Dahlia center is finished
02-08-2009, 07:44 AM
#16
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Thanks everyone. I really hope this one turns out good and I'll keep you posted. When I lay it out to applique onto the background I will do it on the dining room area rug (after a really good vacumming). I have hardwood floors in the dining/kitchen/family room and the rug is pretty flat.
I am thinking of using a small piece of fusible webbing under the dark outer petals to hold it in place but I would still need to pin the white. Or should I cut a curved piece of webbing underneath the whole white area around the edge, iron a turned under 1/4", then iron it to the background to hold it while doing the applique? The directions say to sew a stay stitch under 1/4" all around the edge to stabilize it.
I am thinking of using a small piece of fusible webbing under the dark outer petals to hold it in place but I would still need to pin the white. Or should I cut a curved piece of webbing underneath the whole white area around the edge, iron a turned under 1/4", then iron it to the background to hold it while doing the applique? The directions say to sew a stay stitch under 1/4" all around the edge to stabilize it.
02-08-2009, 09:01 AM
#19
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I used the Marti Michell Giant Dahlia templates. It was a lot easier than I thought and there are dots to mark along the edges of the templates that you line up when sewing the pieces together. Lining up the dots doesn't leave a lot of room for error, IMO. The pieces get fairly large and there was actually less piecing than a comparably sized area of most other patterns. There are only 160 pieces in the dahlia.
The directions are easy to follow and some pieces are sewn dot-to-dot rather than end-to-end. This is familiar to me since that is how I hand piece. It is especially helpful on the center because it makes it just whirl around the center as the last 1/4 inch isn't sewn. I am about finished with a large star quilt that is hand pieced and I like this way a lot better than joining so many pieces in the middle.
There is an optional small circle to applique over the center that I haven't decided if I will do or not. If I do I will use the yellow with silvery leaves (like the light blue) that I didn't use in the flower.
The directions are easy to follow and some pieces are sewn dot-to-dot rather than end-to-end. This is familiar to me since that is how I hand piece. It is especially helpful on the center because it makes it just whirl around the center as the last 1/4 inch isn't sewn. I am about finished with a large star quilt that is hand pieced and I like this way a lot better than joining so many pieces in the middle.
There is an optional small circle to applique over the center that I haven't decided if I will do or not. If I do I will use the yellow with silvery leaves (like the light blue) that I didn't use in the flower.
02-08-2009, 09:04 AM
#20
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Location: Georgia
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Originally Posted by pittsburgpam
I am thinking of using a small piece of fusible webbing under the dark outer petals to hold it in place but I would still need to pin the white. Or should I cut a curved piece of webbing underneath the whole white area around the edge, iron a turned under 1/4", then iron it to the background to hold it while doing the applique? The directions say to sew a stay stitch under 1/4" all around the edge to stabilize it.
Your Dahlia is a VERY large piece to be appliqueing and whatever method you use to attach it to the background fabric, you need to make sure you have it completely flat and pin the devil out of it!!! (I would be laying on the floor and not the rug to get it as flat as possible) I would follow the directions in the pattern for the stay stitching and not use the fusible on it. Just my opinion! In the end, you have to do what works best for YOU.
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