Broiderie Perse Tutorial for Crazy Quilting Part 1

This is part 1 of the Broiderie Perse Tutorial for Crazy Quilting.  Please note, since most crazy quilts are for the sake of visual art rather than utilitarian purposes, we can ease up a bit on the rules that would apply to applique on a traditional sane quilt.

Step 1:  Choose a print.  You'll need a good cotton fabric with well defined flowers, animals, fruit or insects.  In this case, I chose a print with pink peonies.

Step 2: Piece your block in whatever manner you're comfortable with.  I always use the "sew and flip" method.  If you need instructions for that, you can find my tutorial for the "sew and flip" foundation piecing process here.

Step 3:  Determine where you want to add your applique.  As you can see, there's an open area underneath the photo image.  You don't have to leave any space.  I just didn't worry about that space because I knew my flowers were going to go there.

Step 4:  You will need to use some fusible web.  I use light weight fusible web by Pellon.  It's called, Wonder Under.

The fusible web is on a paper backing.

Step 4:  Determine which motif from the cotton print that you want to use and cut around it leaving a good inch or more.  Cut a piece of the fusible web a little bit larger than the cotton fabric.

Step 5:  Look closely at your fusible web.  The paper side is smooth and fusible side has a rough feel to it.  Make sure that the wrong side of the fabric is against the fusible side of the Pellon.

Step 6:  Cut the excess fusible web away so that it is the same size as the cotton print.  If you don't do this, you'll have glue on your fabric, your iron and your ironing board.

Step 7:  Again, double check to make sure that the back side of your print is against the fusible side of the Pellon.  Line the 2 pieces up and press with your iron on a medium setting or follow the directions included with the Pellon.

This piece is now fused.  In the above photo, you're seeing the paper side of the Pellon.  The right side of the cotton print in laying against the cutting board.

Step 8: Do not pull the paper off yet.  Using a very sharp pair of scissors, carefully cut the flower motif out from the fabric.

Step 9: Once you have your flower motif cut out, you can carefully peal away the backing paper from your applique.  The glue should now be on the back of your cotton print.

Step 10: Play around a little bit to see where you want your applique.  I knew when I started where I wanted it but be sure it's positioned exactly as you please because once you iron it on, it's there to stay.

Step 11: When you're satisfied with the position of your applique, go ahead and iron it on using a medium heat on your iron or follow the manufacturers directions on your fusible web.

Now, if you find that your edges fray a twinge or if the little points of the petals don't want to stay down, you can use a teeny, tiny dab of fabric glue (just a little bit on a toothpick) to hold it in place.  It shouldn't happen if you use a good quality cotton fabric but occasionally it will and there's no need to fret over it.  A little dab of glue will take care of it.

So that's it for Part 1 of the Broiderie Perse Applique Tutorial for Crazy Quilting.  I'm sure if you've done traditional sane quilting with applique in the past, you may think this is a no brainer but I like to write my tutorials for stitchers who have never tried some of these techniques before.  I want everyone to feel comfortable in learning new things and trying these tutorials so I really try to make them as clear as possible.

Part 2 of this tutorial will be on how to go about highlighting your applique with stitching.  I'll have that tutorial ready in about a week.  In the meantime, get your blocks sewn up and your applique ready.  I'm really hoping that some of my readers will give this a try.  It's a lot of fun and a great embellishment to add your crazy quilting skills!