Originally Posted by vivientan
I've a few quilt projects on hand and once I'm done with them, I would like to start doing appliques. Can appliques be self taught? My LQS conducts classes but they are not cheap and I've limited time to travel to attend classes too. I know there are lots of websites and books with lessons on appliques, but I'm not sure if they are easy to follow on my own.
Should I start with hand or machine applique? Any advice would be much appreciated.
I found hand applique boring and time consuming. There are lots of ways to applique by machine, and they don't have to be raw - edge. Eleanor burns has some good tips if you can watch a few of her demonstrations on TV. Lots of library books would give you some ideas and if you have a good library in your area, you could probably get a video of it. I paid a lot of money to get hand rolled applique lessons once and all the teacher did was give us the pattern and then went and sat in a corner whilst everyone sewed by themselves. I was considered a 'nuisance' for asking questions, as the others had done it all before...it was a waste of $$ ,time and effort. I had a better time with the books.