Applique Process

Snow is still on the ground and now it is in my kitchen, too.  I finished this little wall hanging yesterday.  Its featured in the BH&G American Patchwork and Quilting 2011 Calendar for January.  I make wall hangings to hide the fuse box cover in my kitchen and had leave off one of the borders to get it to fit in the space.

Today, my daughter and her family came over for lunch after church and I caught this picture of our newest family member, Taralyn, who celebrated birthday #1 in November. Typical of one year olds, she is not still for long and typical of this Granny, I don't take pictures very fast, so she is in this rather awkward pose reaching for a ball she was plying with.  My daughter made her outfit - isn't she a doll!

Conntinuing the pledge to show process on my blog, I thought I would show how I finished prepping my applique block.  In the prior post, I showed how I apply the freezer paper and fold the piece edges over the paper and iron in place.   

I also cut bias strips for the stems, pressed with the seam open on the outside, such that when I pin it is place, the seam is not seen. 

I found this to be too bulky and had to trim the seam to keep the raw edge from showing from under the applique.  Not good.

So I decided to just cut the seam out all together.  (I have got to remember to redo my nails BEFORE I do these closeups!)

I cut the seam away such that approximately 1/8 inch was left of the folded over edge.

This has worked out great to remove the bulk from under the applique.

The white lines you see in the background are chalk lines I drew diagonally across the block for stem placement.

The next step was to remove the freezer paper from the flowers and leaves.  Now this is a another new step for me, as I usually leave the paper in, cut a slit in the background fabric after the piece is appliqued down and pull the paper out through the slit. 

I decided to try something different by removing the paper first, then basting the pieces in place prior to doing the needle turn applique.  By first pressing the pieces on the freezer paper, my folds are set and this should make the needle turn process so much easier - at least that is my thinking at this point.  We'll see how it goes.

And here is the  block, read for applique with all pieces basted in place. 

My mom used to tell me to always baste my pieces in place when doing blanket stitch applique, using thread that matched the applique and to leave the basting stitches in to strengthen the applique.  Of course your basting stitches had to be smaller and neater than mine in this piece.

I have used this concept, but I will be removing these stitches once the needle turn is complete. Therefore I made bigger stitches and used a contrast thread color. 

So there you have my progress on this block.  I just love this pattern (see prior post) and am looking forward to doing a little needle turn applique on this block.

Hope your Sunday was a relaxing one and thank you for stopping by,

Teresa

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