How to Hand Applique Bias for Celtic Knots
Intricate piecing and stitching of a quilt top showcase a quilter's ability to transform fabric into an everyday work of art. Celtic knots in stonework have been admired for centuries by art connoisseurs and travelers. Combining needle art with these images results in a stunning quilted garment, pillow or bed covering. Celtic knot designs are made up of lines that cross over and intersect one another and the best way to translate them into quilting is to use bias-strip appliques.These fabric pieces are cut at a 45-degree angle to the straight or cross grain of the cloth, lending them a flexibility that true-grain strips lack. This additional flexibility makes them ideal when creating a narrow applique such as a flower stem or knot design. Close attention to the lines' meanderings is a key in creating a perfect knot using this technique.
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Things You'll Need
- Perforated quilting template
- Quilter's chalk or pounce
- Straight pins
- Bias-cut quilting fabric strips
- Fabric glue sticks
- Quilting or embroidery needles
- Quilting thread or embroidery floss
Instructions
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Mark the Celtic knot design on the quilt top using a perforated template you've purchased at a crafts, fabric or quilting store. This can be a flat sheet of plastic of a cream-colored oaktag paper similar to card stock. The sheet has holes punched out at regular intervals along a stitching or placement line. Follow the line of holes with either a piece of quilter's chalk or a bag of pounce, a powdered form of chalk that is bounced up and down on the template, leaving small dots of color on the fabric beneath it.
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Place bias-cut pieces of fabric strips on the markings you made with the template and chalk or pounce. Turn under their raw edges and secure the applique strips with the pins.
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Double check the positions of the strips. The points where the strips cross over one another at the knot's intersections must be in the correct sequence for accurate results.
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Remove a pin and use the fabric glue stick on the wrong sides of a bias strip to secure it to the quilt's base fabric. Replace the pin to keep the strip in the right position until the glue dries. If you're making several appliqued blocks or your knot design is large, glue down all the strips before you start stitching them.
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Stitch the applique pieces to the quilt top by quilting along their edges. Alternatively, work decorative embroidery stitches such as blanket stitch along the applique edges to secure them.
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Tips & Warnings
Design your own Celtic knot templates. Take your inspiration from photos of Celtic stone carvings and draw their outlines on card stock. Punch holes through the card with a pin and then use chalk or pounce as you do with a ready-made template to mark the placement lines.
Use metallic thread or floss when embroidering the appliques edges.
Machine-sew the applique edges using a narrow zigzag stitch.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
