Appliqué question
 

I'm doing a laundry basket BOM quilt and 12 of the blocks are appliquéd flowers and stems and such. It's all batiks and beautiful. My question, what stitch and thread would you use? I have done zig zag, blanket and satin on other projects. I have looked at laundry basket designs til I'm blue in the face and I'm pretty sure she does hand appliqué. I did buy a variegated thread but haven't started because I'm just unsure. I thought about invisible but anyone who has used invisible knows its like fishing line and I make quilts to use. Help!!
Here's a link to the quilt:
http://www.phoenixrosequilts.com/blo...starting-soon/

I'm not sure if Edyta Sitar does them by hand - I know she endorses Aurifil thread boxes that have 'Laundry Basket' on them. I did her Reaching Out, seen here, with Madeira and Superior embroidery thread because that's the effect I like - a slight sheen for definition. Mine is done with toning colours, including variegated.

I wouldn't use invisible as I believe that after a time it does perish. I'm a recent silk convert. I've only used it to hand stitch the back of a binding, but loved the way it didn't twist and just sank into the fabric :). It would be pricey, but you'd probably only need a few neutral colours.

Use the thread you like the best and don't worry too much about anything else.
Happy quilting.

I love silk too, yes it's expensive but some projects are worth it. What stitch did you use? Zig zag? The vines are not that thick so I didn't want to take any over. I do like embroidery thread as well and I hadn't thought about it, til now. Thanks for your advice! I really want to accent it not overpower the design, yours is gorgeous!

Thank you for the compliment! Yes - I used a zig-zag, but if I was going to make another one, I would use blanket- stitch, which I find much easier (that was my first appliqué project, lol).

On the narrow vines I just used a straight stitch (remember to make the stitches slightly bigger than for piecing) as I used the ready made Clover bias tape. They were so many, it was worth every penny, lol.

I have made many floral quilts & use YLI Invisible. It is not like fishing line.

looks beautiful!

Rachel,
On the quilts by Laudry Basket that I have seen done at my LQS, they used straight line stitching close to the edge of the fabrics similar to McKenna Ryan's quilts. Those who are practiced, can do it quickly with FMQ. I am usually a bit slower.
Happy Quilting.
Susan

Knitette, was your applique fused? Or made with a turned under edge?

It's fused. I only learned to thread a sewing machine three years ago and have never hand sewed, lol.

Thanks! It gives me the courage to try a project like this. :)