Hi Everyone! Tara of Suburble here. I am a novice quilter. I have taken classes on measuring and cutting fabric, and I'd say that 87% of the time, I make the correct cuts. And the other 13%!?!?!? Well, let's just say that I always buy a extra yard of fabric. This is why I love Sizzix cutting dies. I get accurate cuts, every. single. time. It's great for a slightly haphazard quilter like me.
Just recently, I found a Riley Blake mini jelly roll in my stash, and was inspired to whip up a quick Jelly Roll Race quilt.
The beauty of Jelly Roll Race quits is that they take next to no time at all, with a really cool striped look.
Of course, being the novice that I am, I didn't consider that a mini jelly roll didn't create the same beautiful rectangular shape that a regular jelly roll did.
Some creative cutting and a wide border later, I had something I liked.
But it felt like it was missing something.
I looked over at my Sizzix and realized that I needed to add some appliques to the quilt top. I was relatively new to applique work, but knew that with my trusty Sizzix, I could do this with ease.
I bought some HeatBond lite from the fabric store (it's sold on the bolt) and ironed it onto the backside of my fabric, paper side up. It's important to be very quick with the iron or you'll melt the adhesive too much and it won't set onto the quilt top.
I set the iron to the silk setting and ran over it the paper for only 2-3 seconds. After it was adhered, I pulled off the paper slowly and revealed a milky coloured layer on the fabric.
This milky side is activated by the heat of the iron on the right side of the fabric, and allows it to stick to the quilt top.
Using my Sizzix, I cut out stars from the fabric with the HeatBond stuck to it. I used the Fabi Star Bigz die, but there are a couple of others that are on deck in my craft room, waiting for another quilt:
I had trimmed off a section of the jelly roll race in order to make my quilt a more aesthetically appealing triangle. Now that I was cutting out appliques, I knew what to do!
I adhered HeatBond to the backs of the stars and then cut them out with the Sizzix machine.
I laid out the stars where I wanted to them to be. As you can tell by my border, it's important to iron your fabric prior to ironing on your appliques. This is in the "design" stage. I assure you that before I ironed on the stars, I gave this quilt a good once over with the iron.
Then, I ironed the stars onto the quilt. They were ready for sewing!
I used a blanket stitch to work my way around the star. I found it easiest to work slowly and to leave my needle down whenever I had to pivot.
I will say, it was easier than I thought it would be!
It took me about an hour-ish to sew the stars to the blanket. And suddenly, my quilt had a new breath of life into it!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeZJPxXFZ3t/?taken-by=suburble
It's ready for quilting! Now to decide how I'm going to quilt this baby!
Don't be afraid of applique! The Sizzix machine makes these extra details a cinch to add to your sewing projects. I'm going to tackle some throw pillows next!
Other Materials Used
- Riley Blake Mini Jelly Roll (find HEAPS of precut fabrics here!)
- Approximately 2 meters of dark blue cotton fabric
- HeatBond Lite - 1 meter
- Iron and ironing board
- Sewing machine with a blanket stitch setting (various decorative stitches can be used in place)
I love you jelly roll quilt,the stats are a nice compliment. I have been quilting for about 3 years, Thanks to Sizzix I have made some pretty creative projects. I have 2 cutting machines and a sewing room full of dies for applique as well as many quilting dies.I also have some of the designer quilt dies.I have experimented with many decorative stitches instead of the blanket or zigzag stitches . I wish Sizzix would consider digitizing some of the applique dies. Imagine being able to do a satin,blanket or E stitch around your applique with the same precision of the cut..
Thank you for such a great comment! I'd love to know what stitches you have worked with - and loved - aside from the zig zag and the blanket stitch. What sewing machine are you working with? I have a trusty old Kenmore, but I'm forever looking at newer machines. I love your idea of digitizing the applique files. What quick work that would be!
I have 5 sewing machines(don't judge me!). I do my piece work on either my Pfaff expressin 3.2 or my Babylock Rachael. I use the zigzag, blanket, heirloom blanket, fagoting,feather, blind hem variation , bridging,daisy or star,for appliqué
I also have a Babylock Ellissimo Gold 2 ,Babylock Flourish(embroidery only) and. Brothers Disney Embroidery machine. Some of the plder Kenmore's were really workhorses. I would give the decorative stitches a try. You may want to play around with rayon thread too.Hope this helps
Try using a hem,favoring,star or any overclock stitches. Also experiment with rayon embroidery threads..You may need to adjust your tension or use a spool net with these.
I have 5 ( don't judge me!) Sewing machines. My Babylock Rachel Nd Flourish are usually at my cabin.I have a Babylock Ellisimo Gold 2 that I use at home for embroidery and edge to edge quilting.I use my Pfaff Expresion 3.2 for piece work and construction sewing,and my Brothers Disney for embroidery as well.
I would love to have a Kenmore ( I think 810) these were really sturdy workhorses. Happy stitching