Australian Homespun — May 2017

following appliqué fabrics and cut

them out on the lines:

• Satsuma (L) – lion mane and tail


• Bright yellow (M) – lion head and body


• Banana yellow (E) – lion muzzle


• Lemon yellow (N) – tiger


• Mint green (F), grass green (G) and
  cucumber green (H) – bushes and leaves


• Black (S) – lion nose and tiger
  stripes, head tuft and nose


• White (X) – teeth.

3

Cut eye holes in the fabric for both

the lion and tiger on the traced

lines, as the whites of their eyes are

reversed appliquéd.

4

Fold the Fabric B appliqué

background fabric in half vertically

and lightly press the crease to mark

the centre. Peel the backing paper

Appliqué and embroidery

1

Trace the enclosure shape from the

Pattern Sheet onto the paper side of

the fusible web and cut it out roughly.

Cut the centre out of the shape,

leaving about^11 ⁄ 4 in of fusible web inside

the traced outline. (Reducing the

amount of fusible web behind large

shapes makes the finished quilt less

stiff; use this fusible web for smaller

shapes.) Iron the shape to the wrong

side of the starfruit fabric (C) and cut

it out on the line.

2

Trace all the other appliqué shapes

for the lion, tiger and leaves from

the Pattern Sheet onto the paper side

of the fusible web, leaving about^1 ⁄ 2 in

between them. Cut them out roughly,

fuse them to the wrong side of the

Lion and tiger block

Steps 5-6

from the enclosure shape, fold it in half

vertically, right sides together, and

fi nger press the crease. Lay the

enclosure shape on the background,

2in up from the bottom edge, right

sides facing up and centres matching.

Fuse it in place with a hot iron.

5

Peel the backing paper from the

appliqué shapes for the lion, tiger

and small bushes. Layer the shapes

on the background as shown in the

photograph. Keep the shapes at least

1in inside the raw edges of the

background so they will be clear of the

seams after the background has been

trimmed back and joined to other

panels. Slide small pieces of white

fabric (X) behind the lion’s and tiger’s

heads so that they lie behind the holes

you’ve cut for the eyes. The pupils are

tiny circles of black fabric appliquéd in

place, but you could satin stitch them

with black thread if you prefer.

6

Sew around the shapes with

machined blanket stitch using

machine-embroidery threads to

match the appliqué fabrics. Claire

and Jemima recommend spraying the

appliqué lightly with starch to help

keep the fabric stable while stitching

it. Blanket stitch around the raw

edges of the eyes, working the

vertical ‘leg’ of the stitch on the head,

not on the white fabric, to create

the impression of eyelashes. Scatter

a few French knots on the tiger’s face

using two strands of black thread.

7

From the white felt, cut:

• Two rectangles, 7^1 ⁄ 2 x 8in
  (lion leaves)


• Two squares, 6^1 ⁄ 2 in (tiger leaves).

Homespun 111