Thanks Mad. I normally gravitate to browns, greens, tans.... I just thought that a denim look would be different. I just don't know what it actually looks like -- that's always the danger of buying online.

hi, i live near loch lomond, used to have a place years ago in dalgety bay, loved it over there.
i'm actually a yorkshire girl, but moved up here 21 years ago...
when did you leave scotland???
i bet you don't miss the rain! rofl :lol:

Ducks, I like the blue too! You are allowed to change your mind if you like. It can get expensive if you buy it each time though! I think you can go lots of directions on the blue background.

Do you guys find that when you fuse applique pieces down, then blanket stitch...that they will fray a bit when you wash the quilt? I don't know if I just do it wrong or what, but I don't like the fraying part at all. I don't satin stitch well enough to make it look nice and smooth (like the appliqued by embroidery machine). That pretty much leaves me with needle turn...unless ya'll can tell me I'm just wrong about the fusibles.

I love the denim too Ducky!!

Patti, my fusible with blanket stitch frays too...but I am not that good at it.
Eleanor Burns has a method where you turn the edges under the fusible turning the whole thing out, I tried it once, no fraying but very time consuming....for me anyway--I am slow--plus i would imagine the smaller pieces would be hard to turn inside out.

What I am hoping to do however, is what the lady who taught me called "invisible machine appliqué". Using heat-resistant templates and starch, you turn the edges under, then use invisible hem stitch to appliqué it down...it is obviously more time consuming that just fusible with blanket stitch but I can get better looking stitches with it and no fraying.

Ducky, I think both look nice, the denim will be different though, I like it.

And Lesley, good to see on the board again, we missed ya.

Thanks Candi...thats why I've always done the freezer paper method. I don't like the fraying at all! I need to check further into the method where you fuse the edge. I wonder if its hard to sew through that though?

I saw on one of Alex Anderson's shows where she likes to use spray starch in preparing her applique pieces. You have to be a member of The Quilt Show to see her piece about it, but I found a tutorial about it online. This is exactly the way Alex does it, and it really does work well. You can prepare either hand applique pieces or pieces to be machine appliqued. The only difference I see is that I use my mini iron and in the tutorial it looks like she's using a regular iron.


http://supposecreatedelight.com/wordpress/?page_id=199

Patti, I am going to try to remember how I did this. I believe she had me sew the fusible to the right side of the appliqué fabric, all around, trim croners and what not then cut a slit in the fusible and turn the shape inside out to expose the right side of the fabric for the appliqué shape, at that point, you have the edges sewn under with the fusible and you just fuse it down and so whatever stitching you like. She even suggests putting batting in for a dimensional look, somebody who is more graceful than me would do a better job, I found it hard to turn the little pieces with sharp points , like leaves, inside out without getting frustrated, lol, but it is a nice look. Hope I made sense :oops: :roll:

Judy, this is pretty much what I am hoping to do but like you, I use a mini iron and a Templar sheet for the pattern. Getting the pieces ready takes a while, I am hoping to be able to start a few weeks before June and just get few temPlates and shapes cut, so I can just turn under and sew when I am short on time.