MONTH 4 — Ask Questions Here

[Barbara B.]

Please use this TOPIC to ask questions about Month 4.

[JANET E.]

Do you glue down all the cone flower pedals and then do the hand applique? Or do you work on one pedal at a time? Thanks.

[Patricia S.]

Janet..I found it easier to do one petal at a time. Sewing the extreme outer ones first, then add the next one.

[NinaMarie]

I know that some people glue theirs all down, but I do them on at a time only because that way I can see exactly how the placement will end up as I go. I ended up cleaning a lot of silver lines off my project. Luckily they came right off!

[Connie H.]

Barbara, how did you press the seams around the triangles, i.e., did you press them open?

[sewskeel]

I have the same question

[Barbara B.]

Barbara, how did you press the seams around the triangles, i.e., did you press them open?

I pressed toward the Hollyhock blocks on the top and bottom rows and toward the Stem section on the middle rows.

There isn't a best method on pressing this one, whatever seems to work best for you would be the way to go.

Shuould I clip the notch on the leaf.? I’m having trouble getting it to turn under. I did finger press the seam allowance.

[Donna M.]

Barbara's video this month went over the fabrics to use every month by using the Material Requirements document posted at the beginning of the year. I sorted the kit as soon as I got it with little tags like this:

[Barbara B.]

Shuould I clip the notch on the leaf.? I’m having trouble getting it to turn under. I did finger press the seam allowance.

Yes. A tight "inney" curve like that benefits from small clips at the tightest part.

[Carol G.]

I have a general applique question, not specific to month 4. I'm new to applique. What's the smallest piece of scrap you save?

In cutting the petals, fitting them economically on the fabric, I have lots of small pieces left. Do you save anything smaller than 1 inch square?? I know there will probably be small pieces coming up, like circles in the next border & on the 'tabs'. I'm just so used to piecing! Not used to working with small pieces. Thank you

[Donna M.]

When I first started hand applique projects around 6 years ago, I saved everything. My thought process was "I might need it someday". Then as the little bits in one basket turned into more bits in three baskets I became more discerning. I now only save bits that are 2" square or larger. I'm now looking into services like retoldcycling.com and local non-profits that will accept textile scraps to find something else to do with them. The scraps that I do save will be used in a "make your own fabric" day where I just want to get into a groove of sewing them altogether with no rhyme or reason. I first got that idea from show 1410 with Bonnie K Hunter.

[NinaMarie]

well let me preface this answer that I have enough fabric for at least three lifetimes! When I'm doing a project like this I put all the scraps in a pile on the end of my table and if I need more of a certain fabric I grab from that pile. But I definitely, don't save things that are teeny tiny or odd shape - life is too short.

[Helen W.]

Barbara's video this month went over the fabrics to use every month by using the Material Requirements document posted at the beginning of the year. I sorted the kit as soon as I got it with little tags like this:

Donna, Your little tags is a perfect way to make it quick and painless to find the right kit fabric. I am not using a kit but I
bet a lot of the 500 quilters that bought kits (Barbara mentioned that number in her video) will use your idea. HelenW

[Helen W.]

I have a general applique question, not specific to month 4. I'm new to applique. What's the smallest piece of scrap you save?

In cutting the petals, fitting them economically on the fabric, I have lots of small pieces left. Do you save anything smaller than 1 inch square?? I know there will probably be small pieces coming up, like circles in the next border & on the 'tabs'. I'm just so used to piecing! Not used to working with small pieces. Thank you

Carol, I was like you when I started quilting. It was years before I started doing applique. When it did, I started saving those
small scraps. Like Donna said the bags multiple quickly. In general now I save everything for one project until it is done,
then I save pieces that are are big enough for circles like Karen K Buckley. Sometimes I make up some circles with the
smaller pieces knowing that I will use them some day. I hate throwing the beautiful fabric scraps out. HelenW

[Bernice A.]

Okay I am positioning the cone flowers according to the diagram and centring the flower . However the last leaf on the right side will cover part of the circle that is on the vine , a medium circle that is reddish striped with a small yellow centre . Is anyone else having this problem ? What went wrong ? I think I placed the stems diligently and the circles .
Bernice

[Barbara B.]

Either circle is not right or coneflower is too high or low. Photos on Month 4 Show Your Progress Here seem like a few others have similar situation.

[Donna M.]

I'm having the same problem. So I decided to just tuck that petal under the coneflower head just a little bit more. I feel as long as it is consistent it will still bring me joy.

[Azenath W.]

same issue with mine.

[Carol G.]

When appliqueing pieces that overlap, like the petals, do I need to sew through all fabric layers? Like petal/petal/background. Is it ok if I just sew through the adjacent petal fabric? I've watched several TQS applique shows and other videos, but I don't know if anyone gets into specifics like this.

[Barbara B.]

I only sew pieces to one layer, just the fabric below the piece you are appliquéing on.

[Carol G.]

Do you glue down all the cone flower pedals and then do the hand applique? Or do you work on one pedal at a time? Thanks.

I'm not sure if anyone answered your question. What I did, and I am new to applique, I glued down 3 petals, alternating them, and sewed those down. Then I glued the remaining 3 petals & sewed those.

[Paola B.]

How do I find Barbara's blog? Is there a link somewhere that will take me to it?

[Carol G.]

How do I find Barbara's blog? Is there a link somewhere that will take me to it?

Here's the link: https://bbquiltmaker.blogspot.com/
I think it is linked somewhere on TQS, but I have it bookmarked