over the top?

Nines asked some interesting questions in a comment yesterday. How do I decide when enough is enough while embellishing? First off, I have a very high tolerance for over-the-top. I love the shiny pretty things and the buttons. I have been known to tone myself down when I'm making gifts for other people tho.

Are there any general rules about these things? Not that I know of - it's going to be different for every person and for every project. And if there were rules, I'd probably just have to ignore them anyway.

I do a lot of experimenting - laying my piece down and putting the buttons (or whatever) all over it and seeing how I like it this way or that. Then I'll sew them down. Then if I don't like them, I take them back off. Thats the important thing to remember (and with the quilting stitch too) - you can always undo it unless you're talking about puffy paint, glue, or something else that really can't be undone.

Sometimes you can't learn what is "too much" until you do it.

Don't play it safe, push it. If you've gone too far and don't like it anymore, take it back off. Or, to be completely contrary, keep going on and on. Sometimes you can get over the "ugly" phase and back into liking it again.

I finish off the quilt sandwich (inc binding if I'm using it) before I embellish. So, Nines, you're not doing it "wrong." I like that it makes a dent in the quilt where I sew a button or bead on and that my embroidery stitch has depth. I have all those little knots all over the backs of my embellished quilts and that's okay.

And here's a thought. Nines, how about working with your daughter on the embellishment? You don't want to detract from her artwork, but if the choices of embellishment are hers, then it's still her artwork. You don't necessarily have to do everything she wants, but at least get an idea of what she'd like.

You know you can always get opinions from the gang by posting pics. We're not a shy crowd...

And because it's worth repeating: you only learn by doing. That goes for all of us.

Nines, I hope this answered your questions. If not, give me more details on your project and we can work thru it bit by bit. Feel free to email me if you don't want to post to your blog.