My Little House Coaster 3 | Machine Raw Edge Applique

So far, we’ve been piecing and quilting cute quilted coasters 1 and 2 of this 4 part series. If you missed them here they are My Little House Coaster 1 | Paperless Piecing and My Little House Coaster 2 | Machine Embroidery.

Today, we’ll push the PFAFF creative icon 2 Sewing and Embroidery Machine‘s capabilities even further by testing how effortlessly it can stitch through multiple layers of fabric and stabilizer. We’ll also explore the ease of creating raw edge applique with the PFAFF 6D Dynamic Spring Foot. By the end of the post, we’ll have crafted a third beautiful house-shaped coaster!

Now, let’s take a moment to check our supplies for the coaster, ensuring everything is organized and ready for sewing.

materials

fabric

• 9½” x 9” piece of backing fabric
• 4½” x 9½” piece warm yellow (orange-yellow/ brown-yellow) with tiny print fabric for house roof
• 6” x 8½” piece ombre off-white fabric for house wall
• 4” x 4” piece warm brown with tiny print or ombre fabric for door and under-roof details
• 2” x 2” piece of blue fabric for the window
• 4” x 4” piece of deep ombre green for flower leaves
• 2½” x 2½” piece of burgundy red fabric for flower petals

thread

• 1 spool of Mettler 40wt polyester thread to match with your house wall fabric
• bobbin wound with main fabric matching thread
• 1 spool of Mettler 40wt polyester thread to match backing fabric
• bobbin wound with backing matching thread
• 1 spool of blue Mettler 40wt polyester thread to match window fabric
• 1 spool of green Mettler 40wt polyester thread to match flower leaves fabric
• 1 spool of burgundy red Mettler 40wt embroidery polyester thread

notions

• stiletto and fabric glue pen
• patchwork clips and fine glass head pins
• ½” x 6” lace piece (optional)
• sharp scissors and pinking shears
• 6” x 12” ruler and rotary cutter
• cutting mat and pencil
• water-soluble or heat-removable marker
• 1 sheet of transfer paper (optional)
• 9” x 16” piece of ultra-firm stabilizer (such as Pellon 70 Peltex Sew-In Ultra Firm Stabilizer)
• 3” x 9” piece of Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 Double Stick Fusible Web
• PFAFF Universal Needles Size 80 or 90
• PFAFF Quilting Needles Size 90/14
• PFAFF Titanium Embroidery needle size 90

feet/machine accessories suggestions

• 6A Embroidery/Sensormatic Free-Motion Foot
• 6D The Dynamic Spring Foot
• PFAFF ¼” Quilting Foot for IDT System

Download and print the My Little House Coaster 3 pattern and cut out our templates. Make sure your printer settings are set to print at the actual size. Glue pages 5 and 6 together to create the house and roof templates. Keep in mind that the templates already include the seam allowance, which is shown as a dashed line around the pattern.

Let’s prepare all our templates for use. Start by creating a clear guide for placing the applique elements. Trace the house wall from page 4 onto transfer paper without including the seam allowance. Then, draw all the applique elements from page 3 onto the traced wall. Cut out the completed transfer paper template.

Next, cut out the wall and roof parts with seam allowances from page 4. Using transfer paper, trace and cut out one roof pattern with the seam allowance and one roof pattern without the seam allowance. Cut the house template with the seam allowance. From page 3, cut the house silhouette. Finally, don’t forget to cut out the applique elements. Take the Wall seam allowance pattern and cut the applique elements.

Time for my favorite part – switching on our PFAFF creative icon 2. On a welcome screen touch the Sewing option. Load the bobbin. Thread the machine. Attach PFAFF ¼” Quilting Foot for IDT System.

Transfer on the wrong side of the fabric the external and internal templates. Cut with pinking shears along the external line. In the same manner trace and precut all house pieces for the front and the back side of the coaster.

Place pieces right sides together. Pin using the drawn line as a guide. Stitch removing the pins as you go.

Place the wall and roof pieces right sides together. Pin them using the drawn line as a guide. TIP When using pinking shears with a slight curve, you don’t need extra clips. Stitch along the pinned line, removing the pins as you go. Trim the seam allowance to ¼” along the stitched edges using pinking shears.

