Teapot No. 2!

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Comments Off on Teapot No. 2!

I’m using a layer cake of the gorgeous Ann’s Arbor line by Minick and Simpson for Moda. It has lots of scrumptious prints for the teapots!

Instagram • kaymacquilts
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

Teapot No. 1!

Filed Under Back-basting (no-template), Hand appliqué, Show & Tell | Comments Off on Teapot No. 1!

I’m posting a teapot a week for 16 weeks over on Instagram. Here’s the first one!


Made with Ann’s Arbor fabrics by Minick and Simpson for Moda. I hand appliquéd it using the back-basting method of preparation. It feels great to be going back to hand work for awhile. You can click Back-Basting in the Categories for a visual tutorial of this fabulous method.

Until next time,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop
Instagram: kaymacquilts

Back when the spring issue of 100 Blocks came out, I promised that I would post a tutorial of the way that I made my block, Scroll Heart.

The magazine published instructions for fusible appliqué, but I had actually stitched the block by hand, using back-basting and a combination of regular and reverse appliqué. I’ll show you how I did it.

You might want to start by reviewing the tutorial on back-basting hand appliqué.

Now for our Scroll Heart. I hauled my original pattern out of its file folder. Because it’s a 12″ block, the pattern was folded.

I ironed it on low, under a pressing sheet, just to flatten it out a mite.

Notice my pencil notation at the top, “rev.” That means that this is the reversed version of the pattern. I’ve learned to mark this when I file things away. For back-basting, you need to start with a reversed pattern.

I pulled fabrics for the block.

Julie suggested,“I would love to see it tone on tone, with the scroll being a bit darker shade than the heart.” After selecting the fabrics, I decided to do it the other way around, with the lighter red print being revealed for the scroll.

In back-basting, you start by tracing the pattern onto the back of the background fabric. Typically this marking delineates the appliqué turning line. In this case, I’m going to use it for two purposes. It will mark the turning line for the outside of the heart, and it will mark the cutting line for the reverse appliqué scroll.

Usually I use a water-erasable marking pen. This time I used a pencil, because I’m working with dark red fabric for the appliqué. Dark. Red. Fabric. Just sayin’.

Now for the reveal layer, which will appear under the scroll. Using a light box with the pattern underneath, I drew a chalk mark on my insert fabric, in between the scroll and the heart. This will give me the shape to cut out, which will cover the scroll but miss the edge of the heart.

On the front, lay the reveal fabric, aka secret layer, on the background square, over the scroll area. You can use a light box or hold the fabrics up to the light to make sure it’s well placed. Pin from the back.

On the front, lay the heart fabric over the background and reveal fabric, making sure it covers the outside of the heart with a little bit to spare. The heart fabric can be any rough-cut hunk or chunk, as long as it covers. Remove the pins from the reveal layer and pin all three layers together from the back.

This is the front, on the light box so it looks weird.

Same thing from the back.

Now for the back-basting. Use a bright or contrasting thread that is thick or fuzzy, and a big honking needle. You want the basting to make larger holes, to give the appliqué fabric a memory of where it should turn later, when you’re stitching.

On the back, along the drawn lines, baste through all layers around the outside of the heart and along the scroll. Remove the pins.

On the front, trim the red fabric to the shape of the heart, leaving a turning allowance outside of the basting stitches of about 3/16″.

The outside line is going to be regular appliqué, making the heart cover up the background fabric.

The inside scroll lines are going to be reverse appliqué, revealing what’s underneath.

That’s the only difference between regular and reverse appliqué. Regular covers up, reverse reveals.

I’m going to stitch the outside of the heart first, so that I won’t ravel the raw edges while I’m working on the interior. Removing the basting a little at a time, I’m hand stitching using traditional needle turn.

Starting on the heart.

Outside of heart... done!

The heart is finished, time to work on the scroll. To make sure I could clearly see the cutting line once the back-basting was removed, I went over the basting stitches with a white marking pencil on the front.

Stitching the scroll is going to resemble Hawaiian appliqué, or cutaway appliqué. I’m going to remove the basting a little at a time, cut the heart fabric only along the dotted line, and turn and stitch using traditional needle turn.

One side of the first scroll is stitched.

I’m turning under as little as possible, about 1/8″. The amount that you turn under doesn’t matter so much as that it’s consistent.

