So here is a mock up of the pattern that I am trying to use. I did this without heat and bond - but I plan on using it. I am just trying to see if I can make this work before I buy the material. If I use the heat and bond will it make it so that it isn't wavy? Any other suggestions are appreciated. - Oh and my block is now not square - should I just make it larger than I want and cut it down?

Beautiful Butterfly :D:D:D

I would starch the background fabric pretty stiff, or use a stabilizer on the back. You can find wash away or tear away stabilizers, but I prefer to starch. I may still add some stabilizer behind where the body and antennae are sewn, as this is still just one layer of fabric.

Also, When going around the curves, stop with your needle down every few stitches, lift the presser foot, turn the fabric, if you try and keep going without doing this, you will get more puckers. It may take longer, but remember, it is still faster than sewing it by hand.

Fusible web will help a little with the puckers, but the main thing is to stop and reposition the fabric often.

Okay. Thanks for the advice. I was wondering do you use the spray starch?

Yes, I do. I spray the dry fabric pretty heavy, and let it dry before ironing. The stiffer the fabric, the less puckering I find on my applique work.

I do start out with larger background pieces, too. They do tend to shrink a little, and then I square them up when I am done with all of the applique work. You will find that after starching, there will not be near as much distortion to the block :wink:

If you decide to use a tear away stabilizer, you may want to tighten up your stitches, and shorten your stitch lengths, so when tearing it away, it won't distort your stitches.

Hey thanks for all your help. I am feeling a little better about this now. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

I second everything Amma said. Starch, starch and some more starch. It really seems to help with applique.

I don't startch, I use tear away stabilizer when doing a satin stitch like that.

For machine applique, I use tear away stabilizer and paper backed fusible web (Wonder Under). In a pinch, you can use copy paper, but that can dull your needle and it's noisy! I put the needle on the very edge of the piece I'm appliqueing and stitch onto that piece. So for the butterfly, put the needle in the white area next to the pink butterfly and satin stitch on top of the pink butterfly.

I would definitely cut the squares bigger to start with and then cut to size after doing the applique because they seem to always shrink.

You should be able to steam some of the puckers out and you should be able to quilt some out also.

I don't starch much of anything, however, I may begin to because I've read a lot of posts on various topics here and see that lots of people use starch.

You learn something new here every day! :D

if everything is cotton, try steaming it with your iron a bit too.