On most of my applique patterns, the little stitched details – things like eyelashes and eyebrows and smiles – fall inside the applique pieces.
That makes it really easy to transfer those detail lines to fabric. They’re right on the pattern pieces!
Sometimes I have detail lines that fall outside of the applique pieces, but until now those have just been whiskers, and they’re a continuation of lines that start inside the pieces, so they’ve been easy to transfer too.
But what about something like these creepy, dangly mosquito legs?
How the heck do you transfer those lines to the background block? Especially since the way I work means the background block is already quilted to a layer of batting, making it impossible to see through?
Well – I came up with an answer!
All you need is a sharp pokey thing and a black pen. 🙂
Here’s what those lines look like after you mark them with the marker
And if you scroll back up, you can see them stitched.
Want that mosquito pattern? You can get it here.
Here are links to all my posts about outline stitching.
- How to Topstitch and Edgestitch
- How Durable Is Straight Stitching?
- In What Order Do I Stitch?
- Stitching Eyes and Mouths – with lots of help for stitching tight curves
- Tips for Scribbly Outlining
- Playing with Thread Weight
- How to Mark Detail Stitching Lines
Finished with this topic?
Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons about how to trim and assemble your blocks.
You are so clever! I just love your tutorials. Thank you!