Favorite appliqué technique?

[Dawn S.]

I flunked all of the needle turn classes that I had ever taken, and thus, never did applique. Then when I was in a Judy Niemyer class she showed us the same method (except we cut all but 1/4" away) that your first tutorial for the first BOM showed. I love it! I love that the applique piece is complete when I place it upon the background fabric, all ready to be either hand stitched (I make sure not to get the glue close to the very edge that my needle goes through) or machine appliqued. Being new to applique, I wasn't sure about leaving the stabilizer in the block, so when making the Bird of Paradise block for you, I painstakingly (word?) did another method! Oh, how I wished I'd known what I know now!!! Bring on the Stable Stuff!! I'm ready to go!!!

Dawn
In beautiful WHITE Northwest Montana

[Nancy M.]

I enjoy needleturn and have tried the "traditional" method of just turning the seam with the needle as I go. I am improving but still need to practice on the points and curves. I am not anywhere near Elly's level of proficiency yet but it is good to have goals :!: I also have recently tried the "Stable Stuff" method with needleturn and like its ease of use. The points are sharper and curves are smoother. I just get tired of the glueing and find that I don't always get the applique piece placed in exactly the correct position and sometimes it moves slightly during the stitching process I have recently read about the "back basting" method and am considering trying it on the 2011 BOM. No glueing needed and because you mark the back of the foundation block and then quickly baste the piece down following the marking the positioning is exact. The basting line is removed as the piece is needleturned and the needle holes from the basting serve as line to follow while needleturning. Has anyone used that method and, if so, do you feel that the points and curves, especially circles, come out well?

Nance13

[Eileen K.]

I usually use needle-turn appliqué and I love doing it that way (especially with my new thimble!!), but I might try the Stable Stuff for this one. I'll have to think about that some.

What new thimble did you get, Robin? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Robin G.]

Hi Eileen, when I was at Houston this year, I bought a thimble made by TJ Lane. I have really small hands and fingers, and I use my thimble on my index finger (I learned that from Alex), so that makes it harder to fit. I've never had a thimble that fit properly, but at the TJ Lane booth, they took the time to make sure this one fits properly. I love it! And it really makes a difference when I'm appliquing. Haven't tried hand quilting yet, but I think it will help there too. Let's see if I can upload the photo:

[Eileen K.]

Beth has this new stabilizer on her site: http://applewd.com/supplies/WashAway.html I've never tried it but she's the pro.

[Margo C.]

Beth has this new stabilizer on her site: http://applewd.com/supplies/WashAway.html I've never tried it but she's the pro.

That looks interesting, Eileen! It's a fusible, so you wouldn't have to glue the foundations in place like the Stable Stuff!

[Betty J.]

I have been making the 2010 applique BOM using various techniques of applique. I've only done a few months so far. January as hand turned edge, February as machine turned edge, and March as fused machine stitched. So far, I found that my hand turned edge is not relaxing for me and takes way too much time and I don't like my work as much (though I suspect practice would improve that). And I thought I would be able to tell a lot of difference between fused raw edge machine stitched and turned edge machine stitched, but I can't. It looks much the same when the blanket stitch is the same, and the fused edge goes almost twice as fast. I don't know how differently the quilts wear if they are for snuggle or bed quilts. I don't think it makes much difference for wall art quilts as to wear and tear.

So I think it depends on how the quilt will be used and how intricate the applique is as to whether I prefer turned edge or raw edge machine stitched applique. Also, there is little difference in the softness if you trim to a narrow edge on the fusible web.

I think I will stick with hand embroidery and knitting for my relaxing stitch work and forget the hand turned applique (though my daughter-in-law really likes it).

[Eileen K.]

Margo,
I have a question. I'm currently doing another applique project and I used the starch method. Now, I'm doing this by hand and the starch makes the edges so hard to stitch through. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for all you do for all of us!

[Margo C.]

