Doing it my own way

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Appliqué isn’t something I particularly enjoy doing. I like the finished look of needle-turn appliqué but I seldom take the time to do it that way. For some patterns using the Blanket Stitch on my machine works but I’m not very good at zig-zags. I think that is why I was putting off starting my March Challenge project – invisible machine appliqué.

After reading over the directions one more time (it’s been two years since I took the class) I thought I was ready to start. But I knew I wasn’t going to like the process. Some of the pieces had already been cut and turned and that was where I should have started. I had the recommended thread but I’ve tried using it before and it tended to shred so I wasn’t looking forward to finding the right needle to make it work. I’d also have to change all my settings as I’ve got the machine set up for quilting.

So I decided that rather than use the machine appliqué technique I would hand appliqué the rest of the project. I got two pieces finished in hardly any time and I quite enjoyed sitting and stitching. I need to prep a few more of the pieces but this will be a good project to travel with – we’re heading over to the Island later in the month so I’ll be able to work on it either on the ferry or at our accommodation while Pat is at a concert. If things go well I may even be able to finish it this month.

So my invisible machine appliqué is almost invisible – it almost doesn’t exist (except for the two pieces I did in class).