep the blocks aligned, place a ruler at the long edge of the block to the bottom of the bottom sashing. Draw a chalk line. Repeat for the other side. This gives lines to center the top of the next block. Now grab the top of the second block in the row and align the upper corners to the chalk line.

Pin the back side of the top of the second block to the right side of the bottom of the first back sashing between the chalked line. Sew the seam and press the back sashing piece.

Fold under ¼” on the bottom front sashing piece—the folded edge should just cover the front of the stitching line just sewn. Cut the batting piece. The edges should just kiss and meet the cut edge of the seam allowances. Press the top sashing piece in place.

I find it helpful to add dots of glue within the seam allowance (indicated by the yellow dotted line) and then press the top sashing seam allowance down with a dry iron; no pinning needed and the glue washes away in the first washing.

Trim the sashing even with the blocks. Use a stitch-in-the-ditch foot if you have one for this next step. The blade of the foot glides right at the seam line.

Adjust the needle to the left a couple of clicks so that the needle is about 1/8” inside of the seam. Place a thread on the machine that coordinates with the dot fabric (bright pink was used in the project in both top and bobbin). Edge stitch both sides of the sashing in place.

Continue on adding sashing between the blocks for the first row, adding batting, and edge stitching.

Add the sashing for the second and third rows. Notice on the middle row that the sashing is at the top of the first block and there is none at the bottom of the fourth block.

Each block finished length is 12”. Cut the dot fabric in the widths needed across the grain; piece the long sashing pieces together. Cut the short sashing pieces to length.

Now the three rows are joined with long sashing strips. Join the cut pieces together with mitered seams to get the length needed.

Measure the length of the rows and add about 2” extra. Cut the middle sashing strips. Just like was done with the horizontal sashing strips, sandwich the rows between the strips, stitch, and cut and insert the batting.

Edge stitch the strips in place. Next will be to add outer strips and borders around the outside.

Begin with the side borders. Cut the print fabric. To the right side of the left border, add the narrow dot fabric strip and sew it to the border. Sew the remaining long edge of the strip to the left side of the quilt top, right sides together. Repeat for the right border.

Since I am going to put this on the longarm to quilt the borders, I cut the side border back pieces wider and stitched them on. I then cut a piece of batting the same length and width, butting it against the seam allowance.

To help hold the batting in place, a light spray of temporary spray adhesive was used on the batting and then smoothed into place, butting it against the seam allowance.

Pins were placed at the edge of the border and then all the layers were basted together. Edge stitching was done along the inner dot strip.

The same steps were repeated for the other side border and then the sides were squared up with the top and bottom of the quilt.

Repeat cutting fabric and stitching the top and bottom border pieces together, adding batting, basting and edge stitching along the dot fabric. Here is the front and back of the quilt.

Quilt the outer border sections as you’d like. I placed the quilt on the frame to quilt the top

and bottom borders first.

The quilt was removed from the frame, turned, and the right and left borders were quilted. The top and bottom borders were quilted with the diamond design and the left and right borders with the lipstick design. Choose what you would like.

The quilt is now ready to square up and bind.

Square up the quilt. The dot edge of the border was used as a guide.

Cut the binding strips, stitch them together, press in half. Sew the binding to the back side of the quilt, mitering the corners, and finishing the end. Press the binding back seam.

Roll the binding to the front, press, and then place a bead of glue in the seam allowance and press in place with a dry iron. This technique I learned by viewing a Sharon Schamber video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2hWQ5-ZccE) and it works perfectly every time!

At the corners, form beautiful miters. Stitch the binding in place—no pins or clips needed!

This ITH Mylar Diva Quilt does take some time to do but the end results are well worth the time spent.

Congratulations! The quilt is completed.

Doesn’t this make a wonderful set? The ITH Mylar Divas Quilt, ITH Mylar Sunglasses Pillow, and the Pillow for Savannah projects are all meant to go together as a coordinating set. Check out the pillow projects a make the complete set for a special youngster in your life.