Needle-turn appliqué is my favorite method of hand appliqué. I find it to be very accurate as well as flexible. But a big reason is the ease with which the patches are prepared beforehand. Here is how I prepare the patches for needle-turn appliqué.

It always surprises me when I hear people say that choosing fabrics for a quilt is the hardest part of the process. It’s the best part, I say! This article describes an easy and effective way to choose fabrics by using a multi-colored print fabric: a focus fabric. The focus fabric may be used in your quilt as patches or as a border, or it may not be used at all. Its purpose is to set the color palette for the quilt and to make choosing fabrics fun!