This overlay method is an invaluable tool for appliqué placement.

Overlays are great for:

• Quick & easy appliqué placement
• Trimming your quilt block without measuring
• Window templates for getting the most out of your fabric

Appliqué Placement

1.  Place your background fabric right side up on your ironing or pressing board.

2.  Center the overlay on to the background fabric and push a straight pin into each top corner through the mylar and the fabric, and into the pressing board.

3.  Raise the overlay slightly, and place your appliqué piece. As you lower the overlay, you can align your piece with the design on the overlay. Remember to keep your finger on the appliqué piece to keep it from shifting when positioning. If you are experiencing static cling, simply wipe both sides of the overlay with a dryer sheet.

4.  After the appliqué is positioned accurately, gently lift the overlay and use your iron to fuse the piece in place. Do not iron directly on the overlay - it will melt! Continue in this manner until all appliqué pieces are positioned.

Finishing the Edges of the Appliqué

1.  Why finish the edges of fusible appliqué One reason is to add dimension to the design and to define and outline individual appliqué pieces such as a sleeve on a jacket or the trim on a hat. Another more practical reason is to protect the edges and pieces of the appliqué from coming unfused. If your quilt or garment will be handled often, or if you know that you will be washing it, then you will want to securely finish the edges of the appliqués.

2.  What kind of finishing should I do? After the appliqué design is fused in place, but before you trim your quilt, you must decide how you want to finish the edges of the appliqué pieces. You can machine appliqué, machine blanket stitch, hand quilt, or machine quilt around the design. The first two methods are done before the quilt is finished and will secure the edges of your appliqué pieces. The second two methods are done after the quilt is finished, but are decorative rather than protective. Many of the Calendar Quilts are hand quilted since I don't usually plan on washing them - and if an edge should become separated, I simply iron it back down.

Trimming Your Quilt Block

1.  Remove the overlay after all appliqués pieces are positioned and fused.

2. On your ironing or pressing board, layer your backing fabric right side down, then your batting, and then your appliquéd top. Press.

3  Place the sandwiched quilt on your trimming mat and align the overlay onto the appliquéd top.

4 Our mylar overlay has 2 borders around the design. The inside border line is the measuring line and the outside border line is the trim line. Place the 1/4" mark of your see-thru-ruler on an inside border line of the overlay. The edge of the ruler will be on the outside trim line.

5 Using your rotary cutter, trim through all layers. Rotate the quilt and continue in the same manner until you have trimmed all four edges. Your quilt is a perfect square and you are now ready to sew on your binding!

Window Template for Fabric

Appliqué designs speak to their viewers, expressing moods and visually tell a story. The fabrics that you use will help to express that setting. Overlays can help you in your fabric selecting.

When you're ready to start a quilt, take our preprinted mylar overlay to your favorite fabric store (or raid your remnant stash), and determine which fabric design will suit the individual pattern pieces of your quilt block. These 10" quilts have small appliqué pieces that require fabrics with proportional patterns and tighter spacing of designs. By placing the overlay's pattern piece onto several fabric choices, you can visually determine which fabric will work for that particular appliqué piece.

You'll love using directional fabrics to add dimension to the pieces. Directional fabrics can separate a sleeve from the shirt, a hat from its brim, or the back field from the front field. Determine the direction that you want the design to go by positioning the fabric under the overlay piece. With a black fine point permanent marker, draw an arrow directly on the overlay piece. Trace the pattern piece onto fusible web. To add the directional arrow, turn your overlay over so that the pattern pieces are reversed, and place your traced fusible piece on top of the overlay and align with the overlay pattern piece. Trace the arrow onto the fusible.