Don’t Miss This New Fabric Line & See My Hand to Machine Appliqué Remix

May 10, 2023

How does changing the fabric alter the overall aesthetic of a quilt?

When I was asked to participate in the blog hop for a new fabric line, Summer Twilight, designed by Tammy Silvers for Island Batik, I thought this would be a fabulous opportunity to see how batiks would work with a motif I used in a recent project.

Summer Twilight Fabrics are used to reinterpret this botanical motif

In the first 100 days of 2023 I created this needle turn appliqué quilt top using mostly solids with some tonal prints. This created an almost stained glass effect with each section having a distinct break between each segment of the design.

The upper right corner of my recent 100 Day Quilt was the design inspiration for this mini

When presented with these lovely batik fabrics, I knew they would give a very different aesthetic to the design. The lovely mottled effect of the fabric lends itself to create visual melding with the background rather than a break between components. The motif in the upper right corner of the original quilt seemed like a good area to experiment with, so I printed some templates and went to work.

Fabrics from the Summer Twilight line designed by Tammy Silvers for Island Batik

This partial remake of the original design also gave me an opportunity to experiment with a different type of appliqué. I’m usually a hand-appliqué-all-the-way kind of quilter, but this time I thought I would try out one of those nifty blanket stitch style appliqué stitches on my new BERNINA 770QE PLUS.

I wanted to provide just a bit of distinction between the botanical motif and the background, so I went with a slightly lighter green thread in a 50-weight. This is Aurifil color 1147.

I used Aurifil and the 10D presser foot on my BERNINA 770QE PLUS to complete the appliqué

I used Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite to position the appliqué. It worked well because it sticks to the background, but it is easily reposition-able until it is set with steam iron. In the image below, you can see the positioned pieces without the appliqué stitches on the left, and with them on the right. I like the slight distinction the stitching provides. Do you?

Compare the unstitched appliqué (left) with the stitched motifs (right)

The machine comes set up with an entire stitch library section dedicated to common quilting stitches. I decided to start with stitch 1309 and use foot 10D, the Edge Stitching Foot. For the center guide of the foot to align with the edge of appliqué I needed to adjust the needle position to the left, and I made the stitch just a bit wider too.

Settings for the Appliqué stitch I used on the BERNINA 770QE Plus

In this video, you can see the very fast version of stitching around a leaf. Once the set up was done, the stitching was a breeze.

Video of stitching the motif

I used light aqua Aurifil I the bobbin to blend with the background batik that is also part of the Summer Twilight fabric line.The stitches balanced beautifully with neither the top or bobbin thread peeking through where it should show.

The back of the completed machine appliqué

Here is a detail of the final project:

Detail of the final design with the Summer Twilight fabrics

What do you think? Is the effect different when using batiks? I knew the fabrics would blend and interact with each other more in a batik format, but what surprised me is how aquatic the overall effect is. Who knew a design inspired by a land based plant could look like it’s made for the water?

What are you inspired to make with this fun new fabric line? There is plenty of inspiration going on this week. Make sure to visit all of these inspiring blogs:

Tammy SilversMay 8https://tamarinis.typepad.com/tamarinis/2023/05/introducing-my-new-fabric-line-summer-twilight.html
Sherry ShishMay 9https://poweredbyquilting.com/2023/05/09/summer-twilight-blog-hop/
Lisa RubleMay 9https://www.quiltyzest.com/2023/05/summer-twilight-quilt-gallery.html
Kate ColleranMay 10https://katecollerandesigns.com/summer-twilight-blog-hop/
Cassandra Beaver
May 10
http://thenotsodramaticlife.com/dont-miss-this-new-fabric-line-see-my-hand–machine-applique-remix/
Laura PilandMay 11https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/2023/05/summer-twilight-hydra-pillow.html
Heidi PridemoreMay 11https://heidipridemore.blogspot.com/2023/05/summer-twilight-blog-hop.html
Kate StarcherMay 12katiemaequilts.com/blog/summer-twilight-a-double-pattern-release
Swan SheridanMay 12https://www.swanamity.com/si

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