Friday, April 20, 2012

Eye Fooling

 I love to applique, but
the "A" word can make
many quilters cringe.

The best time is when I can do it by hand, but
there are many projects where that's not practical.
That's when it nice to know how to do
machine applique.

Machine applique can be done so that it
will pass as hand applique.
 I've adapted different techniques from different people
to come up with a method that works best for me.

My favorite way is using spray starch and the mini iron.


The applique pattern  is cut out of freezer paper, 
pressed to the wrong side of the fabric  
and cut out with a  scant  1/4 seam allowance.

The seam allowances are painted
with the the spray starch that I've sprayed into the lid of the can.

Then the seam allowance is ironed up over the freezer paper template
 with the mini iron.
A regular iron would work but can be painful on the fingers.
The edges are crisp and sharp.
Of course, don't forget to remove the freezer paper!

The next product I love to use
 is Roxanne's Glue Baste.

It allows you to put a very narrow and precise
 amount of temporary glue on the seam allowances
so the piece can be placed on the design without the use of pins.

 The key to a fine machine applique is 
1. using a lightweight matching colored thread
2. a sharp needle,
3. good light
4. using the variable overlock stitch with the
mirror-image feature on
and
5. making the stitch very narrow and short.
 You can see the stitch more on the pink, 
stitch, stitch, bite.
 The straight stitches go into the background at the 
edge of the applique
 and the zig-zag just nicks the applique.

There are many great books and classes available for 
learning more details on machine appliqueing.
Like any skill though, it takes practice,
but can be easily mastered to be mistaken for hand applique
and done it a lot less time.

The good point is that 
More time = more projects!

Don't forget to check out my 400th post.


 Until Next Time-


3 comments:

  1. Funny to see this is your method of choice as I was just going to try this! I found another block of the month to try and thought of this method. As if I need to start another project....sheesh.

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  2. Thanks, Kyle! You inspire me to go beyond my comfort zone!

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  3. looks great to me! I too use machine applique' it can be the perfect choice for some projects.
    Can't wait to see the whole piece, I love circles

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