I bought several courses from Craftsy last year (I waited for their 50% off sale). One of them was Carol Ann Waugh's Stupendous Stitching. It is quite interesting to see her method for using the decorative machine stitches and incorporating basic hand embroidery stitches with these. The finished pieces are quite colourful.
Carol Ann recommends couching satin cord for some of her work. Check out her quick video demonstrating couching cord (scroll down).
I found some satin cord at Wal Mart (of all places). They had different colours but I liked the lime green and hot pink (below) best as they will 'pop out' in a piece. In fact, I use a lot of lime green for accent in my fantasy fabric and in some needle felting.
The satin cord will be a good one to couch in place on a future piece.The lime green in my sample below is yarn and works quite well.
After viewing the Stupendous Stitching Course, I experimented and did a small sample piece. I added some French Knots and seed stitches. I quickly realized that I need to spend more time exploring the decorative stitches on my machine as some work better than others. Colour is also a factor to consider so having a colour wheel handy is a must! I also have a couple of books showing lots of colour combinations. Some people have an intuitive colour sense and can put together a fabulous colour scheme in no time while others struggle with it. Practice, practice, practice! I think that needs to be made into a quilted piece for the wall as a reminder.
Enjoy!
I have some of that cord in my stash - somewhere. Don't remember ever using it for anything (which could be why I'm not sure where it is).
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