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Starting to work on market quilts

User
11 years ago

I'm just starting to work on baby quilts for my market stall this summer (among other items). This is a sneak peak of work in progress.

Any fabric from the backside that shows on the butterflies will be machined quilted over with a small zigzag stitch. My personal preference is I don't like zigzagging over raw edges because they fray out over time and I don't trust my clunker machine to do a heavy satin stitch without chewing everything.

There's more to come. That's my sneak peak for now.

Cheers,

Peggy

Comments (14)

  • K8Orlando
    11 years ago

    Peggy, these are adorable and your colors go perfectly with the print. I agree that applique that will use used as hard and washed as often as a baby blanket has to be securely attached and finished! I like the finished edge of your applique pieces.

    Kate

  • magothyrivergirl
    11 years ago

    Gorgeous fabrics! I want to see it finished! This is teasing us :)

  • geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
    11 years ago

    I like your butterfly shapes and can't wait to see them attached. Looks like it will be very pretty.

    SharonG/FL

  • luvtosharedivs
    11 years ago

    O.K. I'm lost (because I've not attempted applique yet,) are you sewing two fabrics right sides together, leaving an opening, and then turning right sides out?

    Love the colors!

    Julie

  • User
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi Julie,

    There are many ways now to do applique. I'm still working on learning to do it by hand with a needle, turning the edges under as I sew pieces onto fabric.

    In this case I decided to do it this way.

    Yes, the front side of the fabric faces inwards. For the wasted fabric you could save money by using old sheets or use a matching fabric colour on the back.

    Once I sew the two front facing prints together I pull them apart and carefully cut a slit in the back/plain fabric and pull the shape through and iron carefully. I iron a bit, use a long pin with the iron put aside and gently pull out the shape some more with my pin to the seam and iron that part and continue until I'm happy with it all and press the whole shape. Then I carefully cut out the excess fabric on the back, leaving about a 1/4" seam allowance.

    I hope that makes sense.

    Thanks everyone for your positive comments. There is a bit of a surprise coming in it. Stay tuned!

    Cheers,
    Peggy

  • nanajayne
    11 years ago

    Peggy have you ever thought to use lt. wt. interfacing or used dryer sheets for the back of your applique?? It makes turning very easy. It is lighter wt. and doesn't show. I also like the narrow blanket st. to sew them down.

  • User
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Yeah, I've been meaning to save the dryer sheets. And thank you for mentioning the ideas. Excellent advice!

    Ta!
    Peggy

  • luvtosharedivs
    11 years ago

    Thanks for your detailed explanation, Peggy.

    I can understand how you'd get wonderfully clean edges on all the applique pieces. You must have a lot of patience to do all that work. Some day I hope to attempt some sort of applique...perhaps raw edge first, then graduate to creating a nice turned under edge.

    Looking forward to seeing the surprise!

    Julie

  • User
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi Julie,
    This is my first attempt doing it this way and I like the comment about using dryer sheets instead of fabric - I think you save the used ones - which I'm going to start doing now.

    And raw edge applique does have it's own charm so don't be afraid to give it a whirl. I'm posting a new topic on tutorial sites.

    Cheers,
    Peggy

  • K8Orlando
    11 years ago

    I've heard that coffee filters work as well as dryer sheets. I use them for a lot of things but haven't tried them for applique!

  • geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
    11 years ago

    Coffee filters work great as a stablizer for applique.

    What I'm thinking is, if using the technique of putting right sides together then turning right side out, what about cutting the back part a little smaller, then the front would turn under a bit and the back wouldn't show at all. I know that would be more time consuming, but there wouldn't be those pesky places of the backing showing either. I might have to try that. @:)

    SharonG/FL

  • User
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Sharon, I'd try it on a couple of coffee filters - one as front, one as back. If it works I'd then try it on a piece of scrap fabric. Interesting idea.

    Ta,
    Peggy

  • geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
    11 years ago

    I'll probably use thin fabric for the backing as I don't cut it away. The coffee filter would have to be taken off and wouldn't serve the purpose of holding the edges underneath. As soon as I get the pattern, I'll check it out. @:)

    SharonG/FL

  • littlehelen_gw
    11 years ago

    Your colors are beautiful...i look forward to seeing the finished quilts.