Piece O' Cake Blog

I received the following email from Dena today:

I am having a Piece O' Cake dilemma and could use your advice. I'm appliquéing a block that will have both regular appliqué and reverse appliqué on the same piece. Your books & DVDs are still in storage so I can't refer to them for the convex & concave process (and I just can't recall which comes first).

Should I appliqué the outside circle first or the reverse appliqué on the inside first? The background and inside the design are the same material.

Thank you for any help!

This was my reply, and I see now that I need to add a bit more info:

Hi Dena:

I wouldn't try to cut these shapes with their 1/4" seam allowances and then applique them. They'll be too prone to stretching.

I'd make a finished size template of each piece and trace that on either a square or rectangle of fabric that is about 1" bigger on each side than the shape you are working on. I'd do the applique, press, and then cut out the shapes (with their seam allowances) and sew the quilt together.

You'll waste some fabric this way but it will be a whole lot easier to applique.

And here's some additional info: I would generally do the reverse applique first but that could change depending on the specific design. When sewing concave and convex curves together, sew with the concave (inner curve) on top.

Happy stitching to one and all!

Becky