Soft Applique

Another Applique Technique

"Soft Applique" was a term I was unfamiliar with until recently. From this quilt, my understanding is that it implies taking a pattern from the printed fabric and turning it into an applique on the quilt.

The fussy cut area is appliqued onto the
background, then pieced into the blocks.

In this case, instead of piecing the print into the quilt, a pattern was chosen, fussy cut leaving about 1/8 to 1/4" around, and then carefully turned under and basted around. There is no freezer paper or glue used, so the applique is "soft." The applique pieces are then sewn onto the background. This is a Jinny Beyer pattern and technique, for any of you Jinny fans out there.

A more extended view to allow you to see how
 the quilting in each block compliments
the center block.

My challenge for this quilt was what to do with that background area that would enhance the pattern and not take away from it. This is one of those where I had to get out my sketch pad and play with all kinds of ideas, and it wasn't until I started looping from the compass points that I came up with something that satisfied me. To make the appliqued areas stand out, a micro stipple was used around them.









Simple continuous curve was used in the small red blocks, and the larger red blocks had a star points quilted into them.

Border detail

The borders were a very busy pattern, so quilting was simply done using the patterns. The inner red border was given a simple pattern that complimented the theme of the quilt. Between those busy patterns, a simple pattern is best so the eye has a place to rest!


This quilt was a great challenge for me - I learned a lot in the process.

That's it for now - until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)