Applique
 

Hello there,

I am going to be working on a queen size quilt where I will be appliqueing a fair amount of cirlces (about 7" or so in diameter). I am going to machine sew them to the foundation fabric, though I haven't decided if I should turn the edges under or just leave the raw edges. I am leaning towards turning under the edges by using this method: http://guildcrafters.wordpress.com/page/31/

My question is if I should cut away the foundation fabric after I machine sew the circles. The materials for the top consist of batiks and the backing is flannel. Any thoughts or suggestions? I am going to quilt the quilt with an edge to edge pantograph.

Many thanks!

I would if it were my quilt. Makes the top easier to quilt, less stiff and less heavy.

I am wondering if the background is cut away, doesn't it distort the circle shape? I made a dresden plate quilt earlier this year, but have not quilted it as yet. It has 3 sizes of plates, no sashing, just many plates all over. I had not planned on cutting off the background fabric. I was thinking the extra fabric would make the plate puff more and keep the plates from distorting.

Also, about the tin foil. Do you put it between the fabric and the cardboard, or fabric.cardboard.foil. then turn edges? Or scrunched between ironing board.fabric. cardboard? Not following. Thank you for clarifying.

I did not cut away the background fabric on this quilt. I prepared my circles the way the link you provided shows. I hand appliqued my circles instead of machine sew them as I wanted a nice travel/hand project. It was heavy but I also double batted it so that added to the weight as well. I didn't quilt on the circles though. My circles were only 5". On other applique I have cut away the background.
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I just finished making three Dresden plate quilts. First had a 17" background square, other two had 14" square. They were very heavy. I sew the plates down like MSQC shows on one. Second I sewed around the plates by machine. Third one I did both. Second one the points stuck up after quilting. I went back and sewed the points down by hand. Don't know if I will make any more applique quilts. One I did years ago I hand quilted and sewed down with buttonhole stitch. Good luck.

Feline fanatic, that is beautiful, love the colors against that background.

wow amazing work

Here it is! Its the best! http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/...r-circles.html

QUOTE=Tartan;6289462]​Someone posted a link fro an appliqué Craftsy class last week. The instructor cut a cardboard circle template, laid that on top of wrong side of fabric, put a piece of tin foil under the fabric and scrunched the foil up to get the circle ready to iron. It looked like a nifty way to get a perfect circle.
Using the running stitch around a cardboard template method works but the foil sounds a lot easier. You can cut away the background under the circle after you appliqué it down especially if you have more layers to add on top. Raw edge appliqué circles are nice too for a different look. [/QUOTE]

This is my favorite method for applique (circles or other shapes). I do not have the templates used in this video--Cut them using any template you like. I also use the VERY lightweight fusible pellon instead of the non fusible they use. Make sure you put the pellon so the sticky side will be outside after you turn it right side out. You could cut away most of it if you like, just leave it around the edges. I machine applique around the edges.
I love the hint they give to cut with pinking shears so you don't have to cut slices all around the circle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7P0uzhF6uc