the rhodes stitch
Looking for a little volume in your life? Then the Rhodes stitch is just the thing: it naturally builds upon itself without even trying!
To get the most voluminous bang for my buck when working this stitch, I love to use a Sashiko needle with a heavier weight thread (my go-to is Aurifloss), but you can play with thread weights to get different levels of volume. Note: I highly recommend using thread gloss for any hand quilting, it just makes stitching so much smoother.
To start, grab your fabric pen and make a dotted outline of a square (with an equal number of dots on each edge). Bury your thread and come up at one of the corner of your square.
Make your first stitch to the opposite corner of the square, coming back to the topside of the quilt at the first counterclockwise dot next to the original corner.
Make your next stitch to the next counterclockwise dot of the opposite corner of the square.
Continue working your way counterclockwise around the square.
Finish by burying your knot on your last stitch on the back of the quilt. Step back and admire!
