Why is applique distorting?

[buescherbari]

My appliqued stems are fine until they get damp from water I've used to get rid of quilting marks.

Is this a sign I didn't fuse correctly, or is this the Wash and Gone stabilizer starting to dissolve?

Fingers crossed hoping someone can help me understand what I did incorrectly so I can fix if need be.

Many thanks!

[Helen W.]

My appliqued stems are fine until they get damp from water I've used to get rid of quilting marks.

Is this a sign I didn't fuse correctly, or is this the Wash and Gone stabilizer starting to dissolve?

Fingers crossed hoping someone can help me understand what I did incorrectly so I can fix if need be.

Many thanks!

I see no one has answered your distortion problem. Your quilting and edge stitching is beautiful. Did you wash it after doing the
blanket stitching as edge stitching, or was the edge stitching part of the quilt process. The only thing I can think of, was like you
said, the Wash and Gone is partially dissolved causing the lifting look. But it also could be if you preshrank the fabric, and not the
batting and the batting was cotton, it could shrink when you washed it to get rid of the Wash and Gone stabilizer. If the blanket stitch was thru the batting too, that might cause distortion.
If it were me, in the future, I would wash the Wash and Gone stabilizer after making the block and before quilting the quilt.
That way you see how much of it dissolved. If it is all in the quilted quilt, you really can't tell. Also, I always do my edge stitching
of applique as a part of block construction. Then when I quilt it, I just outline stitch around the edge of the applique matching
the thread to the background. I would love to see a picture of the whole project, it looks like it is beautiful. HelenW

[buescherbari]

Thank you for the kind words, Helen. I'm looking forward to sharing when it's done in a few weeks.
To answer some of your ideas...I didn't prewash fabrics. Being new to this much applique I made sure to follow the pattern directions, so I fused, did the blanket stitching with Wash and Gone beneath the appliqued block, and then assembled the top. The applique was outline stitched after sandwiching, and the batting is Quilters Dream Poly, medium weight. For the sake of discussion, I've found that if I wet down the scrunched area I can massage it flat enough again to press it to get it looking right again. I want to block the whole thing but I'm afraid to give it a good cold water dunk if the applique will pucker. I don't relish the idea of having to wrestle the alphabet and all the rest back into shape.
Still wondering if anyone else has seen this happen before. I'm wondering if I didn't get the fusing quite right and different layers are shrinking or affected by the surrounding stitch density.

[Helen W.]

buescherbari, The Poly batting should not shrink. My bet is that the Wash and Gone is not dissolving
properly. I remember once Barbara Black said something about next time she used a wash away
stabilizer she was going to wash it away after making the blocks, not waiting until the quilt was done
and then trying to have it dissolve. Looking forward to seeing pictures. Is it the Janet Stone BOM.
You mentioned alphabet. HelenW

[buescherbari]

Yes, A to Z for Ewe and Me. Admired it a long time and jumped on it when it was available again last year.