Do you love our products but feel nervous about how your customers will receive them? Familiarize yourself and your customers with laser-cut applique by requesting a free, hosted Make & Take for your quilt shop. We'll provide your shop with a set of laser-cut applique embellishments and marketing materials for the event, and you'll need to provide a classroom with pressing irons and a 6" neutral fabric square for the background. Did we mention events mean more $$ in add-on sales in your shop? Send us an email at info@lasercutquilts.com to request an Make & Take mini quilt event hosted by yours truly.
"Laser-cut" sounds like a daunting, highly technological method for applique quilting, but it just makes the end-consumer experience easier, faster, and completely hassle-free. Here's the low-down on how laser-cut applique works:
We use a large heat press (think gigantic iron that can exert pressure) to smash the fusible adhesive into the fibers of the fabrics. This will help “glue” the applique down to your project. We use SoftFuse Premium Fusible, as it doesn’t gum up needles, layers effortlessly, and isn’t too bulky, but sticks to projects well.
We then program our laser and cut each applique piece perfectly. This is what the applique will look like. Notice that even on white fabric, the “burn” marks are almost insignificant.
Your quilters will peel off the fusible paper backing.
Using an applique layout guide (if applicable), secure each piece into place on the quilting project by pressing, without steam, for 5 to 7 seconds. If there are lots of layers, we recommend using an applique press sheet to secure layers together before ironing the entire object to your quilt.
- Sew down with a buttonhole, zigzag, or straight stitch. Or, if you’re feeling particularly lazy, just machine quilt right over top of the applique.
INTRODUCTION TO LASER CUT APPLIQUE