This past week, my guild presented a workshop about doing Reverse Applique by machine…… sounds interesting doesn’t it??
Well it WAS!!
Our teacher was guild member, Kay Davis…..
She is a master of Free-Motion Quilting on a Long-Arm and does some wonderful work.
These were two samples for the class…..
We started out by picking a stencil from Kay’s massive collection….
I picked this cute giraffe……
The first step was to trace the stencil on the dark fabric….
…..and make a quilt sandwich consisting of backing fabric, batting, batik (or print) fabric, and dark fabric on top…..
I grabbed a machine and quilted along each of the cut-outs, ensuring that I stitched all the way around each piece. If I needed to move to another cut-out, I simply stitched over to the new area.
The hardest part was seeing the lines through the free-motion foot. I am far too used to my open-toed foot!!
Next, I cut out the top fabric in each section, leaving the batik below.
I found that my Karen Buckley scissors were the best for this task……
They were sharp and got into even the smallest of spaces…..
One thing that I loved about this technique is that a small slit in the top fabric brings an amazing pop of color from the secondary fabric!
Before long I had my giraffe cut out……
Isn’t he cute??
Now I need to decide how to finish it off. I could add lots of FMQ to the surrounding fabric and cut out more shapes, but I don’t think that is where I am heading.
I want the giraffe to stay foremost in the piece so I may leave him just the way he is. But, that is a decision for another day.
There were several wonderful designs in progress, including Linda’s cat…..
Anne’s farm scene….
Sue went wild with a hummingbird and flowers…
Kyle worked on an amazing turtle….
….and Karry designed her own “MeMaw”…..
If you can’t tell, we had a MARVELOUS day!!
Have you tried this technique before??
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