Applique Fabric — You’re Only Limited by Your Imagination

Zone of Truth right here, right now…

I’m not going to do this topic justice. 

Yup.  That’s right.  Because technically, all fabric can be applique fabric.  Any fabric.  Silks.  Satins.  Fleece.  Lace.  Applique is the unifying quilting technique which brings all fabric under the quilting umbrella.  Unlike piecing, where the quilter is strategically positioning lights, mediums, and darks for the best results, the applique quilter is going for effect – what fabric will give the best representation of what I am trying to convey?  So applique is a wide-open field for all fabrics.  The trick is knowing how to handle them and what fusible to use (if you’re machine appliqueing). 

But before we delve into what makes good applique fabric, I’d like to stress four points:

• Be well-versed in your fusible webbing.  And by this, it’s not just what fusible you like better than another.  If I had my way, I’d use Soft Fuse for almost everything I machine applique.  But it’s not always the best fusible webbing.  If a fabric such as canvas or denim is used, a fusible with a heavier adhesive (such as regular Heat-n-Bond) may be needed.  Likewise, if you want to add lace to your applique, it’s good to know that Misty Fuse has an ultraviolet fusible that completely disappears to the naked eye and is great to use with lace or netting.  However, it’s also good to know that Misty Fuse handles differently than any other fusible and is a bit time consuming, but worth the effort. 
• Batiks work for machine and hand applique, but each technique requires different handling. If you go here:  https://sherriquiltsalot.com/2022/01/12/sewing-with-batiks/ you’ll learn that batiks are processed differently from standard quilting cottons.  Batiks are constantly introduced to a wet environment and then dried.  So by the time you get them home and add them to your projects, the Batiks have a really tight weave because of the shrinkage.  This makes them the ideal candidate for raw-edge applique.  That tight weave prevents nearly all fraying.  

However, also because of the manufacturing processes, Batiks can feel stiff, which makes them difficult to hand applique or use for prepared edge machine applique.  But if you wash them in hot water and allow them to air dry before using, the fabric takes on a silky feel, and makes them ideal for hand or prepared edge machine applique.  Not all batiks need this treatment, but for those particularly stiff ones, a little time in some hot water may allow you to use them as needed.

•  Re-think pre-washing. I’ve admitted in the past  I’m primarily a pre-washer.  Fabric comes into my home, and it’s washed, ironed, and stored.  Through the years of teaching and talking with other quilters, I feel as if I’m in the minority.  But there is a time if you’re not a pre-washer, you may want to change gears and throw the fabric in the washing machine – and that’s if you plan on using machine applique.  And the reason behind this is not shrinkage or color fastness or any of the other reasons I prewash.  In the machine applique realm it has to do with the finish on the fabric.  Sometimes the finish on the fabric keeps the fusible from completely adhering to the wrong side of the fabric.  I’m dealing with this now.  I’m machine appliqueing the cutest Jack O’Lanterns, but since the project is a kit, I didn’t pre-wash any of the fabric. I’m having a really difficult time getting the Heat-n-Bond Light to work.  The eyes and noses and mouths are sliding everywhere.  Oy-vey!

If you are like me and are an avid pre-washer, there is one time you may want to avoid it and that’s for the background of a hand applique project.  After the applique square or project is complete, then immerse it in water and allow it to dry.  The background fabric will shrink slightly and pull those tiny hand stitches just a bit tighter under the applique fabric, rendering almost invisible. 

•  Choosing good applique fabrics takes time as you develop an “eye” for it.  This is one of those quilting things which can’t be taught, but you develop over time.  Applique quilters “see” fabric differently than quilters who primarily piece.  For instance, I rarely use solids in my applique.  They do appear in my pieced quilts, but not my applique because to me they appear “flat.”  Objects – whether they’re flowers, animals, trees, or whatever – have lights and darks, sunshine and shadow.  Solid fabrics don’t.  The fabric I use in applique usually has some kind of print or mottling to them.  Over time, you begin to see fabric in a very different way.  Suddenly even the ugliest fabric has potential.  Take for instance this fabric:

This is definitely not my favorite piece of fabric and if I were piecing a quilt, this fabric would be completely overlooked.  But you know what this would be good for?

A bird’s wing.

Looking at fabric this way takes time, experience, and practice.  A good way to practice this would be to look at your own stash and see what objects it could work for. Or Google ugly fabric swatches and pull up those images (yes, this is a thing) and think how those swatches would work for applique.

The Pros and Cons of Applique Fabric

Let’s talk about the good things about applique fabric first. 

• All fabric and most scraps have potential.  Even the ugly ones.
• Most of the time, you only need bits of fabric to do applique.
• The sales shelf at your local quilt store will have enormous possibilities.

Now let’s talk about the not-so-good things about applique fabric.

• All fabric and most scraps have potential.  Even the ugly ones.
• Most of the time, you only need bits of fabric to do applique.
• The sales shelf at your local quilt store will have enormous possibilities.

That’s right.  The pros and the cons are the same.  All of this wonderful fabric that manufacturers make has immense potential, we only need “bits and bobs” of it, and even that ugly-hasn’t-sold-in-years fabric at our LQS has promise.  Which means we can easily overwhelm our stash with fabric to the point we don’t know what we have and what we need.

