Advice about my first raw edge applique
 

I recently bought a Toni Whitney raw edge applique design ( Blue Herron) and have traced all the parts and will fuse them today and start cutting the components, but before I start assembling the design I am asking this board, and its generous members, what to do as well as what to avoid? I am hoping that making this project is a straight forward approach, but anything that looks this great must have a lot of tricks to getting things to align and not have slight holes where pieces do not abut one another perfectly. I even went so far as to copy the design onto clear plastic as an overlay, but there is a master pattern to use ...so I am a bit vague why you need both the master pattern and the clear plastic copy? Perhaps as I get into this it will all become clear, but if you have made one of her designs and have anything to offer in the way of suggestions...I am all ears! Thanks for helping me.

I did her Eagle and it was a bit overwhelming at first but then decided to follow her approach step by step and it was built in steps on my appliqué sheet first. Here's a few photos to give you an idea of how it worked for me. I chose my own fabrics. I needed the tweezers because sometimes trying to move the smaller pieces my hand would shake & knock other pieces out of their place. [ATTACH=CONFIG]510067[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]510068[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]510070[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]510071[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]510072[/ATTACH]

I've never done any applique so detailed, but I would echo thimblebug's comments (fabulous eagle, BTW), and assemble it in sections on an applique sheet. Also helpful, but not necessary, is one of those small clover craft irons. As you place the pieces you can use it to just tack them into place

I've not done this myself but WOW is that eagle ever amazing! I wish you much success and enjoyment! I don't think I have it in me to tackle something like this.

If you don't have a teflon sheet and can't afford one, you can use parchment paper (NOT wax paper), found in any grocery store.

p.s. I'm assuming it's a wall hanging, so you won't have to worry about washing and fraying...?

I've seen quilts where they have stitched them with a really short stitch on the edge of the applique after they have been ironed in place.

I have "This Otter Be Fun" by McKenna Ryan and am loathe to proceed for fear I'll mess it up. Maybe looking at these pictures will give me the courage to go ahead and finish.

Basketman ... I'm not sure about the exact pattern you are working on, but when I did a raw edge appliqué landscape design, I did not butt my pieces up to each other. I overlapped them slightly (1/8" or less). I then stitched along the edges, as close to the edge as I could get (I did it free motion as they were not straight lines). I used clear poly thread for this step. I did not use a fusible however, I only used a glue stick to keep a set of pieces in place until I could get them stitched down.

If you look close at the picture below, you can see where I stitched with clear poly thread. After the piece was complete, I quilted over (or as near as over) the clear poly with my quilting thread.

The method I used was from a book and video by Nancy Ziemans & Natalie Sewel.

I would certainly follow the designer's instruction. Hope that Thimblebug 6000 instruction were very helpful to me. I have a Westie dog I want to make but just didn't have adequate instruction. THANKS for the post.