Me, applique?!

NOTE: I won’t be publishing my newsletter this week as I’ve got family coming in for Easter!

Soooo, I’ve been appliqueing this week, unusual for me. I took an excellent live online class from Kathie K Wylie who knows more than a bit about applique. It was specifically about the Appliquick method. I’ve had the tools for some time, watched Rosa demo them probably at least 4 times at various quilt shows, and finally jumped on the chance to really learn about the tools in a live online class.

Kathie was excellent, gave clear instructions, pleasant to learn from and I just had a blast in class. I think most of the class was part of The Applique Society so there were many very experienced applique-ers (even a Google search did not tell me how to spell this) who wanted to learn this method.

I know I am maybe the last person on the planet to try this method. I have tried all the other methods in the past and currently I have zero interest in any other method. I am amazed that after one 6 hour class I can have decent results!

I went all in and purchased almost every single Appliquick related thing: all 3 scissors, their glue, their needles, the 2 rods, their paper, Kyra Reps add-on grips (game changer!) and Kathie K. Wylie’s cool custom box to hold everything. I think every bit of that was worth it, so it is an investment. The ONLY thing I did not buy was the pencil, and I needed that or some other soft lead pencil. Any other marking tool I tried kind of slid around the surface. Any soft lead pencil will do.

Do take a gander at the work of both Katie and Kyra (scroll to the bottom of the page for her gallery). Their work is astounding!

This was my final result. My Visible Learning Curve is, well, visible. I’m fine with that since it’s my first applique in like 20 years:

I will probably finish it and quilt it; I envision a silk border – yummm.

I did experiment on this piece with machine applique and hand applique. It will come as no surprise that hand applique featured the design better with some poofy dimension than the machine applique which was flat. But I see a place for machine applique.

The thread is very visible here, and I kinda like it. It’s a “look” for sure, definitely prominent. I could see this in a deliberately contrasting thread too, like say a green or yellow.

I was surprised at how visible this was on the flower; I would try the smoke color next time I did this to see if it looked better.

This is just gorgeous; the hand applique gives such beautiful dimension.

A few observations:

• Glue: Kathie mentioned that there is a trade-off in glues between the Appliquick glue and others like Sewline, Quilter’s Select, etc. The Appliquick glue takes longer to set up, giving you more time to adjust your fabric to be exactly where you want it. The others set up much more quickly. But the Appliquick glue did not hold several of my fabric choices well which was annoying; they kept on flipping back. Plus, the Appliquick stick is wide and you end up putting on more glue. My choice was Quilter’s Select, but it really is a trade-off.
• Scissors: the Appliquick ones are worth it in my opinion. I have every single Karen Kay Buckley scissors and I treasure them. For this particular specific application, I prefer the Appliquick scissors. They feel better and they hold the piece in between cuts which the KKB’s don’t do. They are widely available.
• The box: Kathie’s box  to hold everything is a small luxury but dang, everything has its place and it’s all together. How deeply satisfying😊
• Kyra’s rods: they make it soooo much more comfortable.
• I had trouble getting my needle through some parts and I suspect because I glued the dickens out of my pieces. Some were much more malleable. I suspect that one is Operator Error.
• I loved that I could do something decent with just a little experience!
• The fact that I can actually DO this makes me WANT to applique! I have not felt that way before.
• I am surrounded by expert applique-ers and each has their preferred method. I see that there is a place for several methods in the same piece as some shapes work better with different methods.
• I have tried freezer paper templates + starch, needle turn, raw edge. I’m Team Appliquick for the moment.
• Yes, I know the stems are a little dark for this piece. I kinda like to have a slightly “off” part in a piece. I might just quilt that with something that knocks it back a bit.

It was fun to try something different! I see a need for applique in one of my pieces and now I have the confidence to do it!!

I get the whole family for Easter! I am excited. The frig is full and I’ve been cooking for 2 days, soooo worth it. He is risen!!!

I’ll be linking up with:

Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
Finished or Not Friday