Only about 55 leaves to go...
Many times on quilty Facebook groups the question is asked if one should trim the background away from behind appliqued pieces.
I thought I'd chime in here with what I think. Keep in mind that in the end it's up to you, it's your quilt...to each his own.
When I have applique in a quilt and I know it's going to be quilted on the longarm, I leave the background intact. There is no reason, in my opinion to snip it away. The added "bulk" is next to nil and the longarm will have no problem whatsoever quilting it. I may trim a bit if there are multiple layers, but I can't say I remember ever doing this.
On the other hand, when I'm doing a quilt that I know I'll be hand-quilting, such as Down the Rabbit Hole, I will trim the background away....so as to make hand-quilting a little easier.
Here is a bit of applique from this week....
...and here is the back...all trimmed....
I like the small Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Curved Scissors for the trimming. Can you see the little bit of curve? This is to make it easier to trim without snipping into the applique itself.
I've tried a pair of the scissors with the "duck-bill" look to them and found them awkward to use.
No affiliation here....just letting you know what I like.
There's also a theory that you should leave the background intact so as to lend stability to the quilt. I tend to think that once the quilt is all quilted it will be pretty stable.
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Is anyone looking for new projects to start on? I'll give you two suggestions (which I first read about over at Kathy's Quilts...I think she and I share the same "Quilt Along Addiction"!).
The first is called It's a "Wild" Life hosted by Sew Incredibly Crazy....just a block per month....do-able, right???
The second is found at From My Carolina Home and is called Square Dance. This is a mystery and offered in many sizes. I am going to pick the table-topper size....just so I can have fun playing along!
Today I am linking with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday, and with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?.
it is looking great - I have a pair of those "duck-billed" scissors too and they stay in a drawer almost all the time - I do not like them and wish I hadn't gotten them years ago when I thought I had to have them for applique - a waste of my money
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun and cheerful quilt! Your appliqué is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh, look!! Yours is so pretty. I just finally got my twisty border on last weekend. I want mine to be king size, so I have some fiddling to do from here out. I'll be adding another component outward to the bunny borders, which means I'll have to figure the math for adding more diamonds in the last round and just how wide to make my extra-wide applique border to fit right in those extra diamonds. . . not going to be fun. I'll be happy in the end, though, because I want this for my bed, not the guest bed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing the quilt on a bed - I had pictured it as a much smaller quilt!
ReplyDeleteFantastic quilt. Thanks for the tips.
ReplyDeleteIt's looking fabulous! I agree with your thoughts on when to trim/not trim away fabric on the back, and I too use curved scissors - much less chance of cutting the wrong bit of fabric.
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