Applique And Quilts

Applique is beautiful to be sure and time consuming as well. In days gone by , it is said that applique quilts were made by women of leisure.

Applique patterns can be in the form of a large design or as a small motif, which would be made up into blocks and then sewn together in the same way as a patchwork or a pieced quilt would be made. When making a small motif you can use scraps of fabric that you may have on hand.

Designs can be and often are drawn up free hand or traced from a pattern. In a Hawaiian type of applique quilt, the designs are made by the paper folding cut out technique. In other words you would fold up a sheet of paper cut out the design (very much like a snow flake), The paper cut out would then become your pattern , which would then be traced onto fabric.

Applique consists of a background fabric of which shapes are placed upon and stitched down.

This is really a great technique as you are able to place the shapes anywhere you like, You are not limited to precise placement of the shapes as you are when it comes to piecing the quilt.

In traditional applique, you would place a shape on top of the background fabric turn the edges under and hand stitch the edges to the background fabric. You would then use a blind stitch method using the same color of thread as the applique` piece.

The easiest and quickest way to applique` would be to use freezer paper and then machine applique.

1. Trace your shape into the dull side of the freezer paper. Cut out the shape and place it shiny side down onto the wrong side of your applique fabric. Leave enough fabric around the edges to allow for a seam allowance. Using a hot iron, press in place. The paper will stick to the fabric.

2. Cut around the shape , leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance all around the outside edge of the freezer paper. Clip around curves, up to the edge of the paper , but do not cut into the paper.

3. With paper side down, position the shape, on top of the background fabric, pin or baste the shape in place. Turning the edges under and blind stitch in place. Or if you want the stitching to show you could stitch around the shape using a blanket stitch. The freezer paper will add stability to the shape making it easier to turn the edges under.

4. To remove the freezer paper, turn your work over to the wrong side, cut away the background fabric, to within 1/4 inch inside of the stitch line, being careful not to cut through the paper as not to cut your applique piece.. remove paper.

Machine Applique

Machine applique will be visible, as you will be using a zigzag, buttonhole, or any other decorative stitch that your sewing machine may have. So with that in mind, think of the stitch as ornamental.

1. Cut out the shape without a seam allowance and position it right side up on your background fabric

2. Sew around the shape using a zigzag or buttonhole stitch. Your stitches should be close enough together to conceal the outside edges of your shape.

Please watch the video to learn more applique techniques

Discover how to machine appliqué in a whole new way! Rose Hughes' Fast-Piece Appliqué technique demonstrates how to use freezer paper for applique quilts that you can design on your own. Her new book Design, Create, and Quilt shows you how to design a quilt from start to finish. Jump-start your creativity with Rose's fun ideas!

Sun Bonnet Sue

This was a really fun project to applique. A block of the month.

I used a 12 inch square white background fabric. Because the pieces were so small I was able to cut out the shapes with scraps of fabric leftover from other quilting projects.

Most of the applique is done using a blind stitch, however, I added pieces of lace and did some embroidery work as well.

Doing it this way allowed me to finish the project with out being to overwhelmed.

I found that when I finished one block I was eager to get on to the next.

Now that the blocks are finished, I will put borders between the blocks, a border around the out side edge. Choose my backing , do the quilting and the binding and it will be completed.

This would be a really great project to have a child do. It would be so fun make as you teach her/him to learn to sew .