Once you’ve finished one side of the scroll, you’ll need to large-baste the other side, or else it’ll be flapping in the breeze.

Just keep removing the back-basting, cutting, and stitching your way around both sides of each scroll, a little at a time. I turned under such a small amount that I didn’t even have to clip any curves.

Stitchin' along, stitchin' along.

Keep on going around; it’ll be one continuous line until you come back to the beginning. So cool!!

Remove the large basting, press, and you’re done! Cute!

I hope this has been a helpful tutorial, and has shed some light on the mysterious subject of reverse appliqué.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

I’ve been working on stuff. Well, I’m always working on stuff, and sometimes I have something to show for it. :)


A new pattern! I pulled hunks and scraps out of my stash, anything I liked, and put them all together for this important quilter’s statement piece. Your hunks and scraps will be completely different than mine, but your quilt will make the same proud pronouncement.

Also, I made a stand-alone set of instructions for back-basting.


This illustrated guide includes the 9″ Heart and Flower practice block, illustrated back-basting instructions, hand stitching tips, and my guide to points and notches.

Note: If you have Teapots 2 to Appliqué or Inspired by Tradition, you have these instructions built-in.

This weekend I’ll be at the show put on the the Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County in Concord (say that 10 times fast). Hope to see you there if you’re in the area!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Greetings fellow appliqué enthusiasts! I have one of those birthdays that’s close to Christmas. When I was a kid it meant “combination” presents, which to someone of a tender age can be very thick. (I’ve gotten over that now.) (Pretty much.)

To help celebrate the day, I’m putting up a copy of one of my most popular books, Teapots 2 to Appliqué.

It’s in its fourth printing and still going strong. Quilters love teapots!

The book has designs for 16 different teapots, plus cups and saucers and milk and sugar, and instructions for back-basting hand appliqué. (Of course you can use whatever method you like.)

To enter the drawing, please leave a comment here on the blog by 7:00 p.m. California time on Sunday Saturday, December 21. Hey, one copy doesn’t seem enough. How about three winners! Open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Good luck in the draw!

Happy holidays,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Linda Franz is one of my most revered associates in the quilting world. When I first stuck a toe into publishing, I saw that she had produced the fabulous Quilted Diamonds on her own, and I contacted her with questions. Linda immediately became a mentor to me, answering at length and providing the most wonderful encouragement.

I’ve watched over the years as Linda has continued trail-blazing. She is the inventor of Inklingo, a system of printing on fabric that provides a myriad of benefits for both patchwork and appliqué. Recently Linda posted a tutorial on Quilting Hub about back-basting with Inklingo that you’ll just have to go and see. Among Linda’s many skills is photography, and the quality of her photo tutorials is unsurpassed. You’ll also meet Linda’s friend Monkey, who helps demonstrate during the tutorials.

Coming up: Tuesday is my birthday. I have a date with the hubby for dinner-and-a-movie, but I’m also feeling inclined to do some sort of something here on the blog to help celebrate. And, on Christmas day I post my annual Cavalcade of Kittens, so be warned if you are averse to fluffy baby felines. :)

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Still waiting to hear back from the winner of the October giveaway, so I’ll let ya know.

The November/December issue of Quiltmaker is on its way to newsstands and subscribers now. I got my advance copies, and, happy dance! My article got a cover line!

This piece has been in the works for almost a year now, and it’s so very cool to finally see it in print.

The pillow that I made came out beautiful. I think this block is one of my favorites that I ever designed.

The project is accompanied by a step-by-step how-to on back-basting preparation for hand appliqué, complete with photos.

Until next time,
Kay

More felines!

Our PVQA guild member Mickey Beebe, designer of the world famous BB Bag, is coordinating our opportunity quilt for 2014.

At our last guild meeting she doled out dozens of a cute little cat block that she had designed to those members not afraid of hand appliqué. I took three.

Mickey had already traced the cats with a silver pencil and had provided a measurement-based placement system. I put on my thinking cap and came up with a method that slops into back-basting, except that it’s front-basting! That’s why I call them hybrid cats.

I positioned the cats on the background as directed, pinned in a couple places, then front-basted along the silver marked line. Take out the pins, and voilà! it’s ready to stitch, just as if I had used my favorite back-basting method.

Trimmed to shape, leaving the turning allowance, and a little reverse appliqué to delineate the legs.

