Thread: Appliqué question

Hi
DH got me a Go Baby for Christmas. Being new to appliqué and knowing there are tons of ways to do this. Do you quilt before or after appliquéing? How do you do this fusing, raw edge or satin stitch. Would love to hear from you and what your methods are?
Thanks in advance

I had a bad experience with satin stitching once, so I don't use that technique. It warped my entire quilt, which was a wall hanging, so now it doesn't hang straight. I prefer to either turn under the edges of my applique or use a blanket-stitch. I haven't tried raw-edge yet.

You might want to experiment with different fusibles, they will give you different results. My friend Cindi swears by Mistyfuse, it's lightweight and does not feel stiff.

I prefer to applique my shapes, then quilt around them. If they're leaves, I'll quilt stems and veins in them. You can get very creative and enhance the design of your applique with your quilting.

I do needle turn applique so I do all the applique before the quilting.

I'm doing raw edge applique using glue or small pieces of Steam-a-Seam2 to hold my shapes down; then I straight stitch the around the edge of the shape. I don't like the stiffness of all over fusible. I haven't tried Mistyfuse yet. It seemed kind of pricey when I looked at it last year but when I do a piece that is more a "formal" applique pattern, I'll try it. I'm doing funky houses now so the straight stitch is perfect.

Like Peckish I quilt around my shapes & add more quilted details to shapes. Oh, and I spray starch the dickens out of everything...background fabric and all shapes...before I start placing the shapes, then press the glue dry, spray starch again -front & back. Experiment and have fun until you find the techniques you like...there's no wrong way to applique or quilt!

I do the raw edge with blanket stitch - use heat n bond lite to hold it down and quilt around the shape. Put the applique on then quilt

Like others have said experiment and see what you like best oh... and have fun

Oh, I almost forgot - sometimes instead of fusible, I'll use washable glue to hold the piece down, especially if it's a larger piece, and then I'll stitch it. If it's large, or a pale color on top of a dark color, I'll carefully and gently pull the 2 pieces apart and cut the back away from the applique. That way the quilt doesn't get too bulky and the dark fabrics don't show through the lighter fabrics.