Kosbab - The quilters appliqué workshop : timeless techniques for modern designs

When I first discovered appliqu, I felt like the possibilities of quiltmaking were suddenly infinite. No longer limited to the straight edges (and a few tricky curves) of piecing, I could incorporate any shape I liked into a quilt through the miracle of appliqu. I started with circles in a conventional quilt-block grid, but it wasnt long before I was appliquing a huge flamingo across the pieced background of a full-size quilt. As soon as I tried appliqu, I knew it was for me, and I dove right in.

When I started quilting (and appliquing), I lived in a big city, without a car to get me to a quilt shop or guild, and there wasnt nearly as much quilting information on the Internet then as there is today. So between a few general quiltmaking books and phone calls to my appliqu-expert mother, I figured out the basics of hand and machine appliqu. She showed me needle-turn appliqu one Christmas, and then I was hooked for good.

The reason I mention my appliqu education is this: If I can essentially teach myself to appliqu within a year of starting to quilt, with no home-ec training or other official sewing background, it cant be that hard. In fact, my newbie sewing status may well have helped meI had no idea so many quilters consider appliqu to be the dreaded A-word, so I didnt know there was anything to be scared of. Years later, I still maintain that appliqu isnt a difficult process and that anyone can do it with some practice.

Many people fall in love with appliqu. Spend any time in quilt guilds, and youll encounter a spectrum of firm positions regarding appliqu, the most extreme of which being those who consider piecing a chore that must done to join appliqu blocks and those who would rather never make another quilt than appliqu a single block. The appliqu enthusiasts, though, are sometimes drowned out by the A-word crowd. You may have heard these old chestnuts from them, but Ive got an appliqu-loving response for em all.

Anything is difficult if you havent learned how to do it. For most hand appliqu, theres really only one stitch to learn, and it isnt very complicated. I promise theres no magic involved.

Its true that appliqu isnt as quick as motoring through some chain-pieced blocks on your machine, but not every appliqu project has to be an elaborate Baltimore Album masterpiecestart small, practice, and build your confidence.

Sewing by hand can be extremely soothing (I suspect this is partly why antidepressants werent invented until people stopped doing needlework as a matter of course). These days, I dont have the patience to watch TV without a stitching project at hand.

There are plenty of appliqu patterns with dauntingly tiny pieces, but thats a style rather than a definition of the technique itself. The two biggest quilts in this book are some of the quickest to sew thanks to concentrated areas of appliqu and large shapes, respectively. You dont have to deal with fiddly little bits until youre ready. Once youre at that point, the challenge of teeny appliqu can be rewarding rather than daunting.

Dont worry; theres lots of appliqu you can do by machine. Some things are just easier to stitch by hand, so it pays to make friends with a hand needle, but you can certainly manage without.

Nobodys perfect at first, but if youve had bad luck with one appliqu method, try another. If youre perplexed by needle-turn appliqu, try a prepared-edge technique so your shapes are all set before you start sewing. Or give one of my improvisational projects a tryits easier to loosen up mentally when the project doesnt require precision.

I truly think appliqu is fun and, for the most part, easy. If youre interested at all in making quilts, I really encourage you to expand your options by giving appliqu a try. And if youve already embraced appliqu, I hope youll find a few tricks and new ideas in these pages, too!

The is a piecers pleasure: appliqu is the finishing touch, but most of the work is piecing.

Chapter 1

Appliqu Basics

If youve made pieced quilts, youll already have many of the supplies and skills you need to venture into the wide world of appliqu. You can get up to speed on all the essential tools, materials, and techniques right here.

Choosing an Appliqu Method

I approach technique as a means to an end: the more techniques Im comfortable with, the more tools I have to execute the design ideas floating around my head. Appliqu is a category of techniques rather than a one-size-fits-all process, and each method has particular practical and aesthetic advantages.

By definition, appliqu is the application of one fabric onto another, comparable to collage. The fabrics may be glued together or stitched, though this book deals only with sewn appliqufusibles and glue are used, but only to hold the appliqu in place until its sewn. The three main chapters of the book correspond to three main ways of applying one fabric to another: raw-edge, in which the edges of the appliqu pieces are not turned under; prepared-edge, in which the edges are turned under prior to sewing; and needle-turn, in which the edges are turned under as you sew the pieces to the base. Many quilting guidebooks, instead, categorize appliqu methods as either hand- or machine-sewn, but some preparation methods are used interchangeably for hand and machine sewing. All three parts of this book include hand-sewn projects, and only the needle-turn chapter doesnt include a machine-sewn project, since the sewing and turning are integrated with this method.

Still, choosing between hand or machine work is one of the first things youll want to decide for a project. I always opt for machine appliqu when I know a project is going to get a lot of wearpicnic blankets, childrens quilts, and that sort of thing. Machine appliqu is also faster than by hand, but keep in mind that it isnt necessarily speedy: it takes time and concentration to keep the needle accurately positioned along appliqu edges.

The differences in how appliqu techniques look when finished are worth considering, too. I dont consider raw-edge zigzag-stitched appliqu interchangeable with invisible machine appliqu, for example, because the raw-edge zigzags remain visible. Even with a closely matching thread color, the stitching still creates an outline around the shape, which may be just what youre looking for. Ive made owl eyes with a fused circle of black fabric, zigzagged with heavy yellow thread to make an iris; in this case, the stitching actually contributed to the appliqu. But invisible machine appliqu, on the other hand, can give a nicely rounded edge to felt snowmen.