Tips on Machine Appliqué (Excerpt from Kelly's book, "A Quick Guide to Fundraising Quilts")
Roughly trim away excess fabric from the individual designs. If I'm working with several images, I lay the fusible web paper side down on a large flat ironing surface, and place the images (painted side up) as close as possible, but not overlapping, on the web. Do not iron at this point! All exposed web would stick to your iron and other images. Instead, place a layer of tissue paper ( the type used to wrap clothing inside boxes is fine, or even an open napkin will work in a pinch) over the fusible and images. Make sure there is no exposed fusible, and then press with the iron, paying particular attention to the webbing manufacturer's recommended setting for the iron ( too high of a temperature will destroy the webbing and too low will prevent it from fusing. Be sure to press all areas. Looking through the tissue paper, again rough cut the fabric images. The tissue will fall away from all fabric areas as it is only fused to the portions that you are cutting away. If you are using the lightweight Steam and Seam II fusible web, it has a temporary tack much like a Post-It Note. You can place the appliqués on the background without ironing , and they remain re-positional until heat set.
Carefully cut just outside the outlines of the images, and then remove the paper backing to expose the side of the fusible that will be pressed against the quilt. You may choose to press the appliqué images onto the quilt top and then stitch the edges down with a machine zigzag or minute reversed invisible hem stitch. Clear thread can be used or you can also use a hand or machine buttonhole stitch in cotton embroidery thread for added dimension. It's critical to practice on a scrap project first until all stitch adjustments are made. |
