Good one, Marcia...let's not discourage the newbies (like me) from something altogether scary. LOL

Lisa,

Applique work always looks better after pressing whether done by machine or hand. Get a bath towel and lay your applique block face down on the towel and press with steam. No scrubbing, just up and down motion. -- Press from the back always. Pressing from the top side will crush and flatten your work.

Just to see the difference, press only half the block and see how the two halves compare. I hand applique a lot and my work always looks better after pressing.

Let us all know how this works.

Suzanne

a bit of tear away stabilizer on the bag of your piece will also help in preventing puckering.

Is there a tutorial on applique, I haven't done it for years and i would like to start again. Your tips are great and I remember better if I also see what someone is talking about. Do any of you add batting to the applique?

DA Mayer...I do sometimes depending on what the project is. When I make my appliqued Christmas stockings there are a lot of "stuffed" parts for a 3-D style. I've used poly-fil and batting for those. I've used batting on some appliqued pillows too. But I've never done a whole appliqued quilt. It would make for an interesting project though.

I know some people use fusiable to get the applique to stay, but I'm poor and therefore go old school. How ever many pins you think you need DOUBLE IT. Seriously doing that helped me a great deal.

Oh Batting! That sounds wonderful! I need to remember that for my next project!