So what should we do? 

It’s impossible for me – or anyone else – to give you a list of what applique fabric you need.  Most of it depends on what you like to applique.  My applique quilts tend to be flowery (if you can’t grow ‘em, sew ‘em – that’s my motto).  For this reason, I have a rainbow of fabric colors for any type of flower my heart desires, lots of yellows for flower centers, and a seemingly endless array of greens for leaves and stems.  However, if landscapes or seascapes were my applique of choice, I’d have fabric which could pass as wood, stone, or brick texture.  I’d need blues, grays, and blue-greens for water.  Light blues for skies, whites and grays for clouds, and even more greens for grass.

Your favorite applique subject essentially chooses what fabrics you have in your stash. 

It’s also important to remember that items – living, such as flowers, and non-living, such as buildings – aren’t all one solid color.  As light hits the object, the colors change.  The area where light hits directly is lighter than the other areas.  The places furthest from the light source are the darkest.  Flowers higher up on a stem are lighter than those closer to the bottom.  So, let’s put this into perspective.

Let’s say I want to applique a purple coneflower.  From past observations, I know purple coneflowers aren’t colors of solid purple.  Coneflowers have petals with streaks of color and a large center.  I set aside my solid purple fabric and begin to look for purples with splotches or streaks of color in them.

This will work for those petals closest to the front viewing area (those nearest the light source).  Those behind will need to be a bit darker, so I find this:

Now for the center.  Coneflower centers can be brown, green, or pink, with brown being the color center we’re most familiar with.  And the center is kind of fuzzy, not a solid ball, with the brown speckled with flecks of yellow and orange.  The search for a brown fabric should include those browns which are mottled with other colors.

Applique Fabric Tools

I would like to introduce you to a couple of tools which may help you as you choose your fabric.  The first is a template.  Take a piece of paper, mylar, or cardboard and trace the shape you want to find fabric for.  Then cut the shape out, leaving the paper, mylar, or cardboard intact, so you have a negative of the object, like this.

Take the negative and place it on the fabrics being considered.  This negative will help you in your search for the best fabrics for flowers, bricks, stones, etc.

The second tool is this:

A flower catalog.  Since most applique patterns are overwhelmingly floral, a seed, bulb, or flower catalog is very helpful in your flower study.  There are closeups of the petals, centers, and leaves, giving you lots of hints about what colors can be used and how and where they change from light to dark.

As a matter of fact, magazines or Google images are great places to start your fabric search, no matter what you want to applique.  If it’s buildings, an Architectural  Digest would probably be a great help.  And nothing beats going for a drive or a walk with the camera on your phone ready to take pictures of what’s tickling your applique itch. 

Once the applique fabrics are chosen, it’s important that the background fabrics support the applique fabrics well.  Personally, I even like applique fabrics with a small tone-on-tone print – they’re just more interesting than a solid piece of fabric.  What you want to look for is a background fabric that enhances your applique.  Backgrounds can be colors other than white or ecru.  I love to use black as a background fabric (even though it’s hard on the eyes when you sew), but if I do this, I need to make sure the applique fabrics are bright and bold.  Pastels may “washout” with a dark background.  Audition your background fabric just as thoroughly as you do your applique fabric. 

Before I close out this blog, I would like to leave you with a few additional applique tricks I’ve learned from almost forty years of loving and using the  art:

•  Notice where you place the light source.

By this I mean, where’s angle the sunshine/lamp shines from?  If it’s on the left side of the image, that side will be lighter than the right side.  And keep the light angle in mind as you work on the right side of the image – that side will be just a shade or two darker than the left.

•  Buds, new fruit, and new leaves will be lighter than their adult counterparts.
• Need a light fabric and can’t find one that works with the fabrics you already have?  Audition the wrong side of the fabric.  Hey, I’ve pulled this trick lots of times, and the wrong side of the fabric has met a lighter fabric need more than once and did it well.  You pay for both sides of the fabric – use them.

• Don’t be afraid to fussy cut your fabric.  This is especially true for those print fabrics you’re not sure exactly what to do with.  For instance, this is a piece of Tula Pink fabric.  I love her designs – they’re whimsical and bright and many times you’ll unexpectedly find an animal image staring back at you.  The pink of this fabric drew me to it, but the elephants caught and held my attention.  I wasn’t quite sure what I’d use this fabric for, but over time I discovered those elephant ears made wonderful flower petals.  What’s left of this fabric now resembles Swiss Cheese because I’ve fussy cut nearly the entire three yards.

• Broidery Perse is always a valid option.  Want a floral bouquet of appliqued roses but don’t want to go through the fuss?  Find a rosy floral, fussy cut out the roses you want, then applique the roses into your bouquet.  It’s beautiful and it’s a lot easier than navigating all those rose petals.

In so many ways, this blog is only scratching the surface of what can be used for applique fabrics.  Developing an “eye” for what would work best takes time and practice and…mistakes.  Give yourself time.  Don’t be afraid to consider fabrics you normally wouldn’t give a second glance at.  Think outside the box.  You’ll only be limited by the boundaries of your imagination.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix