This is this weeks work in progress. Its a block from Baltimore and Bali. I think this is the sixth block I have made. Not sure though. I should go back and count. The pattern is done with all batiks but I am using cottons instead.
All I have left is to finish the orange flower and stitch down the yellow pieces on top of it. Excuse the washed out pictures. Its raining and cloudy so the flash is making my pictures look bad. :(
I know these pictures are big but I wanted to show a close up of my stitches. The section above is all done.
Here's a close up of a flower bud. Please excuse all the fuzzies. Black fabric picks up every little thing.
You can see in this picture that the bottom of the orange flower is not stitched down but the side is. That's where I started.
I turn all of my edges before stitching them down. I have plans to do a tutorial soon on exactly how I do it. But basically I use an applique foundation that I get at Purple Daisies. Then I use a elmer's school glue stick to turn all the edges. I even do all the stems that way. The foundation is left in after you are done so I don't want the stems to look different. After you wash a quilt that uses this foundation it puffs up and looks almost like trapunto. Just not as puffy. After I turn all the edges I baste it to my background with Roxanne's Basting Glue. Love that stuff. Now to stitch it all I have to do is grab my thread, thimble, and block and go to it. Its so quick and easy on the go. I love applique this way. It took me a couple evenings to do the prep work. I usually do it on a tv stand in front of the tv so I can catch up on some shows at the same time. (BTW, I watched Argo one of the nights I did this and it was such an amazing movie!!!)
I have done needle turn but I was just never happy with the way it came out. I am a bit of a perfectionist and could never get over the learning hump.
A few posts ago I complained about the thread I was using. I use Masterpiece bobbins from Superior threads. My thread kept breaking. It was getting frustrating so I wrote the company to see if I was doing something wrong. And I was. I was using too long of a strand. And on top of that I think the foundation was fraying the thread as well. So now I take extra care to make sure I stitch right in the fold and not get the foundation and I have had much better luck. Still a couple breakages but so much better than before.
This week I am linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced.
Your applique is beautiful!
ReplyDeletevery nice
ReplyDeleteYour applique is really beautiful. I was intrigued by your method, since I've done needle turn, which is ok for me. I'd suggest for your thread, too, to try wax. Yes wax. You can get a round beeswax thing in the notions dept. Run your thread through and then iron it. Sounds like a lot of work, but it makes your thread behave much better. As a quicker alternate, you could try just wetting your thread with a little spritzer just as you are stitching. It takes out the static buildup, and works, too. Learned all this back in my tailoring days. Have fun.
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