yellowwroses

How do you start and end your applique? Do you back stich or knot it with machine or even bring your thread to back and knot it? Do you use stabelizer when you sew them?
Thanks,
Judy

Tartan

If it is machine appliqué with a fusible, I stop sewing leaving the thread tails. I knot the tails and using a easy thread needle, I pull the threads to the back of the work. For hand appliqué, I knot the thread behind the background fabric.

ManiacQuilter2

With machine applique, I leave a long length of thread that I too pull the to the back of the block and tie a knot.

Doggramma

I also take the thread tails to the back, tie a knot, then clip.

LivelyLady

I also bring the tails to the back with machine applique and knot. With hand applique, I knot on the back. I use coffee filters for stabilizer when I machine applique.

Prism99

With machine applique, I just do a few very small stitches at the beginning and again at the end on top of the first stitches. I don't backstitch. Those tiny stitches seem to hold pretty well. I leave a tail and pull the threads to the back later, but I don't bother to knot the threads.

I do not use a stabilizer under the background fabric. Instead, I starch the background fabric yardage heavily before cutting into blocks. For this I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo laundry starch and water, "paint" the solution on with a large wall painting brush, wait a couple of minutes to make sure the fibers have had time to absorb the starch, toss in the dryer, then iron with steam. This makes the background fabric sufficiently stiff so that I don't need to use a stabilizer.

Oofta

I do mostly wall hangings that probably won't ever be washed so I lock the beginning and end and then I use Fray Check on the tails, let it dry and then clip them off. I'll try and post a picture of my latest project.

lynnie

I just take a few extra stitches at the beg and the end. never had a problem

Bree123

What kind of stitch are you using?

Mostly I do hand applique, but it sounds like you are doing it on a machine. With satin stitching, I just stitch over the beginning stitches with 3-4 overlapping stitches at the end when I've hit the start line again. With anything else, I pull my bobbin thread up to the top before I start stitching, knot off as soon as the threads start to get in my way & bury the knot in the back. For hand applique, I start with my knot at the back. For both, once I've finished, I pull my top thread to the back & knot the thread there.

I only use stabilizer when I am using a very dense stitch, like a satin stitch (or certain decorative stitches). Otherwise, it usually isn't necessary. The WonderUnder or wash-away fabric glue that I used to hold the applique in place is generally sufficient to keep things from distorting much with the applique. The only other thing I'd recommend is trimming your fabric a bit wider & longer for any blocks where you're going to be doing applique because it can shrink up the fabric a bit & there's nothing worse than having a heavily appliqued block that is .25" shorter than all the other blocks. I typically add .5", but I know some of the professional applique artists on YouTube say they add as much as 1-2" extra to length & width for any block that is at least 15" wide. Once the applique is completed, they square up their blocks to the originally intended size. I seem to recall Liuxin Newman ("Thimble Lady") does that on her applique work.

Dolphyngyrl

depends on what you are doing and if the end will be caught in seams if caught in seams you do not need to worry about tails but if not you need to bring it to the back and knot