Monday, February 3, 2014

Applique . . . the Fast Way!

I finished quilting Jersey Rose today and even got it bound.  Want to see it?


I just did a simple meander in the background and outlined the "leaves" and rose "petals."  Sinta and Sherri will have the Schnibbles parade for Jersey Girl sometime today and you can see all of them if you click over to the two blogs--clicking on their names will take you there.   I mentioned to you the other day, though, that I hadn't hand appliqued the roses, and I thought this was a good time to show you my "secret."  Now and then, depending on what I'm appliqueing and how I'll later use the quilt, I'll prep my applique pieces as I would for hand applique by turning the raw edges under and using starch to hold the crease; I then lightly glue the pieces to the background with applique glue.  But then, instead of hand stitching them down, I'll stitch them on the machine while simultaneously doing the quilting.

Here, in the photo below, you can see I've quilted the outline of the leaves and now I'm doing the same for the rose . . . but I'm also actually stitching the rose down at the same time.  In this close up, you can see edges of the rose where it's not stitched down, right?


Another photo of my progress--I stitch very close to the edge, as you can see.


After I outlined the rose, I kept going around and around, stitching along some of the seams of the rose, although I didn't stitch every one; I just wanted to give a little definition to the shape and the suggestion that the petals go around and around.  You may be able to click into the first photo and see some of that detail.

So, where these large appliqued roses would have taken me a few hours to hand stitch--and then would have needed to be quilted anyway--I saved myself a lot of time by taking a little shortcut.  Simple, right?  I'm always looking for ways to streamline the process, just as long as it doesn't detract from the quality of the end product.

Happy stitching!

17 comments:

Teatime Creations said...

BEAUTIFUL - one word is enough.

Grandma V said...

Absolutely lovely. That schnibble without those gorgeous roses would look so plain, like it was missing something.

Cath said...

I love your roses. Are they part of the pattern?
Cath @ Bits 'n Bobs

Marie said...

gorgeous .... and using up the scraps too!

Anna said...

Amazing quilt, amazing technique! Thank for the short cut...I like the way you think!

dianne said...

that's just so doggone purty - you get a cup of awesomesauce, little girlie!!!

Cathy said...

Jersey Roses is a fantastic little quilt! Thanks for all the how-tos.

Ingrid said...

Bello, bello, bello...

Joan said...

Your quilt is gorgeous. Love the colours.

sandi s said...

Beautiful quilt! I love the colors together.

Michele T said...

Your Jersey Quilt is gorgeous... thanks for the close up photos!!

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

Drop dead GORGEOUS!!!!
xx

Josie McRazie said...

I love your roses. Thanks for the tutorial! One question. Did you only quilt the one line around the outer part of the rose or is there more quilting in the rose? I cant tell how large they are and just didn't know how much quilting is enough.

Michele said...

What a great idea! I love what you did with this pattern :-)

Anonymous said...

So beautiful!! Love your work!

Cindy in SC

Dee said...

This was such a great way to change up the pattern! Your roses are beautiful and I appreciate your explaining how you made them. I think your quilt was the star of the parade this month!

Lillian said...

love the Jersey Rose quilt!! what pattern did you use for the roses?