Time Tested Technique
Dating back to around the 14th century, shadow work is
certainly considered an heirloom technique in a quilter’s
arsenal. First mentioned around the Tudor period,
shadow work was used in fine garments and decor alike,
creating the softened look to hand embroidery. Now, this
classic look has been recreated and specially digitized to
replicate in your home embroidery machine!
Batiks and batiste
They may sound similar, but these two fabrics are
actually polar opposites! Batiks are vibrant and colorful
fabrics, usually abstractly dyed with hearts, swirls or
other motifs through a wax-resist dyeing process. The
end result is bold and bright colored cottons that are
perfect for a hint of fun color beneath your batiste.
Match your outlining
stitches to the appliqués
beneath them to bring out
the muted tones!
Meanwhile, batiste is a very lightweight opaque fabric,
commonly used for linings in garments as well as in hand
embroidery. The batiste fabric will soften the strong
pigments in your batik appliqués, creating the perfect
“shadowed” effect to your quilt blocks!
showing true colors
Get the most out of your shadow effect! When choosing
your appliqué fabrics, match your threads to the fabrics.
When your machine stitches the design outlines over
the batiste, have the matching thread stitch over the
shadow work. This will emphasize the appliqué colors
below, making the block and it’s shadow effect look more
uniform and colorful!
SHADOW WORK | 2 5 2 | BABY LO C K CU R R I CULUM