Back Basting Applique - Part 2

I've had lots of questions about this technique.  Hopefully this post will answer all of them.
I am using the Be Still My Heart block from Esther's Heart's Desire BOM.  This pattern is free until March 15th, when she will offer block 2 of the Mystery Block of the Month free for a month.  It's a good block to practice this technique on since there are long, sweeping turns rather than a lot of fussy inside & outside points.

Once your shape is basted and cut out, you are going  to cut and remove the basting thread where you are going to do the needleturn.  I pull about 2" worth of thread on a straight section like this, or about 1" on a more complicated piece.

I like to start stitching in the middle of a straight section since it's sometimes hard to get started and do an inside or outside point at the same time.

Here's my technique for needle turn:
On a straight section like this, I like to turn under 1-1.5"  before I start to stitch.  Grab the seam allowance that you are going to turn under with the tip of your needle.

Fold that allowance under, using your thumb to hold it in place.  In this picture, you can see the little holes that were made by the basting stitch (click to enlarge if you need to).  This is your fold line.

Use the needle to tidy this edge. In this case, I'll use the tip of the needle to push that pointy section right of the needle under.  And I'll use the tip of the needle to pull some of the fabric  left of the needle out to be more rounded.  Once I like how it looks, I typically run the thumb of my needle hand over the fold to finger press it.

I then scoot my thumb over the section that I just turned to hold it in place, and to be closer to my stitching area for better control.

Then just stitch-away.  My stitches are typically 5mm apart on straight sections and as close as 3mm on inside and outside points.

The next piece in this pattern will be layered on top of this green piece.  Since I won't be able to see well through it, like I did with the first piece, it's time for a different technique.

I mark the outline of the piece with large pins.  In this case, I only need to mark 2 sides b/c the outside green petal marks the outside (left side in the picture.)

On the front side, I know that the chunk of fabric I'm going to use next needs to cover the petal and the pins.

I used the edge of my yardage to line up with the outer left petal.  I use short applique pins to hold the fabric in place.  The pins are placed outside the petal on the left and outside the location-marking pins on the right.

That way, when I flip it to the back to baste, I can see that the pins are outside the design area and I have enough fabric to cover the shape.  Also, with the pins on the opposite side from the basting, the thread doesn't get caught while you are stitching.

Baste in place using a contrasting thread.  I like longer stitches for straight edges and stitch closer together for smaller or more complicated pieces.

I make small corrections sometimes when basting too. The line I drew on the right, seemed to get narrow, so I moved the basting line to the inside of the drawn line.  I'll make corrections to my wonky stitching line when I trim the shape.

On the front side, cut out the shape.  In doing this tutorial, I realized that I leave a 5mm seam allowance.  (about half-way b/w 1/8 and 1/4").  That little extra wiggle room is good for fine-tuning the folds, but doesn't make for too much bulk.

Line up the next piece the same way.  I'm feeling for the pins that I used to mark the point of this petal.  And I can feel the outside of the green petal through the pink to make sure I have the design covered.  Pin on the front side, baste on the back.

Since these pieces won't overlap with each other, I'll baste all 6 of them down, then I'll do the stitching on all of them before I go through the same process for the center petals.

So, what do you think?  Are you ready to try?

Back Basting Applique - Getting Started

I was trying to explain back-basting to Lynne at Lily's Quilts and decided it might be easier to just get started on Esther's  Hearts Desire BOM and take pictures.


After taping together the parts of the pattern, secure it to your window (OK, you can use a light box if you have one) with the "right" side facing the neighbors.

 Press a centering seam into the fabric, then tape it to the window over the pattern, also right side to the neighbors.  Use a pencil to trace the design on the back side of the fabric.

If you have template plastic and an extra 6 minutes,  you could make templates for some of the repeating elements to make sure they are exactly the same shape if that kind of detail bothers you.

