--===The A Word===--
 _

-==The "A" Word, Simplified ==-

*Appliqué is less frightening if we call it something else!*
 
by Addy Harkavy [mailto:aardvark@ime.net] 

Lots of quilters refer to appliqué as "the A word" because somewhere along the
line they got the idea that they simply won't ever get good at the technique.
Rubbish! Anyone who can blindstitch a binding can do competent hand appliqué,
and even those who machine stitch their bindings and wouldn't dream of
blindstitching can do it, too. So there. 

While we're dispelling appliqué myths, I'd like to point out that some
teachers insist that quilters learn to piece first; then they teach appliqué
as an "advanced technique." Since appliqué is in no way related to piecing and
has little in common with it, I find it hard to see where one has much of
anything to do with the other. Sometimes when a student wants to do an
appliqué project first, that's what I teach! So for all you new quilters
who've been told, "kids, don't try this at home," forget the common wisdom and
get with the appliqué program. You'll be glad you did. 

_So what is appliqué?_ 

Since it's easier if we start with a definition, here's a good one from
Laurene Sinema's neat book. *Appliqué, Appliqué, Appliqué.* 

Appliqué: From the French work appliquer, which means "to put on or lay on; a
cut-out decoration fastened to a large piece of material." 

Good definition as far as it goes. But as Sinema observes and I agree, it
doesn't begin to suggest the variety of ways in which it can be used. 

_Is there one right way to do appliqué? _

Some teachers would have you believe that there are two ways to appliqué:
their way, and the "wrong" way. Heck, there's no wrong way. If the result
pleases your eye, then it works. If it doesn't please your eye, experiment
till you find something that does. 

_What's reverse appliqué, and why are people so scared of it? _

Reverse appliqué is nothing more than "upside down" appliqué. The shape you
see when you look at the quilt is on the background; the top fabric is turned
under to reveal the shape. The trick here, whether you use blindstitch or
ladder stitch is to use a toothpick to turn under the edges of the top fabric,
turning under about 1/2" ahead of your needle, except in tight spots. 

_Do I have to blind stitch, tack stitch, or ladder stitch? _

Contrary to popular belief, there are lots of ways to hand stitch an appliqué
piece to a background. If you press your edges under first, you can stitch
down the appliqué piece with neat, small running stitches. Blanket stitch is
acceptable, too, as is any stitch that will hold the appliqué piece tightly
against the background. 

_Can I quilt within appliqué motifs? _

Why not? 
-==Appliqué Stitches ==-

The schematics for Tack Stitch, Running Stitch, and Blanket Stitch below are
from Sinema's book, mentioned above, and the one for the Ladder Stitch is from
Ami Simms' book, *Invisible Applique. *

_Tack Stitch*_: 

To do the tack stitch, come up from under the background fabric at A, as shown
in figure 1, and pull the thread _*straight*_ towards the edge of background
fabric. Insert the needle into the backgound fabric and take a very small (no
more than 1/16") stitch to come up at C. Repeat from D.* 

 

 

_Ladder Stitch**: _

To do the ladder stitch, remember that the thread travels _*behind *_the fold
of the appliqué fabric as it lays on the background fabric and behind the
background fabric to "travel". 

Stitches ae taken *alternately* in the background and the motif. Never both!
Start by taking a small stitch in the background. Then, insert the needle
exactly opposite the point where the last stitch exited. Pass through
horizontally across the motif. Take several more stitches alternating between
the background and motif.
 
 

Don't pull the thread too tight. Don't catch the appliqué's seam allowance in
your stitches...you're following just above the edge of the fabric. You're
going across the bottom on the sewing line of the appliqué piece, as shown on
right. Take six parallel stitches, then stop. The thread should be coming out
of the appliqué piece.
 
 

 

 

Here's the magic. With the tip of your finger or the needle, gently roll under
the seam allowance. Pull the thread taut. The appliqué will lay perfectly
flat, and the stitches will disappear!
 
 

 

 

 

 

_Running Stitch*_: 

Keep those stitches small and even! 

 

 

 

 

 

___Blanket Stitch_*: 

Relax and enjoy yourself. This technique gives a pleasantly informal or folk
art appearance. Try it using metallic or glitzy threads. You can do this by
machine, too.
 
 

 

 

* Sinema, Laurene. *Appliqué,Appliqué,Appliqué*. The Quilt Digest Press, 1992,
223 pages. 

** Simms, Ami. *Invisible Appliqué*. Mallery Press, 1988, 154 pages. 
-==New Appliqué Accuracy ==-

*Without Templates or Foundations *

If I have any criticism of templates for marking appliqué pieces and
backgrounds, it's that fabric tends to stretch around the templates, no matter
how carefully one marks. Light tables certainly have their place, and in my
hands they are more for finding the exact _area_ for pattern tracing than they
are to facilitate marking. 

Given that I design all my own appliqué, my process has tended to _*be
anything that works*_ from the initial marking to the actual stitching down of
an appliqué piece. I usually prefer invisible appliqué, also known as ladder
stitch appliqué. This was taught to me by one of my late grandmothers, and its
overwhelming advantage so far as I'm concerned is that there is no way any
stitches can show on the surface of the work. A variation of this technique
has been popularized by Ami Simms and is described above. 

The new technique came about after I had designed an appliqué piece that
relied upon a sense of motion and very tight proportion. Some of its pieces
were small; others very precise in their curves. My design in its entirety had
already been traced onto tracing paper from the paper on which I had drawn it.
Without thinking, I used my Dritz tracing wheel and wax-free transfer paper to
*transfer* the whole design onto my background piece. Then I realized what I
had done. 

From here, I doped out which pieces needed to go down first, which could be
preassembled into units before stitching down, and so forth. After reinforcing
my traced design with Scotch Tape, I traced each piece onto the appliqué
fabrics, again using the tracing wheel and transfer paper. 

Invisible appliqué works beautifully with this technique, since it is easy to
mark landmarks and match them up prior to stitching the appliqué down. And the
dotted mark for appliqué and background pieces adds a new precision and
evenness to stitches, as one can move two or three dots along the line with
each stitch. The technique can, of course, be used with conventional and
needle-turned appliqué. 

The finished product reflected the delicacy of my original drawing, unlike
many template-driven appliqués that seem to "grow" wider more like pictures in
kids' coloring books, and this method is now a permanent part of my "how to"
repertoire. 

For what it's worth, the tracing wheel and tracing paper can also be used to
mark a circle for reverse appliquéing designs such as the Mariner's Compass
into a background. 

The technique has undergone a few further refinements since my initial foray.
First, I purchased at an art supply store a set of "pounce" wheels, all of
which are considerably smaller than seamstress's tracing wheels. These smaller
wheels are great when tracing intricate shapes. I also retrieved from my art
supplies a ball-tipped burnisher and a bone burnisher, both of which are
useful tracing tools under some circumstances. 

I'm now thinking about using this technique to transfer quilting lines to
quilt tops and to outline areas for specialized forms of surface design. The
possibilities seem endless. 

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