Work In Progress Wednesday: Applique Superheroes

Now that my Dresden Wave mini is done, it is time to focus back on another project that has been sitting for a few weeks--the Superhero Quilt.  I sat down and turned all the edges of the superhero appliques.  I've done two turned-edge applique quilts before (rather than raw-edge with fusible web) and those were done by hand.  At the time I made the first one I didn't have children yet (it was for my daughter) and the second one I was still teaching and did hand stitching during faculty meetings.  This time I'm using monofilament and a tiny zig-zag, and I think it is working great. 

I like to use freezer paper for my applique.  Usually I do the dull side of the paper against the motifs, but this time I did it the other way, and I must say I don't like it.  I've heard of people using a glue stick to hold the edges down when you iron, but if you put the paper the other way, you don't have to.  The iron just makes the edges stick to the fabric for you.  I also don't really want to use a glue stick on this one.  I still have some windows and other shapes I haven't made yet, so I'll do those with the freezer paper the other way.  Here's Thor, showing his edges that won't stay down.

 This is Superman in progress.  This method works pretty well, I just have to keep turning the edges back under before I sew them down.  They are still creased from the iron, which helps a lot.

 Green Lantern, all done and ready to save the Universe.

 This is going to be the Daily Planet.  It still needs some detail.

 After sewing around the whole motif I cut the  back out so I could remove the paper, leaving a seam allowance of a little more than 1/4".

The little guy this is for was born almost two weeks ago, so I'm going to try to get this done before the end of the month.  Other projects to finish before June is out include two baby-size quilts for a client. 

My bargello is still on the back burner.  Hopefully I'll be able to quilt and bind this one soon--it's so small it won't take very long!  I should just do it.  I still haven't decided how to quilt it.  I do have some pretty dark gray thread for it though.

I'm linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced today.