The tuba became my arch nemesis in this project. So many tiny holes to cut out with little pointy scissors
When I first started reading the instructions for this quilt and saw that it used zig-zag stitch for the applique, I cringed. My memories of trying this method date back to the 90's where I always used the widest, shortest satin stitch to ensure maximum coverage of the raw edge. I thought this was what you had to do. It always ended up puckering the fabric and losing small details of the applique shape. Plus if you made a mistake and hand to unpick you invariably ended up with a hole in your work. Since discovering machine blanket stitch, I haven't used anything else for applique until now.
When I set in to actually do the work I read the instructions in more detail. The zig-zag stitch suggested was not so much a satin stitch. Stitch width was set at about 2 and length and 0.5 (my machine goes down to 0.2). This provided a very neat stitch which finished the applique shapes nicely and from a short distance appears to cover the join entirely.
Using the method the pattern describes to pivot on corners and curves, I achieved a very tidy result!
For the strings on the violin and harp, I used stitch width 1 and length 0.4, which produced what appears to be a solid line. I also used a tear-away stabiliser (in addition to the Applifix) when doing all the zig-zaging. This stopped any puckering and made the whole job a lot easier. It really is about using the right tools/products and putting the extra effort in to get the desired result.
I think my favourite of all the instruments at this stage is the violin.
I just love the result of the silver strings on the black neck and the purple edges look very neat. I think I will
add zig-zag back into my skill set for doing applique. I am also interested to try the raw edge technique used by Don't Look Now, but that will have to be another project for another time (maybe a suitable shopping list item for the next craft show...)
Looking good!
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