Seeing Is Believing

People, you are NOT going to believe that I am appliqueing the center panel for my Lake Effect quilt, so I will show the proof!

For anyone who has been a long-time reader/follower, you know that I have a negative mindset when it comes to applique. I love applique; I just don't like to DO applique. That is until now. This summer has been eventful for me in that I learned of a technique that seemed to just make so much sense! The back-basting method of applique is turning out to be the exact method I needed to finally overcome my applique hang-ups.

We went on a 3-day car trip this week and prior to leaving, I traced the design for this center medallion onto my fabric. Then I pulled the fabric for the stems/branches. All the stitching (so far) has been done either in the car or in the hotel room.

First step: basting the applique fabric to the backing fabric. This is easily accomplished as it simply requires basting on the design lines.

Second step: after all the basting is done, trim out the excess fabric and begin applique stitching the design to the backing. Remove a few basting stitches, fold the edge under using the little perforations left from the basting thread as a guide.

Continuing second step: work your way around the design, removing 4-5 basting stitches at a time. I was able to do most of this in a moving car, so it's pretty easy if the highway is smooth. We hit occasional patches of uneven pavement, but mostly I had no trouble.

I am definitely going to get lots of practice with both convex and concave curves. I have the hardest times with those concave curves, and the really deep ones are especially troublesome. I sure hope that practice will prove beneficial. I am counting on it.

The lighting in the car was dark, and the lighting in the hotel was even darker. That explains the odd color of blue in these pictures. In future posts about this project, I will try for truer color and lighting. Here's a link to a picture of the pattern for comparison purposes. While using my own stash fabrics, I am trying to stay sort of true to the colors used by the designers.

Happy Quilting, Friends!