As always please post when you are done with your HW!

-Jen

P.S. This lesson has so many pics that I am dividing it into two sections so it will load faster.

Lesson Three: Time to Appliqué

The appliqué stitch is great for bindings. Try it on your next quilt and I think you will love the no show stitches!

1. Cutting the Heart Out- How much seam allowance should you leave? Somewhere between 1/4 of an inch to 3/16 of an inch. You will find a lot of varied answers here.

Clipping The Seams- Before we stitch, we will need to clip those curves. This is where that really sharp pointy scissors comes in really handy! The trick with clipping is not to clip too far. You will want to clip about every ¼ of an inch. Do not clip past your line or freezer paper. You will want to stop a couple of threads short of that. At the “V” you will want to make a straight cut.

2. Crease your background fabric and heart. If you made an overlay, now is the time to pull it out.

Position your heart with pins or glue, in the center of your heart. Don’t pin to close to the edge or you will need to move your pins as you go. If you do not have Roxanne’s glue you can thin Elmer’s School Glue down with a little water. Make sure to use school glue and not all purpose glue (which is not water soluble)!

3. Prepare your thread! You will need to cut roughly twelve inches of your thread. If you have Thread Heaven, now is the time to pull that stuff out and run the thread through it. Tie a knot on the end.

4. The Appliqué Stitch -Tiny, even stitches are at the heart of beautiful appliqué. You may want to pull out a pair of reading glasses so you can see a bit better, and make sure to have good lighting. We “righties” will be working from right to left. If you are left handed, you will be working left to right.

Start on the right hand curved side of your heart. If you are left handed, start on the opposite side. Fold a small area of the fabric under the freezer paper template and crease it with your fingernail. Take your needle and place it under your background fabric. Pull it up catching one or two threads of the fabric you just folded under.

Now insert the tip of your needle back in almost the same place that you just brought it up. Do not pull it through to the backside. Now slide the needle about 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch UNDER the appliqué. Now catch one or two threads and pull the needle up again. You have just made your first appliqué stitch! Now give the thread a small pull to tighten your stitch.

This is how you should be holding your piece: (reverse of lefties)

The “V”

Stop short several stitches of the “V” at the top of your heart.

Make sure your slit in the center is deep enough or you will not be able to get a nice V. Continue folding the seam allowance under with your needle. Stitch up to the point.

Next, start to fold under the other side of the seam allowance with your needle. At this point, I like to pull the freezer paper back a little so I can see what I am doing. Continue stitching, until you get to a few stitches short of the point of the heart.

PLEASE SEE PART TWO