Originally Posted by Suz
Bonnie, great job! You are on your way. I cannot see your stitches (which is a good thing - hide them) and hope they are small. When you look at the backside of your project, it should look like chicken stratchin. Your point and cleft look really good. The next thing to do is steam press it into a towel with the applique down and you will be surprized at the difference it will make.
I know you are happy with your results and you should be. Post another pix when the pressing is completed for comparison. Lastly, if you oversized the block as I had suggested, square the block to the correct size. Remember applique causes a block to shrink a little or a lot depending on how much applique is applied.
I can hardly wait to see the new post. -- Question, did you find this method difficult?
Suzanne
I didn't oversize the block because this was just grabbing two five inch squares to practice with. I'll take that into consideration though. I started out cutting out a quarter inch (even measured it) but then it looked too much (after what you had said before) so I cut it in half. :) You are right, I haven't pressed it yet. I didn't know that you should press applique side down and on a towel. I'll make sure to do that and post again. Not sure if I will do that tonight or tomorrow though.
This was far easier because I did what *I* call a cheater method. I will admit it. I used a washout pencil (blue) and marked the FRONT of the fabric. If it had been a dark fabric I would have probably used my white water erased marker. Then I cut it out with approximatley 1/8 inch and pinned it to my foundation.
Since it was only five inches I could easily hold it in my hand and used by left thumb to help hold the fabric in place while I used the needle and thread in the right hand to stitch with needle turning. So far this is the way I like, dare I say love(?), the best.
My thread was YLI silk I was told and believe it to be true, that silk thread blends in best for hand applique. You also need a small needle. I used the smallest I could find tonight which ended up being a size 8, quilters between.