So, the next step in making the quilt is stitching all the appliques. The stitching isn't hard but it will be tedious. If you have never appliqued, have no fear, you will be pretty darn good by the end of this since we have 27 appliques to do! 26 letters and the smaller square in the feature letter block. I don't think I clarified the feature block in the previous post but it could be any letter. I chose "B" because their last name starts with a B. The feature block is the size of 4 of our other blocks minus seam allowance, so 15.5" instead of 16". I'm going to show you two different ways to stitch the appliques. Personally, I will be doing a straight stitch on the letters that were cut with pinking shears and a zig zag on the straight cuts.
For the zig zag stitch, set your machine to a fairly wide zig zag and a pretty short stitch length. You can use a scrap piece to test your stitch.
Place your fabric so the edge of your letter is centered under your presser foot. Don't forget to back stitch. If you would prefer to use a longer length zig zag you can lock your stitch in with a bit of a straight stitch before zig zaging to ensure it doesn't come out.
Don't forget the inside of letters! If you noticed that your fabric is rolling slightly under your stitch, it's ok! gently pull your fabric as it is going to keep it taught. because quilters cotton is light weight it tends to do this. You could also lengthen your stitch a little.
For a straight stitch, set your machine to a straight stitch (no width obviously) and a medium stitch length.
Stitch just inside of your pinked edge. Don't forget to back stitch!
If you have trouble turning corners, sink your needle before turning, lift your presser foot and turn your fabric, then lower the presser foot and continue. That way you keep one nice continuous stitch.
And there you have it! now, repeat 25 more times!
The changing of thread can be a bit much to match each letter. I recommend winding a full bobbin of whatever color and just changing your top thread. If your machine has proper tension settings, you'll never see the bobbin thread. The picture above shows the wrong side of my fabric with brown bobbin thread. Also, group letters by thread color. It doesn't have to be sewn in alphabetical order!
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment