I guess you were just naturally gifted for doing needle turn applique or maybe you have done lots of handwork that helps you.

This is just a variation to help us while we learn. As we get more practice, most of us will probably do it your way.

It is nice there are different options to learning applique and I am so appreciative of the time Jen is taking to help us. It's really hard for me to sit stll with this cast right now but I hope I can do a bit next week.
Jean

How do you cut your applique piece out? Do you trace the pattern onto your fabric and then cut it out? Do you make plastic templates? Or trace the pattern onto your fabric with a light box?

The thing I like about the freezer paper method is that it is so easy to copy the pattern onto the freezer paper (you can usually see the pattern right through the freezer paper and trace it with a pencil). Ironing it onto the fabric and cutting a seam allowance around it makes it so easy to transfer the pattern to the fabric accurately without drawing on the fabric, especially on dark fabrics. And without using plastic which is not recyclable.

And, I can easily reuse my freezer paper pattern if I wait until the entire piece is appliqed onto the pattern and remove it carefully. I can then iron it onto another piece of fabric and reuse it. This doesn't work well with very small or intricate pieces, but with larger pieces it works great.

Cecilia

I had not done needle turn applique so it helped me keep my edges smooth. In fact when it started to come off from being handled, I ironed it back on.
Sally

So far, I think the freezer paper gives a stability to the edge when turning the fabric under, but I do find it a bit cumbersome.

In one of the patterns I did, the directions said to lightly trace the pattern on the back of the background fabric. As I'm still learning, I did it, but I don't think it's necessary and won't do it again.

SharonG/FL

If it matters where, from the fabric, I need to cut the piece to be appliquéd (fussy cut), then I make the template from template plastic, so I can see exactly what I'm going to get. If the placement doesn't matter, I use a piece of light cardboard, like from a cracker box.
I don't wash my fabric first so the sizing is still there and I iron the fabric to make sure it's smooth, with no wrinkles. I then lay the pattern on the wrong side of the fabric, and draw around it (make sure you remember lay the template opposite of the way you want to piece to be) .... when cutting it out I don't cut on the line, but cut about 1/8" outside the line, to give myself the desired hem allowance.
When ready to applique I place the piece where I want it, and anchoring it with one hand, I flip it back and put a couple dabs of washable glue onto the background fabric, to correspond with the center of the piece......sometimes I dab right on the middle of the piece....whichever is easier.
This done, I'm ready to applique. It is, after all, not an exact science, so I never see any reason to draw on the background fabric and then work to make sure the piece exactly conforms to the exact shape drawn on. If you know how much extra you've added to your cut piece, then you know how much you need to turn under and catch...if it's a wee bit more, who cares? ditto for a bit less.

FP on top is my favorite method, and I always leave it on until that applique piece is finished. It seems to provide me a firm and accurate surface to turn under the seam allowance. The applique I do is often complex multi-layered Baltimore style, so I want things to line up. I've had a lot of problems with glue not washing out or getting in the wrong place, so I don't use glue, just loosely baste the pieces where they go, FP and all, until finished appliqueing. Some people use a clear overlay to align pieces. I usually lay the pattern underneath the background fabric, and it is light enough, that I can see through it to align the pieces. Hope that makes sense.
The only time the FP seems cumbersome is when it is very large, like a whole papercut block. Then I would cut it in halves or quarters and do a section at a time.
I often scan in the pattern and print it right onto the FP with an inkjet printer (no drawing at all--saves time).
BlueBars

My applique is also Baltimore album type...in fact, I did a whole quilt of Baltimore album blocks, several years ago... a great travel project... but working from the bottom up to the last, top piece, I've not ever had a problem getting things in their proper place. It's always seemed to me that there was a bit of wiggle room. For placement of pieces, I just keep a pic of what it is I'm copying in fabric, to go by...I try to keep the whole process as simple as I can.
I can't understand why you couldn't get the glue out, though, unless you weren't using the right glue..... sometimes I get a regular washable glue stick from Joanne's or other quilt shop, if they're on sale...sometimes I use one that is for kids, that says it's washable...and, have never had a problem getting any of it out....and, if you get it in the wrong place, it doesn't matter....a few swipes with a damp washcloth will remove it. I absolutely love the glue to hold a piece in place, and use it for other quilt related projects. I did a grandmother's flower garden, using the plastic templates to make each octagon...to hold the fabric to the template I used the glue stick...then, when the little corners were sewed together, and all the octagons sewed together to make the 'block' I'd pop out the plastic from each little segment...the glue holding all the segs to their fabric made the whole thing rigid,and thus easy to sew the segs together....and the plastic was easily popped out, regardless of the glue. I saw the use of the octagon plastic templates on Simply Quilts, but they seemed expensive when I priced them at a quilt shop...so, I begged from my friends, all their cottage cheese/sr cream, etc lids and cut out my own. It takes a lot of them, but it sure makes making the octagons easy. Needless to say, I love my glue stick!

Roxanne's Glue Baste-It is what I used, in small dots. I rinsed, and rinsed and rinsed some more in cold to warm water. The dots either didn't come out, or left a stain behind. Maybe I used too much.
Always willing to try something new! I will try the washable gluestick to prep my next block instead of basting stitches (but I can't give up the FP on top.)
BlueBars

Please DO try the glue stick......I only hope you like it as much as I do...and, remember, you're not trying to stick it forever..just a quick couple swipes in the center, just to hold it in place while you're appliquéing the piece on. I have a little kit I made....knitted and fulled it, then added wool applique....and, in it I have my small, sharp scissors, some pins, needles, lt and dk gray thread, marking pencil, chalk marker, a couple piece of template plastic, AND a glue stick....all I need to applique!

I think Freezer Paper was a cool invention. I also think that diversity makes the world go round! I love to see all of the different techniques that people use. So much of what we do is based on personal experience and personal preference.
I was taught to use the freezer paper underneath to get a clean edge and then to cut it away from the back when done. The woman who taught me to do is a very special person to me. I think of her every time I use that method.
K.