Creating applique magic with HeatnBond Lite

Yesterday I prepared the applique shapes using HeatnBond Lite … today I add them to the shoofly background!

Using the picture as a guide, layout your appliques onto the background… tomato body, tomato top, lettering and hearts. You can move and shift the parts until they are pleasing to your eye, this is your sign after all. Remember to pay attention to the space between the letters because often that can make all the difference.

Once you’re happy with the arrangement, take a picture. This is a large piece and trying to shift the entire thing onto an ironing board to adhere the appliques can be tricky. One thing I have tried is placing the quiltlet on a couple of towels and ironing it on the floor. It allows you to step back after each step to see how things are going. Quilters will go to some unusual lengths to create!

Begin removing the paper backing from the applique shapes. Take your time applying them, it’s not a race.

After you have adhered all the applique letters and the tomato, your wallhanging should look something like this.

The next step will be adding the finishing touches… sewing pins, the face and hearts 🙂

You could freehand cut the 2″ yellow circles for the pin heads by hand but you could also use the TrueCut 360° Precision Circle Cutter!

Fuse a piece of HeatnBond Lite to the back of a piece of your pinhead fabric, make a few. Also make a couple of practice pieces with any scrap fabric you have. The TrueCut 360° Precision Circle Cutter is excellent to use but takes a few practice runs before you get the hang of it. Once you see the perfectly lovely circles it makes you will want to add circles to all your projects!

You’ll need 3 – 2″ circles for your pinheads when you’re done experimenting with the TrueCut 360° Precision Circle Cutter.

Next to make 3 pins. You could freehand cut 3 strips at a scant ¼” for your pins or you could use the HeatnBond Lite iron-on adhesive tape.

Simply fuse a few pieces onto the back of your pin fabric. Then using your rotary cutter and ruler, cut out a few pins measuring a scant ¼” x 4″. The reason I like this technique is because the adhesive tape strips give you better control on the cut and you’ll end up with straighter pins as a result, though how many of us have truly straight pins anymore!

Add the sewing pins to your tomato. For the eyes and smile, you can cut these out by hand.

Once you have added the sewing pins, the tomato face and the hearts your project should look something like this. Isn’t it the cutest sewing sign ever?

Tomorrow I’ll go over sewing the finishing touches for this project. I hope you have enjoyed it this far and remember please ask questions, I’m happy to answer them.