judykay

slederer What were the length and width of your stitch settings.

crafty pat

I agree with Tartan. I have had this happen to me before. If you want to do it that way I would use something on the back to make it more stable.

Quiltbeagle

I'm almost done with Mistral, my first Toni Whitney pattern. The applique is done through all three layers to hold the fabric down and give the piece a dimensional look, at least it does on this horse...the mane is awesome looking!

Jeanette Frantz

I have done several appliqued quilts (all of them baby quilts), and most of them (but not all) have been Sunbonnet Sue. I assembled the applique pieces either in the order as instructed, or mostly just used common sense, fused them to the individual blocks (I think my blocks were 10" square on the last one I did). Then, using my Singer 403, I stitched around each piece, using the "satin" stitch or, some call it buttonhole stitch, using a stabilizer (a/k/a Stitch-N-Tear Lite) on the back of each block. Once the applique pieces are stitched in place, tear away the stabilizer, assemble the quilt blocks, sandwich the quilt and quilt it. If your pattern instructs you otherwise, then I would do as the pattern instructs, unless you are experienced enough to do otherwise.

Boston1954

I have always done the applique first and the quilting after the sandwich.

carolynjo

I had a friend who was privileged to have quilt at the Smithsonian; she usually assembled the applique in a single unit and then appliqued the finished unit to the quilt top.