Adding applique shapes to your Halloween quilt is chilling fun!

Yesterday I showed you how to use the walking foot and the quilting guide bar on the Brother NQ700 machine to quilt our spooky Halloween house wall quilt. This little machine did a great job of quilting with perfect stitch quality and tension. I didn’t have to make any adjustments to the default settings except for the stitch length, and that was a personal choice. The default stitch length would have worked just as well.

Now you’re ready to cut out the applique shapes and sew them with the Brother NQ700 machine to finish your Halloween quilt. Click on the picture to get the applique shapes that are ready to print or trace. This fits on an 8½” x 11″ piece of paper. Make sure that the 1″ test square is an accurate measurement.

• Print the applique shapes on paper.
• The moon is a 4″ circle, so you can trace around any object you have that is about that size to get the pattern.
• I used my Brother ScanNCut SDX225 to scan the images and cut the shapes. If you don’t have a cutting machine, the following method will work just fine for fusible applique.

• Trace the shapes on the paper side of the HeatnBond Feather Lite fusible web. If you’re using the 8½” x 11″ sheets of HeatnBond Feather Lite, you can print the shapes on your printer directly from the PDF pattern file.

• If you’re using a different fusible web product, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions for tracing shapes.
• Cut out the paper applique shapes leaving a ¼” margin around the drawn lines.
• Give your chosen fabric pieces a quick spritz with Mary Ellen’s Best Press and then iron them. This product gives added body to the fabric and makes it easier to handle when doing fusible applique.
• Press the fusible shapes to the back of the fabric. It only takes a few seconds to press the shapes in place. Read the manufacturer’s instructions for the product you’re using as each one is a little different!
• Cut out the fabric shapes on the drawn lines.

• Carefully remove the paper backing, making sure the fusible web stays on the fabric. I like to use a pin to score the paper backing, making it easier to remove.

• Arrange the shapes as desired on the quilted Spooky House and pin them in place.

• When you’re satisfied with the placement, press the pieces in place. I had my work on my design wall, so to make sure the shapes wouldn’t move while I was transferring it to the ironing board, I used my Clover Mini Iron to press one little section of each shape to the background. Then I could remove the whole piece from the design wall and take it to the ironing board for the final pressing.

Be sure to come back tomorrow as I show you how to use the Brother NQ700 to stitch around the applique shapes. You’ll be doing perfect applique stitching in no time with this great little machine!

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Quilting straight lines is easy with the right tools on the Brother NQ700

Go to part 5: Sewing fusible applique shapes onto your quilt with the Brother NQ700