Eileen, I'm afraid that that's a trade off with starch and glue, it makes the project stiff, which is a big help for machine work, not so much by hand.
If you want to glue the edges to the Stable Stuff (or to freezer paper) and you know that you will be doing hand appliqué, you need to try to avoid the edges where you will be stitching with the glue stick. Easier said than done, I think, but it's do-able. I've never tried starching the edges for hand work, so I really can't give you first hand advice. Anyone else have some ideas?

Sharon Schamber glues her templates to the back of the fabric then uses needle-turn without turning the edges under with either starch or glue.
Watch a master at work here:
http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com...Blue-Bird.aspx

[Eileen K.]

Hi Eileen, when I was at Houston this year, I bought a thimble made by TJ Lane. I have really small hands and fingers, and I use my thimble on my index finger (I learned that from Alex), so that makes it harder to fit. I've never had a thimble that fit properly, but at the TJ Lane booth, they took the time to make sure this one fits properly. I love it! And it really makes a difference when I'm appliquing. Haven't tried hand quilting yet, but I think it will help there too. Let's see if I can upload the photo:

Way cool, Robin! It has room for your nail and it's so delicate looking.

[Eileen K.]

I'm not crazy about having to have a foundation under my needleturn but with arthritis in my right hand (I'm a lefty), it's hard to hold the pieces down on the fabric firm enough to get them stitched on. Is Sharon's foundation similar to Ricky's? I find his a little hefty.

Have you ever watched Erin Russek's videos on her blog? It's http://www.erinrussek.typepad.com/ Erin is one of the TQS members who is in the 2nd round of the McCall's Quilting Star competition. I've been following her blog for months and she's an excellent applique artist. Or should I call her an appliquist? An appliquer? Who knows the right name? Not me, that's for sure :!:

[Margo C.]

Yes, if you use foundation with Sharon's technique you do have a little more bulk because the foundations stay in the finished project.
I'm not sure, but I think that most of Ricky's appliqués are fused with Steam A Seam II and do not have turned edges.
Alex turns the edges under with starch and a hot iron, but she removes the freezer paper foundations before stitching them in place.

If you are just wanting to hold your pieces in place while you do a regular needle-turn technique, just use dots of glue (I use liquid Elmer's Washable Glue) to hold the appliqué in place while you stitch. That will come out in the wash and you will never know it had been used. Sue uses this technique, but she recommends using Roxanne's Glue-Baste It.

Here's a great little video showing how to do that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhemq...eature=related

BTW...if you are not familiar with Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins you might want to check out their DVD. Here's a trailer for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSpdd...eature=related

Watch Becky on Episode 611 http://watch/watch-shows/video/show-...ece-o-cake-way

Or watch Pat Holly show her FUSED machine appliqué technique on show 608. http://watch/watch-shows/video/show-...achine-appliqu
or her sister, Sue Nickels on episode 402 http://watch/watch-shows/video/show-...-to-perfection

TQS is full of appliqué information!

[Margo C.]

http://blog.caronmosey.com/2010/11/i...-quilters.html

CARON is a great appliquer and she has gathered a lot of information... this is version one of an on going endevor

[Margo C.]

I don't have much experience with applique, so I'm challenging myself with this project and am enjoying this discussion. I prefer the look and finish of needleturn, so the Stable Stuff method is currently looking most interesting to me to try.

[Margo C.]

I use freezer paper. I print out mirror images of the patters, cut them out without seam allowance and Iron on fabric back. I cut them out of the fabric with a scant 1/4", grade and clip seam allowance, then soak the edges with starch and iron the fabric around the paper. I then applique them to the background. Afterwards I open up the back to trim away excess fabric and get the paper out. I have great accuracy with this method and difficult edges don't get frayed up with needle poking trying to get them to turn, expecially with tight little points. They always come out crisp. On tiny pieces I take the paper out before appliqueing.

I really like the look of this quilt and am going to try to keep up with the BOM crowd on it. I'm looking forward to the first block posting while considering the fabric choices.