Press with steam to achieve crisp, flat seams. Using the tracing paper house template (without seam allowance), trace the house silhouette on the wrong side of the stitched front piece.

Trace two shapes of the house in a mirror image onto the ultra-firm stabilizer and cut them out without adding seam allowances. Using a fabric glue pencil, draw a glue line around the traced shapes. Flip the stabilizer pieces and glue them to the wrong side of the fabric, aligning them with the traced silhouette of the house.

Clip the curves and corners, being careful not to cut into the traced line or stabilizer. Using a fabric glue pencil, draw a glue line. With a stiletto, fold and press the seams to adhere them. Continue gluing the seams along the house shape. Finish the second side of the house in the same manner.

Time to trace and cut out our applique elements. Using a pencil, trace the door and window silhouettes, 9 leaves, 2 flower stems, and 2 flower buds onto the Double Stick Fusible Web sheet. Cut these out without adding a seam allowance. Remove the paper from one side of the web. Glue each element to the wrong side of the appropriate fabric. Cut the glued pieces with straight scissors, again adding no seam allowance. Then, remove the paper from the wrong side of the fabric of each applique element.

If you have any trouble removing the paper backing from your applique shape, gently score the backing paper with a pin and peel it away from the scored section.

For a perfect applique layout, use our clear template with the traced applique elements. Place the template on the front side of the house and arrange all the applique elements using the traced template as a guide. Press the completed applique layout. Be sure to read the instructions for the brand of fusible web you’re using, as different brands have different heat settings for the iron.

Click the Sewing mode on the welcome screen. To start, we will need to attach the 6D The Dynamic Spring Foot. As soon as you attach the foot, the Free-Motion Options window will pop up on your screen. Click the “Dynamic Spring (e.g. 6D)” option. For free-motion sewing on an ultra-firm stabilizer, I recommend using PFAFF Quilting Needles Size 90/14 or PFAFF Denim Needles Size 90/14.

Load the thread in the desired color and free-motion stitch along the edge of each applique element. I usually stitch twice around each element.

Avoid pushing or pulling your work while sewing, which may distort the stitching. Let the machine feed your work through at its own pace and enjoy the process of free-motion stitching.

During free-motion sewing, your PFAFF creative icon 2 might display a pop-up message if something is wrong with the upper thread. Don’t worry; it could just be due to the speed. Simply rethread, tap “OK,” and continue free-motion stitching.

With a heat-removable marker, draw the berries. Make several looping free-motion stitches for each berry. Cut the thread after stitching each berry.

Place both house pieces with the wrong sides together. Create a lace loop and insert it between the house sides. Clip around the house shape.

Use the 6A Embroidery/Sensormatic Free-Motion Foot for stitching, which is versatile, and ideal for stippling, free-motion embroidery, and darning. When attaching the presser foot, align the pins on the foot with the gap below the presser foot holder. Press upwards firmly until the foot securely snaps into place.

Here’s how this gem works: at low speeds, the presser foot raises and lowers with each stitch, holding the fabric layers against the stitch plate for stitch formation. At higher speeds, the presser foot glides over the fabric, ensuring smooth movement and precise sewing. My choice is the middle speed for more control. As soon as the foot is connected to your screen the Free-Motion Options window pops up. Click the “Sensormatic (e.g. 6A)” option and start stitching. Stitch along the edge of the house shape. To create more structure, also stitch along the roof shape.

Our third house-shaped coaster is finished! It was incredibly enjoyable working with the PFAFF creative icon 2 Sewing and Embroidery Machine and utilizing a variety of presser feet. Together, we crafted a unique coaster that seamlessly blends raw edge applique and free-motion stitching.

But our creative journey is far from over! We have one more thrilling project using machine applique coming up next, so stay tuned as we continue to explore the endless possibilities of the PFAFF creative icon 2. Also coming up in the next post, we’ll delve into the MySewnet Library and create a machine flower applique for another coaster featuring a house! See you then.

This is part 3 of 4 in this series

Go back to part 2: My Little House Coaster 2 | Machine Embroidery

Go to part 4: My Little House Coaster 4 | Hoop Applique