Placing pieces for applique ?

[Eileen K.]

When you are making an applique block where there are several pieces and some are tucked under others (or to say it another way some are in the background and some are in the foreground), do you put all the pieces on the background fabric and then applique everything? Or do you put a piece at a time (beginning with background pieces) applique that piece and then add another?

[Eileen K.]

If they are pieces that all go together--such as a flower that will go on a stem. Let's make the flower a daisy. I would attach the petals to the center piece; after appliqueing the stem and leaves to the background, I would add the flower head. But I don't always do things this way. It really depends on the applique and the technique. If I were working with fusible, I would probably put as much together as I could on a teflon sheet and then put them on the background. If I am doing needle turn applique, I would probably do as above with the daisy example. I would probably also use that method for machine applique. Clear as mud, huh. I guess what I am saying is what ever happens to work at the time I am doing it.

[Margo C.]

Karen, like Ritzy, I often pre-assemble units to be appliqued, but you can also add one piece at a time, working from the background up. When you do that, it is difficult to see where to place the pieces on top because you can't see the pattern through the layers to position the top pieces. When that is an issue, I use a piece of vinyl as my placement guide. I place it on TOP of the block and can lift it up to place the top layers in their proper positions.

I used this technique for my tutorials for our first TQS BOM, Bouquets for a New Day:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album...aGQwDk?start=0

Hope that helps!

[Margo C.]

Thanks to both of you for your reply - that does help.

[Robin G.]

Hi Karen, the newest issue of American Quilter has an interesting article on appliqueing on coffee filters. The author, Barbara Burnham, traces the units — flowers, say — on a coffee filter, then appliques all the parts of the flower onto the filter, leaving the parts that would touch the background fabric un-sewn. When the unit is together, she tears away the coffee filter, then appliques the unit down to her background fabric. That sounds similar to what Ritzy and Margo described, but gives a stable base for the pieces. I'm thinking of trying that with Ricky's stable stuff or Beth Ferrier's wash-away applique because it seems like you could then just leave the base in your quilt and it would add some puff behind the applique. Have fun and let us know what works for you!