How to Add Applique to a Quilt
Appliques add color and interest to quilts. Fabric appliques have been adorning quilts and fabric crafts for centuries. Many little girls remember growing up with appliques of Sunbonnet Sue, that cute little girl with the bonnet, on their bedroom quilts. Whatever your quilt design, adding an applique to your handiwork will give you a beautiful quilt that will be a lifelong treasure.
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Things You'll Need
- Freezer paper
- Applique template
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Iron
- Fabric
- Straight pins
- Hand-sewing needle
- Thread
Instructions
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1
Place a piece of freezer paper, shiny side down, on your applique template. Trace the template onto the freezer paper with a pencil. Cut out the shape drawn on the freezer paper.
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2
Lay a piece of fabric on an ironing board right side down. Place the freezer paper shape, shiny side down, on the fabric. Iron the freezer paper shape onto the fabric until it sticks.
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3
Cut out the shape 1/4 inch away from the edge of the freezer paper for a seam allowance.
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4
Choose a starting point, fold the seam allowance over the freezer paper and iron. Notch curves by making a small triangular cut in the seam allowance to keep the fabric flat on the freezer paper as you iron.
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5
Poke a straight pin into the center of the freezer paper. Wedge the pin between the paper and the fabric. Push the tip of the needle up and away from the fabric to pull the paper off. Remove the paper completely from the fabric shape.
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6
Lay the fabric shape on the quilt surface and pin into place with straight pins. Applique the shape to the quilt with a blind stitch, by poking a threaded needle through the bottom of the quilt and feeding the needle up to just catch the inside edge of the applique. Bring the needle down through the quilt fabric, just outside the edge of the applique. Repeat the blind stitches 1/16 inch away from the previous stitch, all the way around the applique, to affix it to the quilt.
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Tips & Warnings
You can also use a fork to remove the freezer paper by carefully poking the tines into the paper and prying it away from the fabric.
Blind stitches should be so small that they are barely visible on the top of the quilt.
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
