My Little House Coaster 4 | Hoop Applique

All week I’ve been sewing on the PFAFF creative icon 2 Sewing and Embroidery Machine and sharing valuable tips for some of my favorite sewing and quilting techniques I have loved for decades. In case you missed them here are the links to the first 3 My Little House Coasters: My Little House Coaster 1 | Paperless Piecing, My Little House Coaster 2 | Machine Embroidery, and My Little House Coaster 3 | Machine Raw Edge Applique.

Today is the perfect time to try something completely new. I’ve never made an applique in a hoop before, but it’s my favorite technique after trying it. Before we dive into the process, let’s check our supplies for My Little House Coaster 4!

materials

fabric

• 10½” x 10½” piece warm ombre green fabric for top block background
• 4” x 8½” piece warm yellow (orange-yellow/ brown-yellow) with tiny print fabric for house roof
• 13” x 13” piece ombre off-white fabric for house wall
• 13” x 13” piece burgundy red fabric for flower applique
• 3” x 5” piece warm brown with tiny print or ombre fabric for door, chimney and under-roof details
• 1½” x 1½” piece blue fabric for the window
• 2” x 33” lace piece (or 2” x 33” 1 bias strip of burgundy red fabric)
• 11½” x 11½” piece of backing fabric
• 11½” x 11½” piece of batting

thread

• 1 spool of Mettler 40wt polyester thread to match with your main 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 burgundy red Mettler 40wt embroidery polyester thread
• 1 spool of black Mettler 40wt embroidery polyester thread

notions

• Odif temporary adhesive spray
• patchwork clips and fine glass head pins
• 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 12” 1 sheet of Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 Double Stick Fusible Web
• 11” x 11” 1 piece PFAFF Tear-a-Way medium weight stabilizer
• PFAFF Universal Needles Size 80 or 90
• PFAFF Quilting Needles Size 90/14
• PFAFF Titanium Embroidery needle size 90

feet/machine accessories suggestions

• PFAFF 2A Fancy Stitch Foot for IDT System
• 6D The Dynamic Spring Foot
• PFAFF 0A Standard Presser Foot for IDT System
• creative 120 Square Hoop (120 x 120 mm)

We begin by clicking on mySewnet on our welcome screen and signing in or creating an account in the library.

mySewnet is an online platform that sewing enthusiasts will love. It offers a wide range of tools and resources to enhance your sewing projects. With access to a huge design library, advanced design editing tools, and convenient cloud storage, mySewnet makes it easy to find inspiration, customize your projects, and keep everything organized. You can even find free patterns available for download, making it easier to start new projects at no extra cost.

Exciting news: mySewnet is offering a 30-day free trial of EMBROIDERY SOFTWARE PLATINUM. This is a brilliant opportunity to explore all the features the software offers, including advanced editing options, a vast array of embroidery designs, and tools to create and customize your patterns.

Download and print the My Little House Coaster 4 pattern and cut out our templates. Make sure your printer settings are set to print at actual size. Cut pages 4 and 5 and glue them together to form a 9” x 9” square block template. Remember, the templates are already at actual size and do not require any seam allowance.

Let’s get our templates ready for use. Begin with tracing the house silhouette on a transfer paper. Cut out the printed and glued house silhouette. Next what we need to create is a clear guide for positioning the applique elements. Use transfer paper to trace the house wall along with the applique elements layout and cut out the completed transfer paper template. Cut out the house silhouette templates. Finally, remember to cut out the applique elements.

I’m using the creative 120 Square Hoop (120 x 120 mm) for this coaster project. To hoop the fabric, prepare a sandwich with all right sides up layer: the 13” x 13” piece ombre off-white fabric for the house wall, the 11” x 11” PFAFF Tear-a-Way medium weight stabilizer piece, and the 13” x 13” piece burgundy red fabric for flower applique.

Before hooping take a threaded needle and at the left top burgundy red fabric make a loose stitch. Hoop the sandwich. Ensure that the layers are smooth and securely hooped together. Take a pin and wrap the thread. This loop will be a game changer just wait for it!

The next steps are similar to those in the My Little House Coaster 2 | Machine Embroidery post.

Here’s what to do: click on the Embroidery mode from the welcome screen. I recommend using the standard zigzag stitch plate for applique. However, if you forget to switch, the embroidery navigation on the screen will provide all the necessary recommendations and reminders before the applique process.

To start, attach the 6D The Dynamic Spring Foot and calibrate the embroidery arm. Choose the needed hoop size and click Start Hoop Scan. You’ll see a pop-up message to attach the hoop. To attach the hoop, slide the hoop connector into the hoop attachment from front to back until it clicks into place. Click OK on the pop-up message. The scan process for this size hoop will take approximately 2 minutes.

