One tip: perfect needle-turn applique

I am very good at raw edge applique, but needle-turn applique intimidated me, and every attempt looked sloppy. Until now. Carolyn Friedlander suggested in her book, Savor Each Stitch, that you baste the piece to the background one-quarter inch from the applique edge as a guide for turning under the fabric. This changed everything. I deviated from her instructions and instead I stitched one-quarter inch from the edge of the piece, separate from the background:

I applied starch on the edges and ironed:

I used temporary glue to attach to the background fabric:

At this point I had the choice to stitch down by machine or by hand. I choose by hand, using a Size 11 gold needle by John James and 50 weight thread from Mettler in a matching thread. I’m experimenting with curves as part of the Savor Each Stitch Book Bee and studying Contrast. The pink and orange seemed like a good place to start.

If you aren’t into this method, there are ways to get the same effect with no fabric turning. Jenna Brand has a tutorial.

I’m linking this post to The Late Night Quilters’ Tips or Tutorials Tuesday.

One tip at a time,

Wanda

9 thoughts on “One tip: perfect needle-turn applique”

knettycraft says:

April 1, 2015 at 5:05 am

It looks pretty good. Thank you for sharing.

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Late Night Quilter says:

April 6, 2015 at 11:26 pm

I love this tip. I learned the same method from Anna Maria Horner, and it totally makes needle turn applique within my reach!! Thank you for linking up to Tips and Tutorials Tuesday!

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