Embroidered quilt squares?

[bobw103]

I have searched until my eyes are crossed so thought I would just give up and ask.
Having thoughts for the memory quilt I am making for the grands and I would like to machine embroider on some of the blocks that do not have pictures on them. Can I hoop and embroider once the quilt sandwich is put together (will have flannel squares-batting and back) or is it best to embroider the block first?
This seems like something that I should know but I over think things way too much
Thanks
Bobbi

[Genny]

I have searched until my eyes are crossed so thought I would just give up and ask.
Having thoughts for the memory quilt I am making for the grands and I would like to machine embroider on some of the blocks that do not have pictures on them. Can I hoop and embroider once the quilt sandwich is put together (will have flannel squares-batting and back) or is it best to embroider the block first?
This seems like something that I should know but I over think things way too much
Thanks
Bobbi

You can embroidery with the quilt together using a magnetic hoop. Beaware though, your embroidery stitches will go thru to the back and will look different then the front side.

[Patrice]

Since you are doing their names and not a quilt design I would embroidery them before you put it together. It would look much nicer on the back

[auntiemern]

I would strongly suggest embroidering first. You could do it after it was finished, but you would have to be careful to only go thru to the batting and not the back.

[HandsOffItsMine]

I always embroider the block on an oversized background first, then work the background into the block. I just like the way it looks when the back of the quilt doesn't show the back of the embroidery in reverse. IMHO lol

[Claire Hallman]

It just depends on the look you want. I frequently "quilt" my quilts with my embroidery machine. I put the sandwich together, do some SITD to hold the thing together and then use the embroidery machine to embellish the quilt. I do not use stabelizer, I put just the bottom hoop on the machine and attache my quilt sandwich to the hoop with binder clips like office supplies type clips. I have had great success with that method but you do have to consider that your embroidery will show on the back of the quilt. I like to use redwork type designs since they are outlines rather than solid stitching. This is a butterfly on the back of one I did.

[Auntpiggylpn]

I just tried to embroider names on a quilt for a family member. Key word . . . tried! It is an aunt's quilt that her mother made right before she died 2 years ago and it is a handpieced double wedding ring. Her mother already has it together and hand basted and I am going to do the hand quilting on it. I thought it would be cool to put the mother & father's name and wedding date in the center ring and then spread the 7 siblings names and birthdays in other rings. Well, I tried really hard to do this without the embroidery stitches not going through to the back. I just couldn't/can't get it to work. I could unbaste it but I'm not that energetic!

[Pattycake]

Whether to embroider first or after the quilt sandwich is put together depends on the design. Anything embroidered on the square will have its mirror image on the back. I think redwork type designs and those made speficially for quilting work best afer the sandwich is put together. Dense designs work well only when stitched on the block first.

[madampolo]

I don't own an embroidery machine, so I have never encountered your issue. I just envy anyone with such a machine. What I envision is making blocks that have an embroidery design on each (or many) of the blocks. Good luck on however you decide to do your quilt.

[Madeforyouinma11]

I was looking for the same info just before coming on today. I found a site that might help you decide. It is: emblibrary.com if you go a little more than half way down the page there is a tutorial for quilting with embroidery. I agree with everyone above that it depends on what you are going to embroider. If it is not a reversible design, or if it has too many stitches it will not look nice on the back. Personally I would only embroider after using a redwork design or something with not too many stitches that would be part of my actual quilting design. Hope this helps.