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Time to Appliqué – Final Installment

Welcome back! This is the final installment of my appliqué series. If you’re just finding me, here is part 1 and part 2. I hope you have enjoyed my mini tutorial on needle-turn appliqué and I hope it inspires you to try it if you haven’t already! This week, I will finish up with a tutorial on making stems and also how to stitch points and inside corners. Let’s get started!

Making Stems

Many, many appliqué projects have floral motifs that include stems. Some patterns have straight stems (left) and some have curved (right). 

You can just cut straight strips and follow the instructions below to make stems if your project only has straight stems. But, if your project has curved stems you will need to make them from bias cut strips to make the stems more pliable. If I have a project that has both curved and straight stems, I just cut all my strips on the bias to save time.

Step 1: Cutting the bias strips. First, lay out your chosen stem fabric on your cutting mat as shown and align the 45° line of your long (24″) ruler with the bottom of the fabric (the arrow in the photo is pointing to the 45° line):

Now, using the rotary cutter, make your first cut. Then measure and cut out the amount of strips you need. If you need stems longer than the strips produced, you may have to stitch a few strips together before preparing them into stems.

Cut your strips 1/2″ wider than your desired stem width. For example, if you want 1/4″ stems, cut your strips 3/4″ wide.

Step 2: Making the Stems from Strips. To prepare the strips into stems, you have to fold in the strip on both long sides. You can do this by hand, but I prefer to use a bias making tool: 

To use the tool, you slide one end of the strip into the wider end and pull it out the other end. As you are pulling it out, iron the strip to get the sides to stay folded over.

Here’s your stem!

  • Optional tip: If I am making several stems for a project, I like to use a few dots of Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it to keep the sides folded over.

Unless the stems are on top of any part of the applique motif, it’s best to position them on the background and get them stitched in place first before adding any more of the design onto the background. 

Below is my video tutorial on making stems.

Stitching Points and Inside Corners

When I am teaching an appliqué class, this is the trouble spot for most beginners. How do you stitch appliqué pieces with points or inside corners… or both? Since it’s not very simple to explain it in just words, I have this mini tutorial video to demonstrate stitching points and inside corners. Hopefully, this video will help you with this.

So, that’s it for this week! This is the end of the series. Next Monday, November 9th, I will choose 3 commenters over this whole series who will get my pattern Scrappy Gardens:

….and, there will be one grand prize winner who will receive my appliqué starter kit that includes needles, Roxanne’s glue and a Sewline pencil!

Leave your comment or question below to enter the drawing. You can comment on all three blogs and get 3 entries! Like I said above, the drawing will be on Monday, November 9th. ***We have a grand prize winner! Congrats, Kathy in WV. Also congrats to pattern winners: Janet, Edith and Christie***

Happy Quilting & Stitching!
Deanne

Time to Applique – Needle Turn Applique

It’s been a while since I have done a needle-turn hand applique tutorial, so I decided now is the time to do one. This will be a series over the next 3 weeks and, to give you an incentive to read, there will be drawings for some hand applique supplies and patterns at the end. And … there won’t be only one winner! 

Before I get started, I wanted to remind you that it is still Breast Cancer Awareness month and the #SewPINK Initiative continues. Click here for my contribution: By Annie #SewPINK Initiative: Hope & Love. You can still enter my drawing there for two of my SewPINK patterns and a 30% off code for one of my many kits! Here’s this year’s project:

Recommended Applique Supplies

So, let’s get started on the topic of needle turn hand applique. Many quilters are wary of applique because they think it’s too hard. Believe me when I say, it’s not! Here are some supplies that I think are the most important.

  • The right needle. I like the John James applique needle in a size 9.

The higher the size number, the shorter the needle. I have found this to be the right size for me. Test out needles sizes to find the best for you. These needles are also the best for any type of fabric, including Batiks.

We’ll get into thread matching when it’s time to stitch, but it’s good to choose a thread that gives you options.

  • Good lighting. It’s really important to work in good light when doing hand applique. You want to be able to see your work and to make sure you are hiding your stitches. Obviously if you are working in low light, you will not accomplish this. I use a light like this:

I can sit with my sewing beneath the light and look through the magnifying side to make my stitches literally disappear when not under magnification! Now, you do not have to use a magnifier if you don’t want to, but good lighting is a must.

  • Other tools. A few other tools I keep on hand are Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it, which takes the place of pins (no more poking fingers while stitching!), Sewline mechanical chalk pencil for tracing template shapes onto fabric and a good clipping scissors just for fabric. The Sewline pencil comes with leads in white, yellow, green and pink so you will have a line that shows on all different fabric colors.