Stitching away, removing the basting a little ahead.

Three cats all done and ready to go back to Mickey! I feel like there are more in my future, since there are a whole lotta cats in Mickey’s quilt!

Notes:

Cat block is © Mickey Beebe. Mickey is a natural-born quiltmaking soul. You can see two of her Road to California ribbon-winning quilts, #6711 and #6712, at the R2CA site.

When I looked at the webpage I was tickled to see one of my quilts on there too! We had a good year!

If you didn’t win a copy of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Volume 5 in last week’s blog hop, I now have it available on my website, on the Patterns page.

Also, if you can’t wait until the Book-A-Round June 7-16 to see if you win one, you can order your signed copy of Scrap-Appliqué Playground now! It’s on the Bookshop page.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

I’ve been waiting and waiting for this one to come out!

baltimore-garden

Our featured book this month is Barbara Burnham’s Baltimore Garden Quilt from AQS Publishing.

My maiden name is Burnham so I’ve often wondered if Barbara and I are long-lost cousins. After all, Burnham is a good old “up east” name (my dad is from Massachussetts) and Barbara is a charter member of the Baltimore Appliqué Society, but alas we still haven’t figured that out LOL.

Today I’m turning the blog over to Barbara to tell us all about her stellar new book. It’s quite something!

Barbara M. Burnham, author:

“My dear husband thought I was crazy to buy that old worn quilt I found in 1999. “But it really does have potential,” I told him. “Try to imagine that quilt as it looked in 1848 when it was made.”

M.E.C. 1848

M.E.C. 1848

“So he smiled and said “Whatever you want, dear.” (Love that!) I wanted to reproduce the quilt and make those designs come alive again. When the quilt arrived, we had fun looking over all the appliqué, some completely gone from age and wear, and dense quilting with florals in between all the appliqué. This is the quilt that became the new “Baltimore Garden Quilt.”

M.E.C. Remembered

M.E.C. Remembered

“Flowers on the antique quilt had been stitched on one petal at a time –- one flower had almost 50 petals! But I devised a method of appliqué to do those flowers in layered sections. Over the next ten years, I traced the designs and appliquéd the blocks. (Not that I’m so slow, but also working a full-time job). Meanwhile, my friends at the Baltimore Appliqué Society cheered me on to publish the patterns.

I kept a journal noting techniques, drawings, problems, and solutions. I wondered what the original quilter might have been thinking about her world in 1848, and what she grew in her garden to inspire these flowers. Techniques on her quilt include buttonhole stitching, woven baskets, embroidery, inked signatures, and tiny cross stitched initials.

Those techniques and more are described in my book using today’s tools and methods. The companion CD includes all the patterns for appliqué blocks, border swags with 40 florettes, quilting designs, alternate sets, and an 1848-era cross stitch alphabet.

Finally, I must give credit to my friend, Marty Vint of Dogwood Quilting, for her masterful machine quilting of all the original designs from the antique quilt. The Baltimore Garden Quilt, or “M.E.C. Remembered,” will be displayed in the Author’s Row exhibit at the American Quilter’s Society shows in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Paducah, Kentucky.”

I asked Barbara to tell us more about the intriguing topic of her appliqué methods.

Barbara: “My favorite method for hand appliqué is freezer-paper-on-top with needleturn (blind stitch). I leave the freezer paper on until the piece is stitched. I don’t mark the applique fabric or background. But this quilt required a LOT of techniques! All my techniques are in this book, plus:

• A new technique for creating symmetrical multi-layered flowers
• No-mark placement
• Buttonhole (blanket stitch) and iron-on fusibles
• Reverse applique
• Embroidery stitches
• Several ways to make a woven basket
• Bias stems
• Tricks for handling small pieces like berries and bird’s eyes
• Back-basting on the sewing machine
• How to trace designs from an antique quilt
• How to find just the right fabrics, including Turkey Red
• All the quilting patterns that appear between the applique
• How-to’s for adapting quilting motifs for your quilt
• Marking quilting motifs
• How to assemble the quilt (joining blocks, joining borders and adding corner swags)
• Backing and batting, basting the “quilt sandwich”
• Quilting by hand or machine
• Preparing your quilt for machine quilting
• Binding
• Signing and dating your work, ideas for labels

Included Patterns:

• Twenty-five 15-inch appliqué blocks
• Border Double Swags and 40 Small Florettes to join them
• Quilting Motifs from the antique quilt
• Alternate Set for arranging the blocks
• Cross Stitch Alphabet from 1848

Here’s who will enjoy this book:

• People who enjoy or collect antique quilts and patterns; Baltimore style quilts, red-and-green quilts, appliqué quilts and antique quilting patterns.
• Beginning appliquérs who could learn techniques with a simple tulip block.
• Advanced appliquérs who will enjoy the more challenging and complex designs and techniques, or modify them for their own quilts.
• Quilters searching for unique border designs and ideas.

