Doing it...MY way.

In all my times as a quilter, I have never enjoyed teensy, tinsy applique.  For one, it's tedious to do.  And, for another, it's so hard to get something perfectly sewn.  Now, I am not a perfectionist, by any means, and what I am about to show you will testify to that.  But, I do want what I am making to look as good as possible.  I love a crisp corner and a sharp point.  I thrill at a perfectly round circle.  So, in the case of itty-bitty sewing, I've made a compromise.

This is one of the few times I am going to willingly show you where something didn't turn out quite right...and this is because I've re-done the entire block.  If you'll notice the carrot nose in this one, it's kind of lumpy and the tip isn't a nice sharp point...and you can see my pencil marks...right then.  Not amazing.

What it is now.  I have decided, since this quilt is a wall-hanging and won't be used for snuggling and keeping warm and won't be washed, that felt is just fine.  As you can see, you can cut out a piece of felt and it won't fray.  I didn't even take the time to do a blanket stitch around the edge, I just took some matching thread and tacked the felt piece in place with a few well-placed cross stitches.  So easy.  So quick...and it looks sharp.

Here's another bit on my original that I am exceedingly displeased with...spots like this glove where you have a concave curve.  It sharply turns up after the curve and there is no way to appropriately sew that down with applique.  So, you have to kind of use little stitches around the curve and hope nobody looks too closely.

Here they are, side by side.  My new one which is iron-on transfer, tacked on using a blanket stitch and using felt for the small bits, and my original which is 100% applique.  I could have iron-on transferred the small pieces on the new one and gotten the crisp look I wanted, but I didn't want to blanket stitch around them all.  The felt, really is me being exceedingly lazy.  But, I want to enjoy my crafting, so I knew that sewing around every coal eye and button and carrot nose would make me crazy.  For the safety of my family, felt was the right choice.

I hope you'll agree, my new one is much better than my original. 

So, moral of the story...if you hate something, don't do it.  Change it to suit your pleasure.

Thanks for reading!

Heather