Today's Quilter - UK (2019-11)

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HOWTOl machine appliqué

foot.If youcan’tseewhereyouare
going,yourstitcheswillbedisastrous!
QUsea goodqualitysewingthread
fora finestitch,buttohighlightan
appliqué,usea thickerthread.I love
MadeiraandAurifilwoolthreads,but
youmustusea largerneedle. 16/jeans
alwaysworkwellforme.
Note: thickerthreads cannot be used
inthebobbin.
QUsethesamecolouredthreadinyour
bobbinasthetopthread,thiswillsave
anystraycoloureddots showing up on
thefrontlateron.
QReduceyourtensionsothatthetop
threadwilldefinitelybeunderneath
yourwork– thiswill ensure a good
finish on the top.

Stitching
QMoveyourneedlepositionoverto
therightasfarasit willgosothatthe
appliquéis underthefootholdingthe
fabric. The blanket stitch will take

a ‘bite’totheleft,soyourneedle

positionshouldsitjustbeyondthe

edgeof theappliquéshapeonthe

backgroundfabric.Thestitchshould

travelforwardsalongthebackground

fabricandthenswingtotheleftto

takea ‘bite’intotheappliquéfabric.

QMandy’snext,mostfavouritefacility

of anymachineis theneedledown

position– it holdstheworkin

positionwhileyoumovedirection.

Somemachineshavea wonderful

‘hover’facilitywheretheneedlegoes

downandthefootcomesup a little so

youcanmovethework.

QForordinaryblanketstitching,

Mandyslightlyincreasesthestitch

lengthandwidthjusta dash,

especiallywhenusinga thicker

thread,tomakethescaleof the

stitchlookbetter.Sheonlyreduces

thelengthandwidthwhensewing

reallyfinepiecesof appliqué,such

ashands,facesandtinyflowers.She

recommendsthatyoualwaysfinish

thestitchontheoutsideedgewith

yourneedledownbeforeyoupivot.

QWhenyousewa blanketstitch,you

canvisualisewherethenextstitch

mayland.If youfeelit is outof sync,

youcanverygentlypulltheworkso

thatthestitchlandswhereyouwant

it too, for example, on points.

Finishing

QMandydoesnotfastenoherthreads

onthemachine,shepreferstoleave

longendsthatshetakesthroughto

thebackbyhandlateron.Mandy

doesnotsewthemin,shejustcuts

themotoaninchontheback.It

is veryunlikelythattheywillcome

undonefromthefront,andthiswill

savea lotof time.Generally,her

appliquéworkwillbequiltedlater,

andthistopstitchingwillholdallthe

threads from the appliqué in place.