Afraid of Appliqué? Edyta Sitar Offers a Solution

As far as Moda fabric designer Edyta Sitar’s concerned, it doesn’t get any better than appliqué. “It lets me totally express myself,” she says. “It’s like coloring with fabric.”

While lots of us enjoy that idea, we’re just a little afraid of appliqué—though the results are undeniably lovely, the process seems time consuming and fraught with opportunities for error.

Fear not! So that the scaredy cats amongst us can enjoy appliqué, too, Edyta’s come up with some products that will increase accuracy, save time, and still provide plenty of opportunities for creativity and fun.

First came Silhouettes, individual laser-cut appliqué shapes with pre-applied, fusible webbing. Recently Edyta added Laseys to her Laundry Basket Quilts line of products—similar to Silhouettes, they’re a larger, laser-cut piece of adhesive-backed fabric. Both come in fabrics that coordinate with Edyta’s lines for Moda, and new coordinates will be appearing this spring.

“These give you a spectacular start on your appliqué,” says Edyta. “The laser cutting means the edges don’t fray and they’re cut from the same fabrics that I use, so you can just open the package, coordinate the colors, and follow the layout, putting your quilt together like a puzzle.” Once the pieces have been fused to the background fabric, Edyta likes to use one of her two favorite methods of stitching using her Aurifil threads: either zigzagging around the piece using cotton thread in the bobbin and invisible nylon thread on top, or using the buttonhole stitch with cotton thread in both the top and bobbin. If you choose the nylon-thread method, Edyta advises lowering your tension to prevent the stretchy nylon thread from pulling to the top. (Edyta shares more detailed recommendations on YouTube, here.)

Triangle Star quilt before Laseys

Triangle Star Quilt with Laseys added

Edyta first created Silhouettes to go with her Spring Bouquet quilt and is especially excited about the newest Silhouettes, due out this month, that will coordinate with her new Spring Sprouts quilt pattern. “Some people don’t have time to do a large quilt, so I designed this with smaller blocks and fewer pieces in each block—it can be a mini-block-of-the-month,” she says.

Spring Sprouts Quilt

While Laseys and Silhouttes harmonize with Edyta’s patterns, they make great additions to any quilt project. Last spring she offered a Silhouettes challenge on her blog, and readers combined the pieces with buttons, embroidery stitches, and selvedges to create lampshades, purses, and pin cushions, along with table runners, pillows, and wall hangings. You can see photos of the projects here. There are also Silhouette letters for perfect for making banners to celebrate birthdays and the love of sewing.

Edyta would like to share Laseys with one lucky blog reader. These Laseys coordinate with her Triangle Star quilt, but can be used in a variety of projects. Leave a comment by February 6 about applique below and we’ll post the winner’s name  on February 7.