Anyone else out there that likes hand applique? I just joined an applique group but have been enjoying it for about a year now. I have been quilting about 14 years but I find that I enjoy hand applique and hand quilting more than machine quilting. Any tips you have for me?

I love hand quilting, but my applique stitch has much to be desired. I can't seem to find a technique that works for me. The points and sharp inside curves are my biggest challenges. My stitches always show too much. What is your favorite method?

Hand applique is probably my favorite type of quilting, since it's portable, and I don't have to have access to my sewing machine. I took a "Dear Hannah" class, which is where I learned it, and have been loving it ever since. I'm working on my second quilt that's primarily hand-applique. :-)

What is a Dear Hannah class?

I am also fairly new to hand applique. I also have a question. I hand appliqued the Grandmother's Album quilt. I loved the process. Now I am hand quilting it. I am using a plain grid pattern around the applique. Do I quilt around the applique or through it? Through it doesn't seem right. But if I don't quilt that area at all, what will the back of the quilt look like? Any help will be appreciated.

The back will mirror the front. For Example, if your design is a basket of flowers, quilting around will produce an outline, sort of like a shadow. If you quilt around, then echo the flowers, it will look more like a basket of flowers again. Putting a grid through it would produce an even, but boring back, and not do justice to the front.

And then there's always trapunto, if you really want to add dimension.

So tell us more about dear Hannah.

My youngest girls quilt ( you can do a search on here for it in the pictures section.) is a picture of a hand applique with the technique you are talking about....I stitched around the stuffed flowers and then did the grid. The grid stopped at the flowers outline stitches. that way they were echoed on the back. Hope this helped.

I love to hand applique. I've made several applique quilts over the years. I've never quilted through the applique. If the piece is too large to leave unquilted, I find some part of the motif and repeat that in hand stitches on the inside of the applique piece. I always quilt around the applique piece as well. It makes a pretty pattern on the back of your work.

When I first began, I tried all different methods because I was intimidated by the needle turn method. Thankfully there was a really good appliquer in my mini group who did that method and she patiently helped me learn. That's the only method I do now. I agree with you Norah regarding the sharp points and inside "Vs" can be challenging. Just take your time at those places, and take tinier stitches closer together and that should help. :)

I love hand applique, although time consuming, I enjoy the vesatility and portability of it.All my applique is also quilted around the design like the others here have said. What I like about about applique is that it enables you to create just about any image in fabric,

For Nora:
"Dear Hannah" is a quilt book by a woman named Brenda P (can't spell her last name off hand, it's Greek). But she studied a quilter by the name of Jane Stickles, from the Civil War era, and then designed a quilt with very simple applique blocks, and some not-so-simple hand-pieced blocks, based on Stickles's style.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a monthly class last year where the instructor used this book to demonstrate simple applique styles. Every month we would try something different, such as "freezer paper" applique, reverse applique, using heat-resistant templates, etc. It was good to be able to get instruction on the techniques, since the book itself doesn't provide any :(
Hope that answers your question!