The Reverse Applique Detour

I guess I always tend to do things the most difficult way possible.  It was only after I sewed the basket panels together in my Vertical Basket Quilt that a light bulb went off in my head and started blinking madly at me.

Vertical Basket Quilt thinking.....

Hey, how about doing some of that reverse applique stuff and really trying to make this quilt special?  And the idea would NOT leave me along.  Deep V applique stitching is not exactly my best friend you know, so I was a bit nervous to just leap into the idea without thorough consideration.  Plus, wouldn't this have been waaaay easier before the panels were sewn to the strips?  Just saying....

Reverse Applique: Baste through both layers of fabric.

Yep.  Seriously weighing the pros and cons here, all the while busily basting the little bits of fabric to the back of some of the panels....

Reverse Applique: Back view of bottom layer of fabric
 with red basting stitch holding both layers together.

Hard to see the basting stitch, but okay!  Plenty of fabric to trim away after the stitching is completed!

Reverse Applique: Cut out top layer of fabric, leaving enough
fabric to turn under and stitch down (1/4" or even less).

I was cutting very, very slowly here because of the clipping oops I made on my last scrap attack quilt.  Looks pretty good, but I did try to trim it down just a little bit more so it was more like a 3/16" seam instead of a 1/4".

Reverse Applique: Clip seam allowance at the V-sections.
Shallow clip at side V's and deeper clip at top and bottom V's.

I think a shallow cut is more than sufficient at the sides and the bottom? Probably best to cut almost to where I want the fabric to fold over.  Only 4 clips in all since the sides are straight and don't need any clipping at all.

Reverse Applique: Turn seam under and stitch to
 fabric in back with simple applique stitch.

I really like needleturn applique so I just finger pressed the fabric over and stitched it down as I went (with a matching color of thread), trying to be really good and neat at the deep V's.  I think I probably need some more practice there, but the detail on the brown fabric is obviously going to be a great distraction from the actual stitching.  Oh yeah, I'm loving that part.  lol!

Reverse Applique: Remove red basting stitch.

Time to get that ugly red basting stitch off and out of the way!

Reverse Applique: Trim fabric in back to
within 1/4" of the new applique stitch.

And then its time to turn it over and trim off the excess fabric up to about 1/4" next to the new applique stitch.  Even that sort of looks pretty from the back.*wink

So you see?  This is why I never know at the beginning where my quilts are going to be taking me!  I'm usually only too willing to take a detour with just the slightest bits of provocation.  Glad it worked out this time or I would have been crying all over the new big cut-out right in the middle of my 'almost finished' quilt!  

It's a good day to link up to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching and check out what's happening over there.  Remind myself how sane and normal people approach the quilting dilemmas of life!