Star Appliques can be very dramatic but they are extra fun when you look at them up close. A detail described in project #2 of Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets, these stars really transform the dark of night jelly roll fabric from SewBatik into a sparkling night sky. Quilting stores have pre-cuts that can be purchased to enhance any quilted jacket project, but Rae wanted these star appliques to be as uneven and varied as the stars in the sky. Diane, from SewBatik, sent some large and perfectly uniform stars cut from the yellow cotton gradations so Rae made a group in varied sizes to dance around the bright pre-cut stars.
On page 57 of the book, there is a sidebar in bright yellow listing the steps to making your own appliques, but there was not any room for step-by-steps photos. Today we will take a closer look at Rae’s process of creating stars in several sizes, plus a few diamond shapes, to fill the sparkling sky. You can follow this process to create any shape appliques for a quilted jacket project.
Make a Pattern and Create the Appliques
In order to make the star appliques and keep them crisply shaped during the construction process, use 2-sided fusible webbing; we like Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 from the Warm Company, but other brands will work as well. Working with a color gradation cotton (available from SewBatik) allows the stars to be several different shades, which keeps things interesting.
I do not think of myself as adept at drawing, so I found a cocktail napkin with several sizes of stars on it and traced off patterns of the sizes that seemed most appropriate.
The pencil tracing was darkened with a fine tipped marker so it could be seen through the double stick fusible web paper. The star shapes are traced onto the paper side of the fusible web where the paper is most difficult to peel away. Draw plenty of stars; I used over 60 stars for this coat! The actual breakdown of sizes is listed in the book.
Apply the Fusible Stars to the Fabric
With the prepared fusible web paper on hand, thoroughly press the applique fabric flat and smooth. Peel away the side of the web product without drawings and apply the sticky web and paper drawings to the wrong side of pressed fabric. In this case, I positioned the paper so that the stars ranged over light and medium hues. Fuse the web to fabric following the web product’s directions; I used an iron to set the star drawings on the fabric.
Then carefully cut out each star. I used small sharp scissors for a crisp cut. With the scraps of fused fabric, I cut around the stars to create little diamonds that twinkle in around the full size stars.
Place the Stars on Pre-Quilted Sections
In the book there are good close-up photos of the star appliques being placed and pressed onto the Fronts, Sleeves, and Back of the jacket before construction. For this post, I used leftover fabric from the stitched together jelly roll to cut out the two sides of a Birdy Bag tote bag to decorate with the stars. (The Birdy Bag pattern is available on SewDaily for members, but if you register for our live special event with Sew Daily this Friday on quilted patchwork jackets, you will receive the tote pattern for free.) Any tote bag pattern offers up a place to test quilting ideas and threads before you make an actual jacket.
Decide where and how you wish to place the stars. When I was preparing to put them on the jacket, I searched for photos of the night sky on the internet. These photos inspired the addition of the little diamonds and the use of several different sizes of stars. They also made me a little crazy! If you look closely, the big and little dipper are on the back of the jacket, extending into the sleeves.
Take your time planning the arrangement of applique elements. Any time I work on a project like this, I clear my work table, place the garment or bag pieces next to each other and arrange the appliques. Before I peel the second paper off the web backed appliques, I take a look, take a photo, walk away and return to rearrange a bit. Sometimes it takes a couple of days before I am happy with the placement. Once satisfied, I peel the pattern side paper off and fuse the appliques to the base fabric.
Quilt the Stars to the Base
Set up the sewing machine with the thread chosen to stitch each applique onto the base. Be sure to make some samples of the stitching to choose your favorite quilting design. I used a slices of pie design to anchor the corners and points of the stars, then stitched around the perimeter of each star about 3/8″ away from the edges.
It helps to keep a little project iron near the sewing machine in case one of the appliques gets loose or caught in the sewing machine and needs to be smoothed back into place. Press well if you want the appliques to look flat.
Project #2 from Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets, which we like to call the Night Sky Coat, has a free-hanging lining and the tote bag will too. A free-hanging lining hides the back side of the quilting stitches, so all those thread tails from the stitched stars don’t have to be buried in the quilt sandwich unless you really want to do it. If you have not back-tacked to secure the stitches after attaching each star, tie the thread tails together and clip so they are no more than 1/2″. They will all be covered by the free-hanging lining and no one but you will know that are there.
Choose Fabrics and Appliques that Speak to You
The Star Appliques seen in this post up close were so perfect for the theme of the Opus coat in the book, but other ideas will work too. Years ago we made a similar Tabula Rasa Jacket using a jelly roll from Cherrywood Fabrics to applique vines and leaves. The leaves were fused onto the jacket pieces in the same way as the stars, but then were anchored all around the edge with a machine blanket stitch. The vines are fabric tubes that were hand stitched to the jacket and the berries are small covered buttons.
Another idea that sounds like fun to me is a spring colored fabric jelly roll with butterfly or bird appliques. Surely you will have your own applique ideas to make your perfect coat! If you feel very confident, let your appliques cross over seams by fusing and stitching them on after the coat is constructed.
Come Applique and Sew with Us!
Want to try this but feel a bit afraid? Join us on a Fit for Art Retreat in America or in France and we will help you achieve the look of your dreams, or at least give you confidence to make your own fabulous quilted creation!
