FAQ

Needleturn Appliqué Tutorial

skraterfield1 Comment

(from Kristin Hamilton’s 6:30 class at Nov Guild meeting)

The first rule of needle-turn appliqué is that there really are no rules for needle-turn appliqué. There are many different methods, so keep trying until you find one you love!

Supplies

Essentials:

  • Scissors:  good, sharp, small embroidery scissors
  • Hand sewing needles:  I prefer size 11 straw needles
  • Thread to match appliqué: 50-weight cotton or silk
  • Fabric:  100% cotton
  • Bias tape maker or bias bars for vines

Optional; depending on technique you choose

  • Freezer paper Thimble, if you use one
  • Sandpaper board
  • Clear vinyl, for placement overlay
  • Apliqué glue

Various Methods:

I’ve taken several appliqué classes and I use a variety of the techniques I’ve learned.  Here are a few.

  • Freezer paper on top – glue or baste to background (demo)
  • Freezer paper or plastic templates on the back – press around
  • Tracing onto fabric – uses sandpaper board and sequin pins
  • Back-basting (demo) – trace design onto wrong side of background.  Lay appliqué fabric over top, flip, and baste around line on back – ON the line.  Trim away on the front leaving seam allowance.  Chalk-mark at basting stitches if necessary, and then remove a few at a time as you appliqué.

Tips to remember:

  • A ¼” seam allowance is too big.  3/16” is ideal.
  • Start on a “boring” stretch – not a curve, corner or point
  • Snip inside curves but leave outside curves alone
  • On points, fold in one side, trim overlap, extend the point with thread, and fold in the other side
  • On inside “V”s – clip to ALMOST the line, use the needle to “swoop” the fabric in on either side, and take an extra stitch or two inside the V to secure

Other Resources

Googling a number of these terms, including “needle-turn appliqué” or “back-basting” is helpful.  Alex Anderson does a series of video tutorials on her website, and there are probably others on YouTube.  Some of my favorite appliqué-focused blogs include http://www.allaboutapplique.net which also links to many of the appliqué designers’ sites as well.

 By Kristen Hamilton
http://tenquilts.blogspot.com

There was much discussion during the meeting about the difficulty of threading these straw needles with fine thread.  Here are some shots of the threader some of us use with ease.. <pictures of threaders omitted>

FAQ

Harmonic Convergence Calculator

skraterfieldLeave a comment

These quilts are supposed to be somewhat spontaneous and a surprise, but I don’t want to completely surprised by how large or small the final convergence turns out to be.

These lists show the finished width of a convergence based on a starting strip size & the size of the increase for each strip. The “normal” one on the left starts with 1 inch and increases by a half inch. The “miniature” one starts with 3-quarter inch and increases only by a quarter inch.

They are cumulative… cut as many strips as desired starting from the top of the list.

  • Fabric Size:  required width of fabric needed to make a convergence using all the rows from top to this one.
  • Strip Cut Size: size of each successive cut strip
  • Converged width: the final finished size of a convergence of 2 fabrics using all the rows from 1 to this one
Normal Miniature
Fabric size strip cut size converged width Fabric size strip cut size converged width
1 1 1 1.5 0.75 0.5
2.5 1.5 3 2.5 1 1.5
4.5 2 6 3.75 1.25 3
7 2.5 10 5.25 1.5 5
10 3 15 7 1.75 7.5
13.5 3.5 21 9 2 10.5
17.5 4 28 11.25 2.25 14
22 4.5 36 13.75 2.5 18
27 5 45 16.5 2.75 22.5
32.5 5.5 55 19.5 3 27.5
38.5 6 66 22.75 3.25 33

Don’t forget to leave a final piece of fabric AT LEAST as width as your last cut strip.

If you need more information to know what this is all about; Ricky Tims is the man! Here’s his gallery

FAQ

Gluing your Quilt Binding

skraterfield1 Comment

or.. my lazy version of Sharon Schamber’s fastidious fashion

Oct 3 pre-meeting Technique Class by Loretta Twiford

Reference: http://www.YouTube.com search for Sharon Schamber. The video(s) to watch for this reference are Binding The Angel; there is a Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Here is the site for Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/user/SharonSchamberNet#p/a/AAF390EBC02BDD33/0/4PE0Yq9iGlc.  It is soooo much easier just to go to http://www.YouTube.com and search Sharon Schamber !!!  She has many informative videos available for viewing.

Preparing the Binding

In Binding The Angel Part 1 she goes into detail about preparing the binding fabric, cutting it, and her method of preparing/attaching the binding strips together.  Different!
  • You lay out your binding strip and the right end of each piece, you fold the end back to a 45 degree angle and press.  Oh, except the last piece, of course.
  • Then, place a thin line of glue on the 45 degree fold line of the first strip and lay the left end of the second strip on the right end of the first strip, matching carefully; then press with a hot iron to set the glue.
  • After gluing all the strips together, you then sew on the fold line of each strip, pop open to break the glue so you can trim to 1/4″ and iron the seam open.

She then goes into a step-by-step about gluing your binding. This she does one side at a time, taking care not to use too much glue. She stresses that in order for the glue to adhere, it needs a press with a hot iron.

By doing this, you can prepare the binding for your whole quilt and it can travel with you for hand sewing at your convenience, or it will patiently wait for you to machine stitch it.Elmer’s School Glue is washable and will completely wash out of your quilt without staining !

Sharon Schamber’s videos are very informative; I recommend you watch them a couple of times and bookmark for future reference !

 Joining the binding ends:

 In Binding The Angel Part 2, she shows a fascinating way of attaching the beginning/end pieces of your binding – no strain, no pain !!
(this presupposes that you have starched your binding and that the 2 layers are adhesed together)
  • Flip end of left binding back about 3″ and give press mark.
  • Pull left binding open.
  • Fold over at press mark for 45 degree angle and press.
  • Lay it back on quilt with 45 degree angle showing, tag end hanging down.
  • Pull right side binding over and cut off all but about 3″ to 4″ beyond the left binding.
  • Open left binding, put line of glue on 45 degree fold line.
  • Put closed right binding over the open left, position and press
  • scrunch up quilt, pull binding out onto flat surface
  • Open right binding, line up with left binding and press
  • Make sure it lays flat and even over the quilt
  • Sew on the 45 degree fold line.
  • Pop open to break glue so you can iron seam open.
  • When you are sure the binding lays flat, trim off tail ends to 1/4″.
  • Press seam open.
  • (see the presupposition at the beginning) Joining the ends has opened the binding out so they are no longer adhesed; run a line of glue down the edge of the inside of the binding strip to adhere the 2 edges of the binding back together.
  • glue binding to quilt and sew
  • Residue on your iron?  When my iron cooled down, I was able to take a wet paper towel and clean all residual glue from it ! Hey, washable glue, right ?? lol

Ta da !

Can you tell I was impressed ?

She also spends some time with the treatment of corners, which is especially important if you enter your quilts in juried shows and desire recognition in ribbon form. One thing I noticed is that when she turns the corner, she takes scissors and pokes all the bulk right into the corner and it really does make a very nice, clean, crisp miter !!

As a comparative sample, I have prepared a piece showing 4 different methods of binding application; pins (ouch!!), clips, clamps and glue, as well as several samples so each of you will be able to try out the glue method yourself.

References:

http://www.theclipstore.com
Smart Clipper
Small Refills (50)

Binding & Hem Clips

http://www.petalplay.com
Glue-Baste-It (comes with fine applicator tip)