I love everything about this little quilt—the saturated colors, the graphic design, even the simple machine quilting. I’m not sure why I waited to so long to give the orange peel a try, but I’m glad I finally did! Along the way, I picked up a few tricks for making smooth edges and fairly sharp points that I’d like to share with you today.
Here’s my method for making orange peels:
1. Start by adhering two sheets of freezer paper together by lightly pressing one atop the other with a medium hot iron, making sure that the matte side of both sheets of paper is up and the shiny side down. (This step results in thicker templates)
2. Next, trace the orange peel shapes onto the matte side (not shiny) of the double layer of freezer paper and cut out each shape (through both layers) along the drawn lines. Lightly press a freezer paper shape to the wrong side of your fabric with the shiny side of the freezer paper down.
3. Cut out fabric shape being sure to leave a ¼” allowance around the outside edges of the freezer paper template and trim the pointed ends as pictured below. Pull the freezer paper template off and use a fabric glue stick on the matte side of the freezer paper to lightly glue the template back to the center of the fabric shape. At this point, the shiny side of the paper should be facing up away from the fabric.
4. Using the tip of a medium hot iron, press the ¼” fabric allowance to the freezer paper template as indicated below. Pay particular attention to how the fabric overlaps at the ends of the orange peel shape. Don’t worry about the little dog ears that hang over the shape at this point. By taking care to overlap as follows, you’ll be able to neatly tuck them in when you’re appliquéing. If you’re left handed, you should overlap your points in the opposite direction.
6. After you’ve finished appliquéing your orange peel to the fabric background, use sharp scissors to cut a small slit in the background fabric behind the orange peel shape and gently loosen and remove the freezer paper template from your work. Press your appliqué from the wrong side and trim the block, making sure the orange peel is centered in all directions.
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So gorgeous.Thanks for the tips!