Stuck on project

[lefthandedquilter]

Hi! I am working on a quilt that my brothers and sister are giving to our mother for her 80th birthday. I am using the turning twenty pattern. My problem is that on the 10-1/2 x 10-1/2 piece of the block I want to put a fabric hand print of each person in our family. The pattern is an easy and fast block to put together because time is an issue, however, I am having trouble trying to figure out how to sew the hand print onto the fabric. I tried cutting out the hand print in one fabric and then hand stitched it to another fabric. So how do I sew it on to give it a smooth finish and not a ragged look. I have not been quilting very long so any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreicated.
Thank you,
Debbye

[SFOQuilter]

Debbye,

One way is stitching around the hand with a satin stitch making it very smooth.

Choose a zigzag setting and adjust the stitch width and length until stitches are the desired size. (Practice on scrap fabric first.)Try to keep stitches as short as possible while still achieving the effect you want. Very long stitches will not lie as evenly as shorter stitches and may cause your fabric to pucker.

Hope this helps.

Michelle

[lefthandedquilter]

Ok, I will try your suggestion and see how I do.
Thank you Michelle for your help.

Debbye

[texasgal65]

Just musing... I wonder if you could trace the handprint, maybe lightly color it (pastel chalks??) then print it onto fabric (muslin perhaps) using your printer?? We make labels this way, Then you could maybe stitch around the fingers, perhaps add corners as in a snowball block. Just brain storming, but is this a possibility??

Latrice

[gardenquilter]

you could ink their hands, put on paper, scan into computer and print out on fabric and use that to make your block

[khowardquilts]

Fuse the hand print to the back ground using a light weight fusible web and then stitch around it. If you don't want the stiffness, trim the center of the web, leaving about half an inch on the edge before ironing it to the fabric. Allow a little extra fabric and web around the edge to make a smooth edge to the finished print when you cut it out. The hand can be traced right on the backing paper for the web. The web also acts as a stablizer.

Kathy

[kupton]

....what about photocopying their handprints....then scan into computer and print on fabric.....the resolution of the handprints is really good....all the lines show...

k upton

[lefthandedquilter]

Thank you so much for all of you who wrote with ideas for this quilt projects. I think I have decided to use freezer paper and then use the zigzag stitch that Michelle suggested. I tried to make a template and cut the prints out and then sew them to the fabric block, but some of the fingers were so small it was very difficult to do. So I am going to try the freezer paper. I sure hope that works. I never realized that doing the hand prints would be so difficult for me. I wanted a smooth edge as opposed to the raw edge, but with the small fingers it wasn't working for me. I will let you know how it goes.
Thanks again for all your help and suggestions.
Debbye