Appilque question
 

Good morning everyone!
I am appliqueing letters on a quilt. My question.....do you applique and then quilt on top of the appliqueing? Or do you work around the applique? Or do you quilt on top of the letters without appliqueing? This will be a wall hanging. And I know I butchered spelling the word 'applique' lol sorry about that...

Wendy

If it's not a very large wall hanging, you good make your quilt sandwich, place the letters on top (fusing them or gluing in place), then stitch each letter down with a satin stitch or small zig zag stitch. Doing it this way combines appliqueing and quilting together at the same time. Just a thought.

I would applique the blocks first and quilt around the applique. You may add quilting within the applique if they are large or need more detail.

You don't say whether you are doing hand, fusible or machine applique. If you are doing hand applique, definitely applique before making your quilt sandwich. If you are doing fusible, you can applique either before or when you make your quilt sandwich.

Whether you applique before or after you make your quilt sandwich, always outline the appliques as close as you can with a straight stitch. This will make your applique stand out from the background. IMHO, I would not quilt the letters, but would quilt around them. The denser you make the quilting around the letters, the more the letters will stand out.

I agree with both of the above repiles. If size allows the first reply would be great, if a larger piece the second is the way to go.

Adding to the OP's question:
On Threads & Needles:

• What size needle for the straight stitch
• What weight thread for the straight stitch
• What KIND of thread for both the straight stitch, and the "attaching" stitches (embroidery thread? Silk, cotton, rayon? Weight?)

I'm going to attempt applique soon, I think, and need to do the homework first :)

Thanks much, and thank you to the OP for starting the thread :)

Thanks for all the help. Sorry I didnt mention how I was going to do.it..... it will be fused on and then machine appliqed. :)

Oh, super! Man, I need to go read up on all the wonderful "quilting" uses for fusable interfacing!

I use blanket stitch around my letters and quilt around them rather than over them. If this is your first time with lettering, when using fusible you need to use a window or light box to trace them (backwards) onto your fusible, then iron to fabric, then when putting them on the quilt they will be on the right side. If in doubt youtube is a great visual reference!

It totally depends on the look you want. With wall hangings you don't have to worry about how they'll wear or wash since they just hang on the wall. Sometimes I appliquilt! I'll fuse my applique down and then layer and stitch around the edge of the applique and quilt it at the same time. On some things like leaves and flowers they need some veining or other definition and then I'll quilt on the applique.

You spelled applique right. It's a French word though and is supposed to have the little accent mark at the end.