The Beast

Okay, not everyone considers applique as a beast, but it’s been an intimidating technique for me. It’s so far outside my comfort zone I totally avoid it! I do admire those who applique and love the beautiful creations they make. I’ve seen breathtaking quilts and fashions with appliques and appreciate the hard work involved.

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, an applique is:

~ a cutout decoration fastened to a larger piece of material ~

Before diving in, I know I cannot “fasten” the applique via hand stitching; due to my hands, it’s simply something I cannot do without lots of pain. Knowing my physical limitation, I’m going to step out of my comfort zone and search out the best way to prepare the piece, then machine stitch it down to another, larger piece.

I realize there are embroidery “patches” folks can do, then machine stitch it down, and by definition, it’s an applique. One can find lots to download and embroidery out like I found here on Adorable Applique.

I’m looking to create an applique ~ the decoration ~ from fabric, like this…

Not having the fine motor skills anymore, how do I work the cut edges nice and smooth underneath? I’m looking for the “turned edge” technique.

OH MY GOODNESS! I love working with glue sticks and large knitting needles! Yes! I just found a fabulous informative article by Karen Johnson at Connecting Threads. In fact, she provides step-by-step photo instructions!

I think I can!

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