Kinda . . The first block I did for the Christmas Town Sampler, besides my own, was Sheryl’s block. It’s such a pretty block.
When I say I don’t know how to applique . . I mean I really don’t know how to applique. I want to applique and I know I could do it if I practiced but I just don’t want to take the time to learn. I guess I just want to blink my eyes and do perfect applique. That’s a bad attitude, huh?
Thank goodness Sheryl told us to cut our background square larger. I knew to do that but had forgotten but since I always read instructions before doing anything (stop laughing!), I cut my square 14″.
Don’t even ask me how long I’ve had this Steam-A-Seam2. I don’t even know why I bought it. I think I was supposed to use Steam-A-Seam Light but that’s not what I had so . . I used what I had.
Considering my fear of applique, I think I did pretty good. I did make a boo-boo.
My first choice of fabric for the holly leaves was too light. At first I said . . what the heck . . I’m leaving it. But then I knew it would always bug me and I’m going to love this quilt so I pulled off the light green holly leaves and replaced them with a darker green fabric.
I didn’t do any stitching yet. I’m going to wait til the end til all the applique blocks (assuming there will be others!) are done and then when I put on red thread, I can do all the red stitching, and when I switch to yellow, I can do all the yellow stitching.
So . . what do you think about my applique so far?
vickie van dyken says
Good job !! I love applique. It is very forgiving 🙂 Judy I believe that you can do anything you set your mind to, not just applique. I am glad you tried it and I hope you do more!! sometimes applique can be very useful in covering a boo boo. ROFLOL I bet you can guess how I know that !!!
Judy D in WA says
Wonderful! Nothing wrong with using what you have. I love the dark green leaves. I bet once you get started, you will love it! I love doing machine applique. I even don’t mind changing thread.
Karen says
I think you did a great job.
Penny Hankey says
Great start! Are you going to use a machine blanket stitch? I have just spent the day at a workshop doing reverse machine appliqué, I really enjoyed it, all my pieces are stitched down, now I need to satin stitch between each one using some nice rayon threads.
Diann Smith says
I haven’t appliqued much either. Your steam a seam says lite at the end. I like the other color leaves better. Good job! How is your foot?
Kay says
Wht not do a test with some scraps fused with the SAS.
You may find it difficult to impossible to stitch. That would prevent you from making all the blocks with it and would allow you to switch to a different
Rout.
Quiltinggranna says
looks good to me. are the edges turned under (can’t tell from the pictures) and then you will machine stitch down, or is it raw edge and you will satin stitch? I took a class once where we turned under the edge, then machine stitched it down using an invisible hem stitch with invisible thread. looked nice.
bettina walia says
great for trying something new and for looking to future for more things to come
Doreen says
Good job!!
Norma says
Looks great! Appliqué is fun!
Susan ~ Patchkat says
Looks real good to me! I like your idea about using the steam a seam…I think I have some…somewhere. It’s probably from the Hell Pisso days! I can do real “A” stuff on the heart (maybe, lol) but those pointy leaves and the birdie…well…they’ll have to be iron on or not at all.
Bev says
Your applique looks great. Glad you changed to the darker green.
The idea of just blinking and getting it perfect isn’t a bad attitude, just typical wishful thinking. You said we had to practice, practice, practice our feathers (I think — everyone who already knows how to do them says that) so now you can practice, practice, practice applique; I think you got the easier end of that deal LOL.
Cathi in Texas says
Very good, Judy! I love hand applique and use several methods. I just finished a wool applique block on which I used Steam A Seam & unfortunately I didn’t care for it. Made needling difficult & left a sticky residue on the needle. If I do use a fusible (not very often) I use Wonder Under or any product similar.
Keep up the good work!
Linda in NE says
So far so good on the applique. I’m not an applique girl either. At our last Quilt Club meeting we got to talking about applique quilts we started years ago in a class at the former quilt shop. I had to admit I’d thrown mine away because I knew I would never finish them.
Donna says
Your attitude about applique is the same as mine. I want to do it but I don’t want to have to practice to be good at it. I can do it but I don’t enjoy it. I love the way it looks but I don’t want to have to get better… I want it to be perfect now… so therefore I just don’t do it. Silly I know. I want to do so bad but not bad enough to practice…not even machine applique. I want to make the Christmas Sampler so I either have to bite the bullet or swap doing someone’s piecing for them doing my applique….hey that might work. Now who can I rope into that deal? (lol) Maybe there’s not lots in this quilt and I can do a block or two or maybe……….hmmmm who owes mw a favor…..
