Making a Caterpillar:)

Sometimes your applique project needs a special touch. Like a caterpillar! I learned how to make a caterpillar many years ago in a class, and, for some reason, I really love making these little guys:)

I used 5 squares of different fabrics that are cut of 3 1/2″ square. I used earthy tones to make this one, but you can use whatever you like. It’s your caterpillar.

Lay all the fabrics one on top of the other. The caterpillar is actually cut on the bias, so it doesn’t fray. Cut the squares in half on the diagonal, and then cut a 1/2″ strip from one of the triangles. Of course you can cut as many 1/2″ strips as you like to make more caterpillars. They will just be different lengths.

I used a very thick hand quilting thread to stitch the layers together right down the middle. I put a large knot in the thread a left a long tail (this will be the antennae lol). Gather the pieces as tight as you can (this is why you need a thick thread). Take a couple of back stitches to secure the thread.

Now comes the fun part. I put the caterpillar in a glass of water, and then took it out and roughed him up in a thick towel. Next I rolled him between my hands to fluff him up.

I lied. Next comes the fun part:) I twisted the body of the caterpillar and…..Voila! Good, clean fun:)

Moving right along….in my last post I showed you how I prepared all the pieces for the The Chickadee block. Now I am going to show you how I go about placing the pieces on the background. The first thing to do is to place the prepped pieces on the pattern. This will give you an idea of where each pieces goes. It will also help to identify the different layers, and which pieces you will place on the background first. This is a skill that you will develop as you do more layered applique. Trust me:)

You can see that I started with piece G2-9. Can you see the beauty of tracing those raw edge lines on the piece? It give you a visual guide to make sure the piece is placed in the exact spot. And now you will know exactly where the next layer goes:)

This is how much Roxanne’s glue I use. Not a lot! Just a tiny dot on the seam allowance.

This is one of the pieces that have that dotted line marked on the template. It means that one section of a side is prepped and the other side is unprepped. In other words, one part of this piece goes on top of the dark green piece, and one part goes under the light green (next photo).