Prepping Tree of Life

Today's post is not about normal hand applique, it's about what happens before the applique starts.

Prepping Tree of Life is going to be a tedious process but once it's completed, I'll be able to keep appliqueing without stopping to do more prep.

I washed my fabrics in HOT water. Washing is a deceptive word though, never throw your fabrics into a washer to wash them. I put them into a pan of HOT water and swish them around. I keep changing the water until no dye comes out. Not all of the fabrics bled but the red definitely did. After I'm done washing them, I squeeze most of the water out then take them onto the porch, hang on the metal furniture and let them drip. Once they're done dripping, they are carried to the basement and hung on a clothes rack to finish drying. 

After they were dry, I heavily sprayed them with starch then left them to dry. Once the starch is dry, they are ready to be pressed. Once they're pressed, the freezer paper designs can be ironed onto them. 

I'm not going to recommend any certain starch, you use whatever starch you want to use! I've learned over the years that starch brand is a controversial subject.

The original fabrics have the pieces to be appliqued stamped onto the back side of the fabric, the pieces are even numbered to show you the order to applique. You do need to make sure you turn the edge enough that the stamping ink does not show on the outside.

When I prep applique pieces, I normally leave a larger 'turn-under' edge than what this shows, I won't be placing my pieces as close together as they show here. 

I placed the marked fabric on top of my light box then put freezer paper on top and traced the applique design onto the paper. The next step is to cut out the design. 

After the pieces are cut out of the freezer paper, I ironed them onto the back of the new fabric. 

I cut around the pieces making sure there is 'turn under' fabric.

I will have to do some trimming on the applique pieces before they're appliqued. I even wrote the numbers on the back of the pieces, just like the originals were.

My fabrics aren't an exact match for the fabrics from the kit but they're close enough. I know it looks like the new brown fabric has lines in it, it doesn't, it's a solid brown Kona fabric. All the pieces needed for this fabric have been prepped and are bagged together along with the original fabric.

This is a long process but I'm going to have a beautiful quilt when I'm finished. Remember, I'm planning to spend New Year's Day starting the applique on this quilt. I had better get more of the fabric prepped, January 1 is just 4 months away!

Here is something pretty to show you since this post was rather boring.

Autumn is coming soon and most of the perennials in my flowerbeds have finished blooming but the flowers in the pots are going strong!

These fushia flowers in the front are called SunPatiens, I'm definitely growing them again next year. I've saved the label so I know what they are next spring.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Sew & Tell, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday