Applique advice needed
 

I am 'trying' to make a special quilt for the community volunteer fire companys in our town.( for a benefit auction) My idea was,the praying fireman silouette in the center , with 6 pairs of boots surrounding representing the 6 companys. My 'plan' calls for the fireman to be 21" x14" & the surrounding boots 10" x12"..problem is I'm a 'young' quilter (in experience NOT age!!) & my practice piece is all puckered & I don't know the best way to do such large appliques...I have my 'practice piece' attached so you can better see...SO, what is the best method for Large appliques?? Thank you so much ahead of time for your advice.

did you use stabilizer? that would be VERY important,use lots of pins and go slow., it's looking good

I see this if I'm holding both pieces in the air. If I keep my arms down and the fabric is resting on something, that helps. Super secure pinning or basting can help, too.

Such a great idea, good luck!

Did you applique it in a hoop? It looks as if the fabric was too tight which caused the puckering. How are your appliques attached prior to sewing? I just use a plain ol' glue stick.

Love the appliques! Would love to have a pattern when you are finished!!

I recently took a class where we did lots of applique. We were instructed to spray starch (Mary Ellen's best press) the base fabric so that it had a little more body for stitching. Then use Heat & Bond lite (or Steam-a-Seam) ironed onto the back of the applique and iron it onto the fabric before you stitch it. If you still need it, (and you probably won't) add a light weight tear-away stabilizer to the underside of the fabric behind the applique before stitching.
Your appliques are awesome. It should be a great success!

Hi, this is great!! I agree you need to use stabilizer on the back. You need that extra stability!!!! It really is a nice work of art!!!

I would use a heat bond stabilizer on something that size, maybe light-medium weight. Beautiful design. :thumbup:

Heavier tear away type stabalizer on the back of the background fabric. Have you used iron on product to attach the entire appliqué to background? Great project idea.

Satin stitch may be too heavy and making the fabric pucker. Maybe a different stitch? AND starch. AND stabalizer!

That is such an amazing idea and your design is beautiful. All the suggestions have been made - so just wanted to say that i hope you get it to turn out the way you want because it's really something special.

Oh this 'pattern' was a picture off the internet that I enlarged 240% on my printer..the boots come from www.fourtwinsisters.com . I have used the boots a lot!! Other quilts & pillows..BUT, if you want , I will send you a fireman , in the 'size' you want.THANKS for the advice.

I need to THANK everyone for their advice. Tonite , I finished ripping!!, I 'll be taking an Aleve for backache & off to bed. Tomorrow, I intend to use all this advice! I am so excited & with all your help , am sure to get great results. I'll let you guys know!! Thanks so much again, this is exciting!! Like having a whole bunch of good friends : ) : )

I think I would use Wonder-Under or something similar to fuse the appliques to the background fabric and then put a tear away stabilizer on the back of the background fabric. That should keep it from puckering. I would also satin stich very slow!

I just did a 4 foot high dragon designed by a Gson. It has a lot of fragile, narrow areas that I could not take the risk of stretching. I glued each piece down on a background fabric with school glue, ironed each section as I finished it. I appliqued using a medium narrow satin stitch because it made the pieces pop out. Sorry I can't post a picture... my Mac doesn't cooperate. But the glue made it all happen for me and if I make a mistake there is a window of a few minutes that I can check and replace....harder when you use a bonding material. If you try that, don't use too much (it all comes out in the wash, but it can make it hard to handle if its really googie and gets on your hands too much). Hope this helps.

Just a guess from your picture: I think you need a heavier background fabric. (Your applique design is great.:thumbup:)

I also have a presser foot that I like to use when I satin stitch. It has a little wire that is incorporated into the sewn area and helps it not to pull up. Wish I could recall the name of that foot.

Another idea (which I frequently use) is to put fusible batting on the back of the backing fabric (your red check in this case) and iron it down NOT using steam, starting in the center and working, with your iron, outward. This will give stability to your background fabric and it also gives a nice outline to your figures when you use a small applique stitch to put thim on the backing. For an extra 3D effect you could put your figures on to the same type of binding. You'd have to widen the size of you applique stitch, but it would add to the bang of the entire quilt. There are a lot of choices of bonded batting out there, but for this I'd use a flat style. It will be stiff, but when you wash it all that stiffness comes out and leaves a nice soft quilt.

Not sure if I understand this , about the 3D effect..would you explain again & maybe a picture?? Thanks!

WOW, I see that I said "binding" when I meant batting!!! And I mean the flatter kind, not great fluffy stuff. So sorry about that goof!

Oh someone else came in and asked a question.... Some batting is light and fluffy and some is more flat, and some if very flat. There is iron-on that has adhesive on one side, and some has adhesive on both sides. Both are activated by ironing (you have to read the instructions for any kind you use). All that I've used say that to use it w/o steam until you are sure you have it the way you want it. If you make an error setting it on the backing, just iron it enough to warm it and gently lift it up, take care of the problem and reiron it down. When it is the way you want it, use steam and it is down forever and ready to be appliqued on.

If you use a moderate loft (puffiness) and iron it on the back of your applique piece (ironing on the applique, not on the backing!) before you put it on the backing, you will be adding a third dimension to your quilt. This flattens the loft (heighth) of the applique, but when you wash the quilt the glue aspect disappears and your applique will be soft and just a little puffy. It can give a modest 3-D effect.

The flat batting might be made for doing crafts and appliques because it holds things tightly together and adds very little to the "loft" of the applique. I'm sorry I'm not giving you brand names. I don't have original wrappings anymore. I know for fluffier I have used June Taylor, but the flatter... I don't have any wraping... I got it a long time ago. Someone at Joann's or your LQS may be able to tell you. Iron-on batting has improved a lot in recent years so what you get may be better than anything I've used.

I make a lot of applique quilts. I always use fusible interfacing then glue the edges back. Glue the back onto the quilt, add pins for extra stability and then hand sew the edges (I don't use a hoop). I've never had puckering in all the years I've been doing it.

Oh.. I also use Warm and Natural batting