First Steps

Templates: So now that we have our supplies, let’s get started. Patterns for applique projects will have a template page or pages:

I recommend that you either copy this page onto a piece of card stock, or glue a copy of this page to card stock and then cut out the templates. That will make the template more sturdy for tracing, especially if you have to use it a lot of times. Here are some applique pieces:

If your applique shape is symmetrical, you will not have to worry about reversing it to trace onto the fabric. If it is not symmetrical you will have to reverse it for tracing so the applique piece faces in the correct direction when you stitch it. Most patterns will let you know if you have to reverse a template.

Tracing: Now, it’s time to trace. Use the Sewline pencil or a similar marking device to trace your shapes onto the RIGHT side of the fabric. The line created by your tracing is used as a guide when stitching later. If you are tracing several times onto the same piece of fabric, be sure to leave at least 1/4″ between tracings to allow for a turn-under seam allowance (you do not have to do this if you are doing machine applique).

Preparing for Stitching: Now, you need to cut out the shapes from the piece of fabric as shown. Then clip in the seam allowance which will help you to turn under the seam allowance for stitching.

That’s it for this week’s lesson. Once you have all your shapes traced, cut out and clipped…. it’s time for stitching. Come back next week and we’ll cover that! In the meantime, leave me your comments or questions below and be entered in a drawing for one of my favorite patterns: Scrappy Gardens. There will be 3 winners! 

This pattern is simple enough for those beginning applique. I will also have a grand prize winner at the end of the series who will receive the pattern along with an applique “starter kit” which will include needles, Roxanne’s glue and a Sewline pencil!

All the drawings will take place on Monday, November 9th. So you have plenty of time to enter! Until next week…. ***We have a grand prize winner! Congrats, Kathy in WV. Also congrats to pattern winners: Janet, Edith and Christie***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Needle-turn Applique Tips

Hi! I thought it would be a good time to share some of my needle-turn hand applique tips. Needle-turn applique is one of my favorite techniques since I learned it when I was a new quilter. I’ve been practicing for over 25 years and have some tried and true tips that have always served me well. I know many people are afraid of that “A” word. No need to be! These tips will be shared in a series of posts. This one today is focused on the notions and tools.

Tip#1

One of the tips that I think is very important is to have very good lighting. If you can’t see what you’re working on, you won’t be able to make small, disappearing stitches.

This is a really good light with a magnifier on top. It sits on a desk top so it’s easy for you to put your work under the light to use the magnifier if you choose.

Tip #2

Now it’s time to choose your needle and thread. I recommend applique needles over straw needles but you can use either. Applique needles are also referred to as sharps. The size of the needle you use is personal preference. I use John James Golden Glide size 9:

I like these Golden Glide needles because they stitch just as well on cottons and batiks. As the size number goes up, the length of the needle is shorter. Choose the needle length that is most comfortable for you.

The thread I use is a silk-finished 100% 50wt cotton thread. Mettler is one brand I have used often.  It comes in a variety of colors. If you match the color of the thread to your applique, it helps to hide your stitches better. If your applique piece is multicolored, choose a neutral color. Some stitchers use all neutral colors in different shades from dark to light depending on the color of the applique piece.

Tip #3

Use a good applique glue to help affix your applique motif to your background fabric. This eliminates the need for pins. I like using Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it:

I was so happy when I was introduced to this glue. No more pins poking me while I try to stitch!

Tip #4

You will need a pencil to trace around templates onto your chosen fabric. a good pencil is Sewline.

This is a mechanical style pencil that uses chalk instead of pencil lead. 

To go along with the pencil, I recommend reinforcing your applique templates for tracing. I like to copy them from the pattern directly onto card stock. If you can’t copy them, trace them onto regular paper, cut them out and glue them to card stock. 

By reinforcing the templates, it makes it easier to keep the shape of the motif as you trace around it. Also, you can use the templates over an over! Make sure to have a scissors just for paper when working with applique templates.

Final Tip for This Week:

I like to have several needles loaded with the different color threads I will be using so I don’t have to stop and thread a needle every time I switch colors.

I have a small tin where I keep all my threads for the project I am working on. On the cover I have applied a magnet. I thread my needles with the different colors and put them there for easy access. This tin is also great if I want to take my stitching project on the road.

So, that’s all for now. Leave me a comment below on your thoughts on applique. In the coming few weeks, I’ll go over technique and share a few applique videos.

If you comment, I will enter you into a drawing to win this fun applique lap quilt, High Prairie Blooms:

The drawing will be Friday, October 4th after the applique series is done. ***We have a winner! Congrats, Ariel K.!***

Happy Stitching!
Deanne