I do hope you enjoy the book!”

Thank you, Barbara! All I can say, is WOW. I mean WOW. How much more could an appliqué enthusiast ask for??

Courtesy of the publisher, I have a copy of Baltimore Album Quilt to give away to a lucky reader. To enter the drawing, leave a comment here on this post before 7:00 p.m. California time on Sunday, March 11.

The fine print: Contest open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. Do not reply to your email feed; instead, click over to the blog itself and leave your comment at the bottom of the post. Good luck!

Until then,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

In the Call for Topics, Debbie asked,

I need to know how to tackle (handle the excess background fabric) of an appliquéd ‘whole cloth’ piece — in other words, one design on a large (say 36 x 42) background. Do you start at the top, middle, random, where? How do you keep that background fabric stable? Do you appliqué the vines first?

Debbie, there’s a reason that appliqué projects are usually done in block format LOL! Working on blocks is more manageable than working on a big honking project, with all of that excess fabric to deal with.

4-baskets

If you do have an appliqué project that’s one design on a large background, never fear… it can be done! I’m thinking we’re talking about hand appliqué here, and your question ties in with the recent post Support for your appliqué. The information given there on support for the background fabric is totally relevant to tackling large appliqué projects.

What area to start in? It’s not like machine quilting, where the conventional wisdom is usually to start in the middle and work your way outwards. I use the back-basting method, which ensures that your motifs end up stitched exactly where you marked them, so no worries about migration of pieces. Using this method, I personally wouldn’t be worried about what section I started on, but knowing me, I would probably work all over as opposed to finishing one section and then moving on to the next.

As for what order to go in, it would be the same as any other appliqué pattern. Start with the motifs that are in the back, and work your way forward. Vines are often the first things to go down, because they are usually behind other elements. You’ll need to study your pattern to see if this is the case.

Another tip about handling appliqué projects: Hold the work from the bottom of the target area. Make sure your wrist is not twisted or bent. Fold or roll the project in your non-sewing hand until you can get a good over-and-under grip on the area that you’re working on.

holding-project

If your project is large, there’s the true challenge. You might have quite a bit of fabric rolled up in your hand, and that’s why the block format is so popular! You’ll need to unroll, reposition, and reroll as you work.

Suzanne recently wrote and asked, “Please review for all of us how you mark the pattern on the back of the fabric w/o using templates. Very interesting approach that I must try.”

Suzanne, go the the back-basting link above and that’ll give you all the information :).

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Thanks everybody for the great suggestions for appliqué topics! I’ve got ’em all down on my list.

I love this from Sharon Decker!

I spent years not doing the “A” word. Why, because I didn’t realize there was more than one method. Once I learned backbasting, I became a convert. I now tell people who are either afraid of applique or haven’t even tried it that they just need to find the method that works for them. “One size does not fit all.” I don’t think people really understand how many methods there are and they just need encouragement to find what works for them.

Right on sister! You’re preaching to the choir!

Most of the questions were about hand appliqué, in fact a whopping 76%!

The easiest way to start is with things I’ve already written about. (Reminder, there are a bunch of categories in the left-hand sidebar. Click on any one of them and it’ll bring up anything that’s been posted having to do with that topic.)

MaryB wrote:

“I would like to know more about back basting. Right now I use glue basting but some times it’s not always convenient to take glue with you.”

Back in August 2008 I posted a photo tutorial of back-basting. Instead of just linking to it, I thought I’d repeat it here, adding in a few new comments in blue to address some of the back-basting questions.

________________________________

Back-Basting Photo tutorial

How about a method of appliqué that gives super-accurate results, yet uses no glue, no starch, no freezer paper, no fusible web, no fusible interfacing, no vinyl or tracing paper. Just fabric, needle and thread, scissors, and a marking implement. Pretty cool, huh?

