Wholeheart Mom

The method works for all types of applique and is completely washable if you use the Fabric Mod Podge formula. If you use the Matte or Gloss formula, you can sponge it clean, but not launder it.

In her book, Lara Bucella compares three Mod Podge formulas: Gloss, Matte, and Fabric, and each one has their own uses and advantages. The main advantage of all three is the ability to do raw edge applique with no fraying, but only the Fabric formula is washable.

I found that the Fabric formula is very, very thick! Much thicker than the Matte or Gloss formula. In the book, she suggested a cheap sponge applicator to spread it over the fabric, but that didn't work well for me. I ended up using a cheap 2" paintbrush and it worked a lot better. After applying a moderately-thin coat over the fabric, it dries in about 30-45 minutes and is ready to use- just cut your pieces out and iron them down.

I am making a portrait quilt... something I have never attempted before, and this method is working out great, especially for those tight angles and weirdly shaped cuts that sometimes go along with portraiture.

Geri B

yes, my question too. You say good for raw edge appliqué, no fraying..but, I'm thinking mod podge would make it stiff, as in paper mache work.....

Wholeheart Mom

It is no more stiff than other adhesives I have used. If I had to compare it to something, I would say that it has the same "feel" as Steam a Seam lite.

slbram17

I am attempting needleturn, and points are killing me. I have a lot of fraying.

Prism99

This sounds like an interesting technique. I am wondering, can you machine quilt over the appliqués?

Lalla

As a newbie I am finding over and over again that questions I have have long since been answered, in this case five years ago! I'm only adding to the thread in case anyone else out there is new to this method for appliqué. I've only just bought Lara Bucella's book - I'm forever looking for interesting ways to appliqué - so thought I'd do a search here for 'Mod Podge applique´', and of course - you guys have done so much, covered so many techniques, got so many thoughts on everything to do with quilting - found what I was looking for. I'm still trying to decide whether it's worth it as a technique; it certainly does make really clean, fray-less edges, and is very easy to sew through. I've found choice of fabric to be fairly fraught with variable success; too thick and it just doesn't adhere when you iron it; too thin and the Mod Podge comes through to the right side and makes that too tacky. So I'll struggle on for a bit but may well end up abandoning it and returning to MistyFuse or Steam-A-Seam Lite. I'm even reasonably good now at turned edge appliqué thanks to the wonderful Apliquick technique (I LOVE those tools and use them for all sorts of things). The nice thing about the Mod Podge method seems to be, for me, that I can prepare a piece of fabric and then cut out shapes freehand if I want to, and, no matter how tiny the shapes, add them and move them and build them up on top of each other in the kind of improvisationally chaotic way that I like to work. So I'll keep at it for a bit, and see if I can get to grips with which fabrics work best and which to abandon with this method. Is anyone else still using Mod Podge?