Originally Posted by catlinye_maker

I love back-basting and do it in conjunction with Jane Townswick's unit applique method for everything I applique.

I've tried to back-bast teeny circles and didn't like the results; I wound up using a hole punch to make template plastic circles and gathering the fabric per usual for pre-prepped circles. (Gather fabric, tie off, trim, throw it in a teacup full of water, press dry, clip and remove template, applique.) WIth circles that small, it was easier not to precut larger circles to gather up. I used a sticky-sided template, stuck that onto the fabric, gathered it and then cut the tiny bobble away, leaving a small irregular circle in the large piece of fabric.

It was possible to use the back basting tracing on the reverse of the fabric to position the tiny suckers, though. I put three pins through the fabric from the back on the edge of the traced circle, then dropped the pre-made shape into the middle of them and sewed it down.

If I'm lucky, here's a photo of the work in progress:
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