Needleturn Appliqué

[Robin G.]

Judith, you might also check out the TQS show with Suzanne Marshall—it was in the 2nd season, 203, maybe? She's a marvelous needle-turn appliqué'r and also a marvelous hand quilter.

[Robin G.]

THANK YOU Rita for posting the link for those applique lessons. I have seriously scrolled through the forum several times and just haven't found them yet. I was at the point of asking someone to please help me, but wasn't sure where to post the question without starting a new thread. I really wanted to see those, although I have gone back into the Craftsy class I took on hand applique, I also wanted to check them out. It's good that their classes are always accessible.

Thanks, Rita.

[Judith A.]

Robin, You are right. Suzanne Marshall's show is 203, which I missed. Thank you very much.
And I love your self-portrait! It has lots of personality!

Judith

[Judith A.]

So, I can do needle turn applique - not too bad, actually. However, how do you mark the background house fabric (...or whatever...?) so that each window is in line with the others? I just appliqued three (nice looking) windows using the freezer paper method - the only thing is, they are not all aligned, although I did mark my fabric. Looks a bit wonky. :blink:
Maybe I could adapt that as my personal style, and just make everything wonky. Right now, however, I'd rather not.

Anyone with advice?

[Renata L.]

Terrie, I cut a sheet of tracing paper to fit my printer tray, then attached it to a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper with a little bit of tape and copied the picture of the house onto tracing paper. Then I put the house printed on tracing paper on top of my actual fabric house so I knew where to place the windows. I folded the tracing paper back on the line of the top of the windows and then was able to place my second level windows (third floor for Americans) where they needed to be; I refolded the tracing paper along the edge of the first floor (second floor) windows, placed my rectangles flush with the paper where the windows were located; then did the same thing on the ground level (first floor for some of you). That is how I managed to line things up. Does that make sense?

[Renata L.]

Thanks, Renata. That sounds brilliant. I had only place my freezer paper over the full-sized template of the house and marked the top, both sides and bottom of each window. Then I made 8 freezer paper templates and sewed them to the window fabric. Then matching the marks on the \house fabric, I pinned and stitched the windows. All that equaled 'wonky' I will have to take out and do over. Perhaps if I was machine appliqueing, with fusible, it would be more accurate, but I'm not too confident of my machine appliqueing, the stitches seem to become uneven, and I'm not sure how to 'stop'

[Renata L.]

Renata, I'm still working on this. Are you doing needle turn applique? Are you using glue? Freezer paper? Card stock? My windows are paler in colour than the background house fabric, so I will need to do something, probably cut out the backs. Thanks in advance...

[Renata L.]

Renata, I'm still working on this. Are you doing needle turn applique? Are you using glue? Freezer paper? Card stock? My windows are paler in colour than the background house fabric, so I will need to do something, probably cut out the backs. Thanks in advance...

Terrie, I've been out most of the day... sorry for not replying sooner. I am doing needle turn applique'. For the windows, I'm using fusible wash-away applique' paper so that I don't have to remove it later. I am using just a teeny bit of Roxanne's basting glue on the outer portion of the seam allowance to keep the turned fabric in place. I don't like smearing glue everywhere because it is harder for me to push the needle through the glue when doing the needle turn applique'. For the other pieces (like the birds), I'm outlining the applique' on the front of the fabric and before I start sewing, I gently fold around the drawn line with my fingers so that it is easier to push the fabric under with the toothpick (no fusible, no card stock, no NOTHING!).

I just purchased some long milliners needles size 10 (Rita mentioned milliners and so did Lynette Anderson so decided to give them a try) and I found my needle turn applique' work much, much easier to do. The needle has enough flexibility that you can easily push the needle down into the fabric from the top and come back through to the top on the left without fighting the fabric along the way. Unlike the John James sharps needles I was using before, these milliners needles flex but don't permanently bend.

I did not think I'd be saying this, but I'm enjoying needle turn applique'!

[Rita C.]

Terrie, I have done the same as Renata, I used fusible wash away stabilizer. It is slightly stiff so holds the shape of the window well when you turn under the fabric. Here are a couple of photos of how mine look - I turned in the corners straight i.e. I didn't fold in the corners first and then each side on top of that like Lynette demoed on the recent show because I found the corners were not as neat that way. I used a Sewline fabric glue pen to stick the fabric to the stabilizer.





I hope that helps.

[Judith A.]

What brand and size of milliner's needles do you recommend?

Judith

[Renata L.]

Hi Judith, I would not know what to recommend because this was the first time I had purchased milliners and I could only find one kind at my quilt shop (did not want to wait for mail order). They were #10 Milliners Needles (straw) by Tulip, a reputable Japanese company. They had other sizes but I thought #10s were perfect for needle turn applique'. The claim is that these needles are flexible and warp resistant and I definitely found them to be so. I totally enjoyed using them and they were definitely easy on my hands. After buying them, I did look them up online and found that you can purchase them through Amazon. They are a bit expensive, but to me, well worth it both for comfort and performance.

[Renata L.]

An add-on to the milliners needle post I just wrote: I did see that Tulip sells a set of milliners needles in a pack of three sizes (I think it was #8, 9 and 10--two each) if you want to play with different size needles. I was happy just to get the #10. Tulip also makes a range of other needles, from tapestry to embroidery to sashiko.

[Judith A.]

Renata, Thanks again for sharing what you have learned. I appreciate it.

Judith

[Jo H.]

I had to pop in and comment on the Tulip needles. I've been using them for a couple months now and must admit that they are the finest needles I have ever used. I've tried the milliners, appliqué, chenille, and sharps. They are worth every cent you pay for them. I used them exclusively on my tablecloth quilt and the appliqué ones make joining hexagons a breeze. The only negative is that the eye on the appliqué needles is small. I used a needle threader to aid my senior eyes.

[Judith A.]

JoJo, I appreciate you sharing your experience with the Tulip needles. That helps.

Judith