Clairellen wrote:

“I must be missing something, as I am hearing such wonderful things about back-basting applique, and how it converts you forever from previous methods, but when I tried it (twice so far), it seemed bulky and hard to handle. So a detailed photo-enhanced tutorial would be terrific.”

No glue, no starch, no freezer paper, no fusibles, no overlays, just fabric and thread… what could be less bulky? I hope the following visuals will help you refine your strategies. Give it another whirl!

I promised awhile ago that I would write more about the back-basting, aka no-template preparation for hand appliqué. It’s really quite ingenious and is now my favorite way to work by hand. As I was stitching a Heart in Hand block today I took some pictures along the way to show how it works.

Use a reversed pattern for this method. Start by marking the reversed pattern on the back of the background fabric. I use the blue water-erasable pen. You can also use a marking pencil.

bb1.gif

Rough-cut a hunk of the appliqué fabric that’s bigger than what you’ll need. Lay it in place on the front.

bb2.gif

Pin the fabrics together. On the back, baste the two fabrics together with a small running stitch, exactly on the drawn line. Use a thick or fuzzy thread for this and a big honking needle. I use a size 7 cotton darner.

bb3.gif

Baste all the way around the shape. This is what it looks like on the front.

bb4.gif

Now trim the fabric to the shape of the motif, leaving your preferred turn-under margin outside the basting.

bb5.gif

Clip and remove a section of basting stitches. In this freed-up area, start turning and stitching. Keep clipping and removing the basting a few stitches ahead of your appliqué. The thick needle and heavy basting thread leave behind temporary perforations that help the fabric turn along the stitching line. I use a size 10 milliner needle and DMC 50-weight cotton machine embroidery thread for appliqué.

bb6.gif

Kat wrote:

“Backbasting…I have heard such wonderful things about it but I find that when I clip the basting thread and it is suppose to turn under so beautifully, my holes just disappear and I am left trying to figure out where to turn under! It seems that I can’t get the fabric to behave…like a stubborn child. I don’t find my points nearly as neat as with other methods…. it would be easier to do back basting if I could see what I was doing!”

Kat, is it possible that you’re removing the basting too far ahead of where you’re stitching? Try taking out the least amount of basting possible each time. And, the more you practice, the more you know how much to turn under. You’ll develop an appliquér’s sense of it. Also, here’s a tip… I can’t remember where I saw this, but I did see someone suggest that you could run a chalk marker over the basting stitches before starting to sew. That way, when the basting stitches are removed, there’s a dotted line left on the turn line. Lastly, see the next point in the tutorial. :)

Continue all the way around. Don’t press the block yet.

bb7.gif

Hmm, not bad. A benefit of this method is that you can flip the block over to see how you’re doing. The marking serves as a built-in stitching guide!

bb8.gif

Repeat the same process for the heart.

bb9.gif
bb10.gif
bb14.gif

Christy B. wrote:

“I would like to know more about back-basting curves. I love the method for vines and leaves, but have a lot of trouble getting smooth curves for rose petals, etc.”

Christy, back-basting is actually a preparation method. The ‘smooth curves’ aspect comes along in the stitching part, which is just like traditional needle-turn. The culprit in chunky curves is the turning allowance and how it’s acting underneath the appliqué edge once it’s turned. First, make sure your turning allowance is not too wide. A quarter of an inch is actually too much. Trim to about 3/16″ of an inch, and distribute the bulk of the turning allowance smoothly underneath as you stitch. Make sure it’s not pleated up on itself under there.

Once the block is completed, remove the markings from the back. I dip a Q-tip in water and stroke it along the lines. Let the block air-dry and check to make sure none of the blue has reappeared. (If so, just wet it again.)

bb11.gif
bb12.gif

After all the marks are gone and the block has air-dried, give it a quick press. All done!

bb13.gif

I have really come to love this method, since it gets me on the sofa stitching a lot quicker instead of fiddling around with freezer paper templates at the ironing board. I hope you enjoy it too. Like anything new, it takes practice, so give it a whirl and then another!

