Applique?

When Angela and I did our first applique DJ block, she told me it gave her some trouble, so I offered to show her how I do applique. ~I should have a disclaimer here: I am not an applique expert! This might not even be the 'right way' to applique, but it works for me. ;-) For many years I was allergic to hand stitching of any kind. (not medically, but it was my favorite excuse) ;-) Just ask my Mom~ she made some outrageous deals to do hand stitching for me while I cleaned the house, baked, made dinner, etc etc etc :-)) **giggle** I was pretty much willing to do anything to get out of hand stitching! ;-) LOL, oh if only I knew then what I do now! ;-) I now make the same deals with my DD. LOL! :-))

I am a great student of applique and have read a lot, picked anyone's brain who would humor me, and tried it a few times. I discovered I cannot use the needle to turn under the allowances~ too klutzy. :-)) But I love the look of applique on quilt borders!~ I haven't worked myself up to attempting any yet. ;-) I'm taking it slow~ a block here and there is doable. ;-) The best tips I got came from my friend Karen who does beautiful applique and has made whole wall hangings with lovely appliqued blocks~ {sigh} someday. :-) She uses freezer paper and starch. Yes, I know what you are thinking!, I tried it before too but this is what I didn't know~~~ ;-)

You can use layers of freezer paper to make a stiff template!~ I press together 3 layers with a dry iron (no steam) on a piece of parchment paper. The parchment keeps the freezer paper from sticking to your ironing surface. (a teflon sheet works too). If they don't stick together, you didn't let your iron heat up hot enough. ;-) Then I cut out my templates. For the block we are working on (G-11 Decisions, Decisions) the pieces are little diamonds. I used the 60º line on my ruler to cut 4 little 3/4th's inch diamonds.Press them to the back of your fabric (dry iron). I tried to lay them with the sides on the straight of grain. If I were doing leaves or some other curved shape, I would press them so the curve was on the bias~ it makes turning them so much smoother. ;-)

Cut out the shapes~ I don't leave a true 1/4 inch seam allowance on such small pieces. I have read that some needleturn appliquer's only leave an eighth of an inch~ I leave a bit more than that. ;-) I trim the points off, leaving a small amount to press under.Here is where I starch. You can spray a small amount in the cap or a little bowl and use a Q-tip to apply it to the seam allowances, or you can just give it a shot. ;-) I'm lazy~ it got a shot! :-)) If you have a small Clover iron, it works really well to press the seam allowances back. I tried this one with my big iron and a wooden toothpick and it worked fine (probably because it is all straight edges). I press with no steam throughout~ it really saves your fingers if you happen to get too close to what you are pressing. ;-)Your first press is the point allowances.
Then two opposing sides.Then the remaining sides. Anytime the starch has dried from a previous press~ give it another shot, or dab or whatever. Use the toothpick to hold the allowances down~ it saves your fingers from the heat. ;-)If the allowance is too big for the point you can either trim a bit more or press it back on itself. I had one that didn't want to cooperate that I pressed back a bit. (sorry for the blur~ I didn't wait for auto focus :-o) I use the toothpick and my finger nails to make those points as sharp as I can. If you mess up, you can easily press it open and start again.When you are happy with your points, give a good press from the front using a pressing cloth or covering them with a bit of fabric~ muslin scraps work well. I use the cloth on the front so nothing gets over-pressed or shiny. Allow them to cool completely.

Then pop out the freezer paper templates. I open the seam allowances very carefully and peel it out... you could make only one and reuse the template for all 4 pieces. Then press them again, they should be holding their shape really well by now, and you are ready to applique them down. :-)
I cut the background a little larger so I had something to hold onto and made registration marks by folding light creases in my background fabric. I put in a pin from the back~ you could use a dab from a glue stick if you wanted. Take little stitches and make sure to take a stitch at each point. I love silk thread for appliquing. I don't have a thread to match every applique, but I find I really don't need it~ the thread sinks into the pieces nicely.
Here we go~ :-)
I'll trim them down and sew them into my block today.
I hope this helped Angela! ;-)
Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!! :-)