Welcome back to my appliqué class here on the blog! When we last left off, the templates were prepared and shapes traced from fabric. The seam allowances have been clipped. So now what do you do?

This is when we use the fabric glue! We need to position the appliqué where we want to stitch it …. but we don’t want it to move while we are stitching. Instead of using pins, I like to use the fabric glue we talked about when we began this series.

See how I only use small dots of glue? You do not want to use too much glue because it will bleed through your fabric and create a mess. Also, it’s less glue to worry about when we get to a later step. You can re-position the appliqué, but it’s a good idea to get it placed where you want it the first time. It takes about 30 seconds for drying time. If you lift up the piece before the glue has dried, your appliqué may shift during stitching.

So here is the appliqué applied to the background:

Next, we move onto the appliqué stitch. The best way to describe your goal here is hiding the stitch. To start out, choose thread that matches the appliqué shape as closely as possible.

As you can see, the color I picked matches the pretty well.

Now, the stitch that is similar to the one used when stitching binding to the back of a quilt, essentially a blind stitch. The following photos will display the stitch and how it should look.

Above is the first step, coming up from underneath and catching the edge of the appliqués seam allowance.

Next push your needle back down, in the background only, but right next to the place where your first stitch came up from the back in the first step. In the second photo above, you can see when you pull the thread all the way through, there is just a little “dot” of thread visible! Continue on stitching the way all around the shape. The stitches should be about a scant 1/8″ apart.

Hopefully, you have enjoyed this brief appliqué series. If you want an in depth class, I have one online with The Quilting Company!  The name of the class is Sew-on-the-Go with Needle-Turn Hand Appliqué. It’s a 6 session course using my pattern, Bloomin’ Days. The pattern is free with the course!

It’s fun! Give it a try! If you are just finding this blog, here are the links to the first two entries in this series: Applique is Fun! I’ll Help You Get Started and Applique is Fun! Part 2.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne