I took Sunday completely off computers so I didn’t post about my third Quiltfest online class on Saturday: Machine Applique Fundamentals with Gina Perkes.
This class gets an A. Gina was fun, did a great job explaining the various techniques, had close-ups of her doing the techniques and explaining what she was doing during them, and then time for us all to do our thing with brief moments of show n’ tell (with questions) between each technique.
I’ve actually done a fair amount of machine applique in my past but, as I keep saying, quilting is NOT like riding a bike. It is possible to forget things when it’s been a few years. And I can’t believe it’s been a few years! Really? A few years since I did this? Wow.
The class included a kit with laser-cut applique pieces already cut out with their fusible applied so we could focus entirely on the stitching. It also included the stencil for laying your registration marks on the background piece. I’m glad to have that, although I have a vague memory I may already have one kicking around somewhere. Not a big deal since most of what we were paying for was the fabric in the kit. It includes all the fabric we need for piecing the final project. True confessions, though: I don’t actually like the final project. Not my colorway jam. I do like the two fabrics included for borders and backing so I’ll probably cannibalize the kit and get rid of the rest. (The blocks in my kit look just like the photos, but it’s a different fabric as sashing.)
We did the satin stitch around the circle first. Mine wasn’t too shabby. I need to work to get it more even but I’m not sure I’d ever done a satin stitch in machine applique so I’m considering this a first try.
Also, I intentionally used black thread so I could see the results for learning purposes. If I were doing this for realsies, I’d likely default to matching thread so it wouldn’t be as noticeable. On the other hand, I do like the black outline. I really just need to practice.
Next was the applique stitch, and she showed us how to taper down at points. I’d not done that before and really liked learning that. I didn’t do too badly navigating the corners at the outside edges but, again, need practice.
Here’s the completed learning block. Again, pretty sure I’m not going to worry about doing the whole project. I mentioned creating another UFO for myself on Instagram and @ssinden commented that “We need a different designation for this as it is a finished learning piece. FLO? Finished Learning Object?” I’ll go with that!
Pretty happy with what I did, given that it’s been years since I’ve done some of it and hadn’t ever done other parts.
So—three classes done and dusted! Felt good to be back in quilt class mode again!