___________________________________________

FYI, back-basting is written up and illustrated in my books Teapots 2 to Appliqué, Easy Appliqué Blocks, and Inspired by Tradition, all available at Amazon and my website, By Kay Mackenzie.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Last night Brown came and delivered the most beautiful book. I’m holding it in my hands, I see my name on the cover, and I can hardly believe it’s mine!

kays-inspired-by-tradition

It’s been just over a year since I was given the green light from That Patchwork Place for this new book. I’ve blogged about the process a little bit from time to time. (If you look at the Categories in the left-hand sidebar you can click on ‘A story of another book’ to read those posts if you like.)

Inspired by Tradition: 50 Appliqué Blocks in 5 Sizes is presented in the same format as Easy Appliqué Blocks, my first book from TPP… 50 blocks shown in a thumbnail library so you can choose your block, and a CD that you stick into your computer, choose any one of 5 sizes, and print right at home! No figuring of percentages or folding, copying, and matching back up crooked sections! We even give reversed versions of each pattern, since you need that for some forms of appliqué.

The designs in this new book are all vintage and old-timey in look and feel, hence the name Inspired by Tradition. The publishers did an amazing job on the pages within… graceful, colorful, and pretty, and so well suited for showing off these blocks with traditional appeal. I couldn’t be happier with how it looks.

In addition to the blocks, there’s a Little Gallery of Ideas to get you thinking. We’ve included the dimensions of all the blocks, sashing, borders, etc. in case you’d like to make something similar. There are also extensive illustrated instructions for back-basting hand appliqué and raw-edge fusible machine appliqué, and a section of appliqué questions and answers compiled from what quilters talk about when they come into my booth at shows.

What I have right now is my advance copy. The book ships to quilt shops March 7. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon now, and at a great price too. And, if you go look at it on Amazon and click on ‘see all product images,’ you can see all 50 of the blocks! That’s right, the publisher uploaded beautiful images of all 50 blocks, stitched by moi!

If you’d like to wait for a copy signed by me, I’ll have it on my website March 7 as well.

Thank you for taking a look at my new baby. I’m just a little bit excited. :)

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

Writer Dawn Goldsmith invited me to do a guest post on her blog, Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles.

sm-needlesOf course I wanted to do that! What a great name, and an admirable spirit! I’m not all that subversive actually, but I am totally armed with needles. I wrote a post about the three main sharp implements in my life, showing a few examples of what I’ve done with them.

Be sure to check out Subversive Stitchers, a blog about the abounding creativity of women who wield all sorts of needles.

Thank you, Dawn, one writer to another. What a treat for me.

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

I just got a note from reader Robin that she was leafing through the latest issue of McCall’s Quilting, and found my quilt! On page 36 to be exact!

cover_large.jpgWow, it must be October already. That’s when I thought the December issue was due out. My copy of the magazine hasn’t arrived yet and now I’m dying to see it!

This was the assignment that I wrote about back in May, when Gregory Case introduced me to editor Beth Hayes in the aisle during Spring Market. Beth is a wonderfully gracious and warm person and I was very lucky to meet her in this fashion.

They put a sneak peak of the project on the McCalls Quilting website. In the magazine, the project is accompanied by a photo tutorial on back-basting.

Has anybody else seen the article??

Lookin’ for the mail carrier,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie

How about a method of appliqué that gives super-accurate results, yet uses no glue, no starch, no freezer paper, no fusible web, no fusible interfacing, no vinyl or tracing paper. Just fabric, needle and thread, scissors, and a marking implement. Pretty cool, huh?

I promised awhile ago that I would write more about the back-basting, aka no-template preparation for hand appliqué. It’s really quite ingenious and is now my favorite way to work by hand. As I was stitching a Heart in Hand block today I took some pictures along the way to show how it works.

Use a reversed pattern for this method. Start by marking the reversed pattern on the back of the background fabric. I use the blue water-erasable pen. You can also use a marking pencil.
bb1.gif

Rough-cut a hunk of the appliqué fabric that’s bigger than what you’ll need. Lay it in place on the front.
bb2.gif

Pin the fabrics together. On the back, baste the two fabrics together with a small running stitch, exactly on the drawn line. Use a thick or fuzzy thread for this and a big honking needle. I use a size 7 cotton darner.
bb3.gif

Baste all the way around the shape. This is what it looks like on the front.
bb4.gif

Now trim the fabric to the shape of the motif, leaving your preferred turn-under margin outside the basting.
bb5.gif

