Thread: Name that appliqué method

This is a Row by Row Experience row from Memories By The Yard in San Antonio, Texas. The picture was found on the Texas Row by Row Facebook page.

I live in NC, but my non-quilting sister lives in Texas and was kind enough to pick this kit up for me. It arrived this morning and I haven't had time to unfold everything and really inspect it yet. But, the instructions seem to consist of a list of what fabrics to use for each piece, and a picture to trace. Hopefully there are some instructions or at least tips hiding in there.

From looking at the photo (this is all I have to go on) it appears that it isn't quilted yet, but the applique has a puffy look to it. Does anyone know how this was achieved? It appears to be needle-turned, hand applique... but is there interfacing? fusible fleece or something?

My applique experience is mostly raw edge, although I did do one needle-turn hand stitched mug rug before. I am not worried about doing the hand stitching on this, but I am concerned about making my turtles and flowers look dimensional like these do.

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by PaperPrincess

Looks needle turned to me. The head of the first turtle seems to show the outline of a seam allowance. When applique isn't fused down, it has a bit of a dimensional look. You could experiment with a bit of very thin batting, like Thermore, or just email the quilt shop & ask!

Thanks! I have emailed them, and am hoping they respond... no luck so far, but I know internet communications probably don't rank high on the typical quilt shop's list of priorities in a day. Plus, it looks like their site is really new and still being set up, when I first looked at it last week the online shop part was "Coming soon" and the blog is still "coming soon."

There is a product called rinse away, and also one close, by Ricky Timms, but can't remember name. It is a stabilizer type product. But you can put it under your applique piece so that when you applique it onto the main fabric and wash the quilt, the product washes out, but leaves a little bit of fibers inside and makes the puff. I haven't tried it yet, but have seen some quilts done with it. Looks nice, with just a little puff, like your pictured quilt.

I did a different pattern, but used fusible flees and the pieces puffed up. That pattern is so cute, and I think the fusible flees would work just fine.
Sue

It definitely looks like needleturn. Since it's just a quilt top, I would assume that's all it is. You can see the wrinkles in the fabric. It doesn't look stuffed. I think it was just that the turtles were sewn together & embroidered, and then attached to the background as units. I've made those flowers & that's always how they turn out. I assume it won't look quite as fluffy once it's quilted unless they use a technique like Trapunto or Boutis to maintain that look.

This is the beauty of needle turn, though. When you actually use the needle to turn the piece rather than using the freezer paper method, the fabric stretches a bit & you end up with a gap between the applique and background. It's a beautiful look that can't be replicated by any other method.

I heard back from the shop that did the row! It is needle turn, with no interfacing. I was surprised there wasn't at least some in the flowers! I think I will have to try some of the water soluble stuff that turns to fluff though, this seems like a really good candidate for that.

Although, with what Bree123 said about needle turn without using freezer paper... hmm... looks like I need to do some experimenting!

I did a McCall's pattern with those exact flowers. They are a dickens to create because you have to shape each petal of the flower individually. I ended up buying a floral yo-yo maker & going with smaller sized flowers because I didn't have the patience to gather up every petal individually across the entire quilt. Still, the first one I made was truly beautiful. Wish I kept a pic of it to show you, but they definitely do stick up quite a bit from the quilt. My niece, who was 1 at the time, kept trying to "pick" the fabric flowers off the quilt so I had to tack the edges down. You definitely will get plenty of dimension with the flowers. The only part that I stuffed was the center (put a little bit of poly stuffing in to give it dimension). The petals were fine on their own. I think on this quilt, though, it looks like the center is just embroidered so you shouldn't need any fiber fill at all.

Needleturned with the backing and layers trimmed to the 1/4 inch seam allowance.