Since all our coasters are the same size, our final flower applique should be approximately 55 mm x 60 mm. On your PFAFF creative icon 2 screen, press the Applique Creator icon with a globe. This will take you directly to the mySewnet design library. Search by entering Applique. Scroll and pick any desired design; the choices are above all expectations. For this house project, I chose Flower 261. Click on the flower design to load it for editing. Now we can modify the size. Click the Resize icon and use the control points to resize to approximately 52.5 x 51 mm. Click the Resize icon again to return to the main editor screen. One more click on the Edit design icon to fine-tune our applique flower size. After making several appliques, I recommend a flower size of 55.7 x 54.1 mm for this size project.

When finished resizing the flower, save your flower for future projects so you won’t need to repeat the steps.

Lastly, check and set the background color red and the LED Work Light level using the Projector icon by moving the indicator.

Move the flower in position on the house. The projection will follow your finger’s every move.

Ready for applique. Click the “GO” icon on the screen. On the machine panel, press the start button. The first step of the hoop applique is ghost stitching, which double-stitches the silhouette of our flower. Once the outline stitches are done, I remove the hoop from the machine. Without removing the fabric from the hoop, and carefully pull the thread loop to the top fabric layer. Make a clip with small scissors and trim the applique close to the edge of the stitches. That tiny thread loop keeps the sandwich secure!

Load the black or dark brown thread for flower stamens and press OK on a pop-up window on the screen. Click the GO icon. On the machine panel press the start button.

One more pop-up window will prompt you to reload the thread for the petals. Rethread the top thread and press OK on the pop-up window on your screen. Click the GO icon. On the machine panel, press the start button. In approximately 10 minutes, your flower applique will be embroidered.

Carefully unhoop your finished masterpiece. Trim and wash the piece to remove the stabilizer, let it dry, and press it. For best pressing results, I fold the batting in several layers, place the right side of the applique on the batting, and press from the wrong side. That gives a perfect and flat piece with a secure applique.

Trace the wall template onto the right side of the fabric. And now to assemble all our applique elements to finish the house.

Using a pencil, trace the house, door, and window silhouettes onto the Double Stick Fusible Web sheet. Cut these out without adding a seam allowance.

Trace the house silhouette on the right side of the 10½” x 10½” piece of warm ombre green background fabric using a pastel or chalk pencil. Why do I not recommend using markers? First, if using a heat-removable marker and pressing is involved, the lines will need to be retraced each time. If using water-soluble markers, some markers could stain when pressed leaving unwanted lines. Therefore, pastel or chalk pencils are brilliant for this purpose.

Remove the paper from one side of the fusible web and 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. Flip the stabilizer pieces and glue them to the right side of the background fabric, aligning them with the traced silhouette of the house.

For a perfect applique layout on a house wall, 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.

Make a quilt sandwich using the glued house top block, then a piece of batting, and a lining fabric. Baste sandwich layers using Odif Temporary Adhesive Spray.

Click the Sewing mode on the welcome screen. Attach the PFAFF 2A Fancy Stitch Foot for IDT System and set up a stitch. Click the Load Stitch icon. Choose Utility Stitch 12. Set width 3.6 and length 1. Remember to save our stitch. I recommend using PFAFF Quilting Needles Size 90/14.

Load the thread in the desired color and zigzag along the edge of each applique element. I usually stitch twice around each element to have the same stitch view as our machine applique flower.

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

For the window, reload the thread and switch to a straight stitch. Make two straight stitching lines.

To switch back to the zigzag stitch, click the folder icon and load the saved stitch! Finish the window applique.

Trim the quilted coaster sandwich to a 9” x 9” size. For the binding, I’m using a lace trim. Visually divide the lace into thirds. Place the lace so that at least ½” extends above the edge. Fold the lace to cover the raw edge and clip it to keep the lace in place.

Click the Stitch Creator icon and set the straight stitch. Don’t forget to adjust the IDT™ System for smooth stitching before starting.

Stitch with a straight stitch along the side to the corner. Fold the corner. Clip and stitch. Repeat on all corners. Fold the raw lace edges and stitch to finish the lace bias.

Our coaster is READY!!!

As we wrap up our series of four My Little House Coasters showcasing different techniques, I hope you enjoyed exploring the amazing features of the PFAFF creative icon 2 Sewing and Embroidery Machine. From intricate piecing and creative embroidery to the precision of raw edge applique and the versatility of in-the-hoop designs, this machine has truly brought our Little Houses to life!

Thank you for following along on my creative adventure. Your enthusiasm and support have made it all the more rewarding. Until our next project, happy sewing and stitching!

Always yours,

Olesya

This is part 4 of 4 in this series

Go back to part 3: My Little House Coaster 3 | Machine Raw Edge Applique