Flower Garden by Kim McLean will be my applique' project for 2012. Kim has such wonderful patterns they are so colorful and the pieces are usually large and not that difficult to do.
I am going to use the freezer paper and starch method for this quilt because the pieces are so large.
I use Reynolds freezer paper and lots of it.
The first thing I do when getting a new roll of freezer paper is cut it into pieces about the size of my applique' pressing sheet and iron them because it's all curled up when you first cut it off the roll. Wonder where that chocolate came from?
Freezer paper also shrinks the first time you iron it and I want my applique' pieces to be the correct size so I preshrink it. I iron it on an applique' pressing sheet so it won't stick to my ironing board and will peel up easily.
You can see how the pressing sheet is wrinkled - the shrinking freezer paper caused the wrinkles. Once it is ironed it is nice and flat stored in a plastic bag and ready to use.
To make my applique' pieces I use a light box because the pieces need to be reversed. First trace all the shapes for your block onto one layer of freezer paper then before you cut them out iron the traced shapes onto two more layers of pre-shrunk freezer paper because you want each applique templet piece to be three thickness. This makes a nice firm edge to turn your fabric against.
Sometime I just make the shapes for one block at a time but for this quilt I made all the templets for all the blocks because each block only has a few pieces.
These are all the tools I use when I prepare my applique pieces.
As you can see they are well used.
This is the second little iron for me I keep pushing too hard
and breaking the handles.
Here are some shapes ironed to the fabric, trimmed and ready to be turned. Using the little brush put starch on just the seam allowance you are turning under. Turn the seam with your little iron and keep the iron on the seam until it is completely dry. Do a little at a time and don't use too much starch because you will soften the edge of the paper templet.
After the edges are all turned it's time to attach the piece to the background fabric. Remove the freezer paper and place dots of Roxaines glue on the background instead of the applique' piece. Just use a tiny dot. You can tell if you are using too much because if you do the glue will bleed through and your background fabric will stick to your pattern. Once again I use the light box so I can see where to place the pieces.
If the applique' piece is big and floppy I place it on the background first
and then raise parts to place the glue.
My first fifteen blocks prepped and ready to stitch. The pieces don't move around and I can put a block in a little bag and carry it with me so there is always something to stitch while waiting.
I fiddled with this post all last week and I hope it is clear enough to understand a little about how I prepare my blocks for stitching.
If you are really interested in this method you need to visit Erin Russek's blog
One Piece at A Time. She has an excellent blog with pictures and videos. She is also starting a new applique BOM "Mimi's Bloomers" which looks interesting.
Happy Stitching,
Nancy
