Originally Posted by JudyG
I have working on a couple of applique blocks as practice for this quilt and have a couple of questions for those who are much more versed in applique than I am.
Do you starch or size your fabrics that will be your applique pieces?
I have read and read about making nice sharp points and still have problems with it. I have tried needleturn, freezer paper, the glue way that Alex Anderson does it, and I still have a problem with points. The piece I am working on now has long narrow flower leaves that come to a very sharp point and I am really struggling. Any help will be appreciated.
Judy, I don't starch or size, but I do seem to have good control of my left thumb, that keeps everything held in place while I get some stitches in. I just pin my piece from behind to hold it roughly in place (though with larger pieces, I occasionally baste about a quarter of an inch inside the sewing line).
I posted some pics of how I do it on page 26/27. The leaf shape in the pics isn't as pointed as some of those that Aie designed, but I do them exactly the same way, perhaps cutting down the turning allowance a little bit, to cut down on the bulk at the point. If my turning allowance is smaller, I tend to put stitches closer together - especially in the tight curl of the scrolls.