I wanted to use a dark fussy cut motif on a same dark color ground. The dark elephant was cut from a light ground so there was a halo of gold around it. While needle turning the edge I asked myself what if I just leave a small amount of the light ground showing?...but then what if (?) I vary the amounts of that lightness in thickness, letting it show more here and disappear there. I was thinking this would give it more of a drawn line quality. I let the stitches show a bit to to break the line here and there. I think this effect makes the applique and the background integrate well. Technique being used here.
This method is seems sort of another version of this...except working with the background of the cut out as a line.