The first thing I'm going to applique is the large 6-petaled motif.  Place a chunk of the design fabric, bigger than the shape  that you want to use on the table, right side down. (You'll be trimming it to shape later)  Place the backing fabric over it, also face down. Make sure that the chunk of fabric completely covers the shape.  This background is thin enough that you can see the dark fabric through it.  Otherwise, I hold it up to the light & make sure that there is enough fabric for the motif with some extra around the edges.  Pin in place.  For a big piece like this, I used a dozen applique pins but would typically use 2 or 3.  After it's pinned, double check position by holding it up to the light.

With thread that contrasts with both the background and the design fabric, baste on the line.  This dotted line will be your fold line for the needle turn.

This is a good place for a tip about needles.  When I baste, I use a rather thick sewing needle - the kind that comes in a multi-pack from the dollar store.  It leaves bigger holes in the fabric when the thread is removed, helping to mark both the fold, and where it should attach to the background.

Once it is basted, flip it over and trim to 1/8" or whatever size seam you want to work with.  If your stitching line was a little wobbly (like mine was on this point) you can improve the shape of the piece with careful trimming.

Tracing the whole design, basting and trimming only took me 15 minutes (including pictures).  And TA-DA!  Not only am I ready to sew, but the piece is exactly the right shape and in exactly the right place.  No templates. No freezer paper. No glue. No mystery positioning.

These are my MUST HAVE applique tools. I love the YLI # 100 silk thread. The stitches are nearly invisible.  I like Thread Heaven thread conditioner for applique, but will use bees wax in a pinch.  My preference is an 11 or 12 applique needle.  You really need the silk thread to use a needle that small.

Then it's just basic needle turn technique for the stitching.  Fold on the dotted line, making sure it matches up to the dotted line on the background.

Super simple.  I love back-basting needle turn applique.  Before someone showed me how, I was an applique hater.  Now...I'm Applique Addict.

Family Secrets

Time to share family secrets!  Oh...no....not my family.  Anna's family.  She has family members who make amazing, detailed, perfect snowflakes out of tissue paper.  She sent me a declassified pattern to try as an applique.  Here's what came in the mail. It's just like the snowflakes that we probably all made as children, with the main difference being starting with a circle.
I decided that I wanted to make a flake for a big throw pillow (22").  This is how I adapted her directions

I decided to make a pattern for 1/2 of a flake, so I could see how the snips that I planned would look, before I committed to the fabric.  I made a centering crease on a 11x17 piece of paper, then lined up my hexagon ruler to mark the angle.

Then I lengthened the lines with a long ruler.

And folded along the lines.  At this point, I realized that the directions were starting from a circle.

So I went back and trimmed the paper to make a 1/2 circle with all the folding lines. 

   Then cut out notches on both sides.

Open it up and decide if you like it.   I considered making the snips bigger so it would look lacier, but then decided that I wanted to quilt facets into the final, so left it a little chunkier.

I took an 18" square of white fabric and folded it the same way, ironing and starching with each fold.

I did find that it was helpful to make the folds accordion style rather than  always folded toward the center.

Next, I lined up the paper template and made the cuts with a rotary cutting tool.  Use your big blade - there are many layers to cut through.  You will have to press hard!

The inside corners need scissors to finish the cuts. 

The folding process means that the cutouts on the inner layers of fabric will be smaller than the ones on the outside.  I went back and trimmed these to size with small scissors.

Then I pinned it in place with short pins

And basted it in place.  My friend Michelle, would insist on spray-baste for this step, but I find that hand-basting is fast (and free).

Then I did needle turn applique.

Oh, and if you are curious about the color scheme....I first headed to the blue bin.  Then realized that I emptied that stash and didn't have anything that really worked.  I considered a dark green - like snowflakes in a forest. The ah-ha came as I was digging through the green box.  My Christmas decorations changed to lime and raspberry the year that I couldn't resist the Magenta Metallic fake tree.  I could put out lime green snowflake pillows with the Christmas decorations, and not feel bad about leaving them out well into Spring.