Fusible web applique – preparation for success by Julie Plotniko May 8, 2018 written by Julie Plotniko May 8, 2018 869 Yesterday I listed all the supplies we’ll need to create a quilted spring banner. Are you all set? Let’s go! Today, let’s prepare the applique pieces and apply them to the background fabric. Prepared Applique piece Step 2 Prepare the fabric and fusible web For this project I used HeatnBond Feather Lite extra lightweight iron-on paper-backed adhesive. I find it super easy to work with. HeatnBond Feather Lite extra lightweight iron-on paper-backed adhesive It’s a good idea to gently pre-wash and dry all fabrics to be used without fabric softeners. If using a cloths dryer be sure to remove fabric while still damp and iron dry to avoid set in wrinkles. Pre-test adhesives on materials before starting the project. This HeatnBond product has a paper side and a shiny side. Begin by drawing the applique shapes on the paper side of the HeatnBond. For your flower, you’ll need five petals that are an oval shape of about 4″ x 6″. I used the base of a cute little tin basket as a template. You could use something similar or just freehand draw your petals. Draw a circle with a diameter of about 3″. This will be the center of the flower. I traced around the top of a small jelly jar. Next, draw a stem that’s about ½ wide x 12″ long. Don’t worry about being too perfect. Draw it with a bit of a curve and a little wider at the bottom than the top. Last of all, draw some leaf shapes. I made two long ones shaped like an elongated S and two shorter ones. Have fun experimenting with different shapes. Start by drawing the applique shapes on the paper side of the HeatnBond Feather Lite Roughly cut out the applique shapes just outside the drawn lines. Rough cut the fusible web applique shapes outside the drawn lines. Making the appliqué pieces Position the paper backed applique shapes on the wrong side of the applique fabric. Make sure the adhesive (shiny) side faces down. You don’t need to worry about the grainline of the fabric for applique. Simply position your applique pieces to make the best use of your fabric. Preheat your iron to medium temperature. Lay your press sheet over top of the applique shapes and fabric. Fuse in place using a circular motion and firm pressure for 2 seconds. Repeat until all pieces are bonded. Note: Be careful that you don’t overheat the HeatnBond as this could damage the adhesive. Applique shapes fused in place to wrong side of fabric and ready to cut out Use your FABRIC FUN Fabric Markers to add some fun details to your petals and flower center. Refer to last month’s post, Adding dimension to applique pieces using fabric markers, to help you with this. With nice sharp applique scissors cut out the fused applique shapes on the drawn lines. Smooth cutting will make it easier to stitch the applique shapes. Cut the fused applique shapes out on the drawn line. Gently remove the paper backing from the applique pieces. The wrong side of the fabric pieces should be completely covered with the shiny adhesive. This is what will adhere the pieces to the background fabric. Applique pieces with paper backing removed Apply the applique to the background The piece of background fabric is approximately 45″ x 31″. Cut the fabric on the lengthwise fold. You now have 2 pieces that are approximately 22″ x 31″. One piece is for the backing. Set this aside for now. The other is our applique background. We will trim this piece after the applique is complete. Position the flower so that the stem starts about an inch up from the narrow (22″ wide) bottom edge of the background. There will be 7″ or 8″ of background above the top of the flower to allow us room to add writing. The whole flower will need to be left of center to allow us to add a word or words on the right side. The petals on my flower are about 2½” from the left side and 6″ from the right. Once happy with the placement of the flower and leaves cover with the press sheet and fuse in place. Use the same circular motion and short 2 second fuse time as before. Fuse the applique shapes in place on the background fabric Wow, this is so much fun! Join me tomorrow for Step 3, when we explore several tools to help us add a sentiment to our quilted banner. This is part 2 of 5 in this series. Go back to part 1: 5 easy steps to making a quilted spring banner [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”23735596″] Print this page or save as a PDF 0qs206bannersbattingBlack and White With a Dash of ColorfabricsFairfieldfairfield battingfree patternsGÜTERMANN threadsheatnbondheirloomneedlesnorthcottnotionsSCHMETZ 75/11 Embroidery Needlesthreadsunique FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditWhatsappTelegramEmail Julie Plotniko Julie Plotniko is a quilting teacher, blogger and designer from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Teaching for almost 40 years, recent credits include Quilt Canada 2016 and 2017, many quilt guilds and groups throughout Canada and CreativFestival Sewing and Craft Shows in Victoria, Abbotsford and Toronto. When not on the road Julie works and teaches at Snip & Stitch Sewing Center in Nanaimo, BC. Her favorite things include free motion quilting (standard bed and mid-arm machines), precision piecing, scrap quilting, machine embroidery, blogging, designing and of course teaching. Julie believes that to see a student go from tentative beginnings to having confidence in themselves and their abilities is one of the greatest rewards that life has to offer. previous post 5 easy steps to making a quilted spring banner next post Enlarge, print, cut, fuse: successfully appliqueing letters to a quilt YOU MAY ALSO LIKE... 6 easy steps to assemble a quilt using... 5 simple sewing notions make fun blocks for... 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