Clip and remove a section of basting stitches. In this freed-up area, start turning and stitching. Keep clipping and removing the basting a few stitches ahead of your appliqué. The thick needle and heavy basting thread leave behind temporary perforations that help the fabric turn along the stitching line. I use a size 10 milliner needle and DMC 50-weight cotton machine embroidery thread for appliqué,
bb6.gif

Continue all the way around. Don’t press the block yet.
bb7.gif

Hmm, not bad. A benefit of this method is that you can flip the block over to see how you’re doing. The marking serves as a built-in stitching guide!
bb8.gif

Repeat the same process for the heart.
bb9.gif
bb10.gif
bb14.gif

Once the block is completed, remove the markings from the back. I dip a Q-tip in water and stroke it along the lines. Let the block air-dry and check to make sure none of the blue has reappeared. (If so, just wet it again.)
bb11.gif
bb12.gif

After all the marks are gone and the block has air-dried, give it a quick press. All done!
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I have really come to love this method, since it gets me on the sofa stitching a lot quicker instead of fiddling around with freezer paper templates at the ironing board. I hope you enjoy it too. Like anything new, it takes practice, so give it a whirl and then another. If you’re stalling because you don’t have the right needle or the perfect thread, well then there’s a kit available over at Quilt Puppy that has pattern, instructions, fabrics, both needles, and both threads all in it, to give you a jump start on becoming introduced to the method.

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

It’s finally here, March 1st… the official publication date of my new book, Teapots 2 to Appliqué!

Teapots 2 to Appliqué

It’s an exciting time. After months and months of work designing the motifs, stitching them up, handing out the patterns to willing appliqué friends, waiting to see what they come up with, writing the text, creating the illustrations, laying out the pages, shepherding the projects through photography, and at last taking the finished file to the printers, then comes the nail-biting period waiting for “the call” that the books are finished and ready to be picked up. Once I finally have a book in my hands and it’s just what I wanted, that’s the happy dance time, as in now. Yay!

Teapots 2 has 16 new teapot designs for you to appliqué using your own favorite method. Since my last book came out, I learned the back-basting, aka no-template preparation method for hand appliqué and have become a big fan. This new book has step-by-step instructions for back-basting prep in case you’re a hand appliquér as well and would like to learn what that’s all about.

My first teapot book, Teapots to Appliqué, is now out of print. That’s a bittersweet thought. I sent off the very last copies the same week I got the new one. Couldn’t have timed it better if I’d planned it that way!

Teapots 2 is available on my website, Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs.

Until next time (happy dance, happy dance),
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Well, that’s what they taught us in 10th grade, but they were talking in terms of abstract geometry. In nature, we don’t see too many straight lines. They’re more of a man-made construct, like boxes, fences, and the sides of buildings.

Hand appliqué is not a fan of straight lines either. Gentle curves are the ticket, and nothing too perfect, like in nature. It’s when we appliqué houses, or baskets, or stems that are perfectly straight because we’ve simplified them or are interpreting them in a primitive or folk-art way, that we run into the straight line.

Straight lines are not so much an issue in machine appliqué (though you still have to mark them and cut them straight.) But in hand work, I actually find a straight line harder to get nice than a curve. Here are some strategies for dealing with stretches of the straightaway.

• The bias tape maker

Except, don’t use bias!

Cut straight strips instead of bias strips.
They wiggle less.

Below is an example from Baskets to Appliqué, where I used the tape maker and straight-cut strips with just a thin strip of fusible on the back. It looks intricate, but it was pretty easy-peasy to weave the strips, fuse them in place, then hand-stitch them down.


• Freezer paper on the back


The pot here, in this design from Growing Heart to Appliqué, is a good candidate.

Basting the margin over the template helps assure a crisp, identifiable sewing line and keeps things on the straight and narrow. For more information, see my previous photo tutorial about freezer paper on the back. Even if you’re using freezer paper on top or another method, you can mix a little of this in to deal with those pesky straight edges.

• Back-Basting

In the back-basting, aka no-template method, the pattern is drawn directly on the back of the background fabric. This means you have the sewing line marked and ever-present as a reference for your stitching. You can flip your work over to make sure you’re passing the sobriety test.

How’m I doing?

Pretty good so far.

I’ll write more about back-basting in the future.

How do you like to handle straight lines?

Until next time,
Kay