Diana in TX says
Looks good. I used to do a lot of machine applique-eons ago. But I also enjoy needle turn. Not sure which I will use for these. Old SAS is good if it gets sewn down fairly quickly, but sometimes it begins to lose it’s holding power. So I double check now before using it. Some of it has been here a long time.
Patricia says
I think you are a very brave girl! I have the exact same attitude about applique. I know that I can accomplish it, have taken classes, have experimented but still have the same I Can’t Do It mentality because I just don’t just in and tackle it! Good for you….
Vicky says
You can do anything, Judy!! I need to learn how to machine applique. As I am so slow on needleturn, I might actually get something finished!!
JudyCnNC says
I love what you did with that block – remember to go slowly and pivot around those corners if you are going to machine applique – it really is easy. Good luck with the rest of the quilt., Judy C
Pat says
I think your applique looks nice. I have a similar feeling about applique as you…I like the look of it and I know I can do it if I really try (did one nice block of it once upon a time) BUT….I don’t really want to spend a lot of time on it….want to “blink” and have it done quickly.
Angie in SoCal says
Love it! You did a wonderful job, Judy. Now you can post on my Thursday Linky, Applique Thursday, and show it off to some more quilters, LOL. See, it wasn’t so hard, was it. The instructions I have say: Once fused, Steam-A-Seam2 is washable and dry-cleanable. Unfinished edges won’t lift or fray. If you choose to finish the edges you can sew through the pressed appliqué without gumming up your needle … so you have a choice – I always choose to sew it down.
Ruth Anne shorter says
Looks great! You know this I am sure but cut away all of the fusible except the outer edges which will be the glue that adheres to the fabric. If you leave it all in, it will be that hard stuff and will not feel like the rest of the quilt. But if you like that feel, it is okay. You can stitch through it but may need to clean your needle ever now and then! I am so proud of you! Love your colors! Practice with the exact same fusible before doing the actual quilt.
Peggy says
I think you did a good job. You should try needle turn it is adictive. Love to do it. Like any hand sewing very relaxing.
Linda Steller says
It looks good, Judy! I’ve tried doing needle turn and have gotten pretty good at it if it is just simple shapes. My favorite method so far is using Sharon Schamber’s applique foundation and lots of water soluble glue. I’m even teaching a class on it on August 18. I’ve taken a lot of Sharon’s classes and I end up getting pretty sticky, but things come out so nicely. I love teaching her techniques and seeing the light come on in students’ eyes when they see how well it works. And then, all that glue comes out when you wash your blocks, so they’re nice and soft all over again. I need to get to work on this quilt, since I signed up to do it. I’ve had a bit of bad luck with my quilting set-up here, but should be back in business by next week, so I can stop griping! Good job. I think your block is lovely.
Dar in MO says
Looks good to me! Much easier than knitting socks! Which is where my attitude is similar to yours — can’t do it the first time, 2-5th time, maybe I really don’t want a pair of hand knitted socks after all! But I really do. Oh well, maybe I could do your applique and you could do my pair of socks.?? What a deal.
ruthie says
I love machine applique and hope you will too. It opens up so many new quilts because almost any design can be machine appliqued in a fraction of the time it would take to hand applique. I’ve been told I’m bossy — I like to call it helpful 🙂 — but a few tips. In my experience Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 gums up my sewing needle and I have to constantly clean it. It’s no big deal, just a little bothersome. Staci Michell’s Softfuse is GREAT. Very thin, but does the trick. I learned to machine applique from master appliquer/quilter Sue Nickels. One of the best things she taught me is to starch the fool out of your background (my words, not hers). You can still do it with the pieces already on, just starch on the wrong side. You put thin layers of starch on, press, do again, until your background has the feel of typing paper. It makes applique SO much easier and keeps the stitches and background nice and flat. And finally while applique is fun, it does take some time and can get boring if you have too much to do. I learned the hard way I don’t like to wait until all the blocks are done before appliquing. As one reader said you may find you love or hate Lite SAS 2. It would be sad if you had lots of beautiful blocks to applique but put it off because you didn’t like the fusible. When I’m doing a BOM I like to applique as I go. The small amount of time spent changing thread is worth it to me in the end — I’m ready to sew everything together!!! That assumes I actually FINISH the project. 🙂 See, I told you I was bossy, er I mean helpful.