I love appliqué quilts. I love everything about them from designing to stitching them to quilting. What I don’t like is how long it takes for me to hand sew each piece to the background piece. So, I decided I would work on all the techniques of machine appliqué.
There are many different machine appliqué techniques like raw edge with a blanket stitch but in this post, I will concentrate on the satin stitch and I will follow up with another post on the turned edge hand look.
All the individual pieces in this block have been cut using a digital cutter with a fusible backing already ironed to the back of the fabric. Then the pieces are ironed in place on the background piece that is cut a bit bigger than the required finished size.
I choose a thread that is very close in colour of the appliqué piece. Madeira has many beautiful thread colours to choose from. Janome Canada is the distributor of Madeira thread and stabilizer in Canada. Ask your Janome or Elna Canada dealer about Madeira.
Using the appliqué foot I will test the width and density of the satin stitch I want to use on a scrap fabric
Don’t forget to use a stabilizer on the back when using the satin stitch to prevent puckering and tunneling – again Madeira has wonderful tear away stabilizers from which to choose.
I always mark the width and length of the stitch that I like with a permanent marker on my test fabric so I can use it again at a later time on another project.
Janome has wonderful features for appliqué like tapering with the Skyline S9 and pivoting on a corner.
Monique
Janome Life 