Comments on: Hand Applique Gecko

By: mariarosa

mariarosa — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:38:48 +0000

che bello trovare quilters che fanno le stesse cose che faccio io aldilà dell’oceano! brava ciao dall’italia

By: SewCalGal

SewCalGal — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:49:47 +0000

Beautiful. And your stitching is amazing. Best I have ever seen!

SewCalGal
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:06:48 +0000

Thank you everyone for your comments, I’m so glad to be able to pass on a bit of what I’ve learnt over the years. The tip for using silk thread and the wooden toothpick come from one of my favourite books on hand applique which is “Artful Applique the easy way” by Jane Townswick. It was one of the first applique books I bought and the one that I learnt the most from. I find that using silk thread really does make a big difference because the fine thread and needle makes it so much easier to make tiny stitches. I do find that I need to work in good light though so I only stitch during the daytime. The batik fabrics just seem to bring the designs to life and I’m always on the look out for ones that I feel are just right.

By: Hanneke

Hanneke — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:49:18 +0000

I obviously need to make my stitches even smaller, yours are so tiny you beat me hollow!!

By: Hannele

Hannele — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:29:34 +0000

Thorough tutorial with good pictures, thanks for sharing it with us! I like to hand-quilt and even to baste, but for some reason I’ve so far had no patience with hand applique. That’s why I try with too large stiches and the result isn’t good… Yours looks so even and perfect

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:09:44 +0000

I agree – I do a lot of needle turn applique and notice that a lot of people like to use too long of thread not realizing that it is going to tangle eventually. I have not taught many quilters as I am not a teacher – but close friends will ask and then I show them and normally have to point out that they are using too long of thread. I love the gecko – batik fabric does make for some interesting ones. I love using it for applique.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

By: kimbuktu

kimbuktu — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:28:19 +0000

This is wonderful Anne. Thanks for sharing your techniques. The toothpick idea is new to me, as is the silk thread. I will definitely try this.

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:21:27 +0000

I’m glad you liked the tutorial; the photographing wasn’t so much of a problem but uploading the pictures was. The iternet here is so slow at the moment, even though we’ve got broadband or the equivalent. I’ve taught hand applique classes and one of the things I’ve noticed is that lots of people want to use much too long lengths of thread so I thought I’d put that bit in.

By: nic @ nipitinthebud

nic @ nipitinthebud — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:59:47 +0000

fabulous tutorial Ann. Thanks for sharing this – I know how much longer it takes to keep stopping and photographing! You’ve hit the nail on the head with something I do when sewing: too much cotton because I don’t want to re-thread and then having to anyway because it gets knotted and has to be cut. doh, isn’t it funny how the frustrations we try to avoid turn into bigger ones when not faced head on {chuckle}