Are all your fabrics fused? Have you transferred the pattern shapes and cut them out using the Miracle of Pattern Transfer?

Good! now we can move on to putting your parts together for the Home, Sweet Home project. This is also known as the fun part. 

(Note that directions are first given here on the Artfabrik blog and then added to the Home, Sweet Home Tutorial page as we go.)

Step #8

• Center the sky onto the background fabrics about 2″ down from the top edge.

• Cover the sky with parchment paper or silicone release paper and fuse-tack into place.
• Remember fuse-tacking is exposing the fusible web to a short amount of heat, 5 seconds, from the iron (set at the cotton setting).

Step #9

• Place the house on the lower edge of the sky about 1″ in from the left edge.
• Place the roof on the top of the house and overlap the house shape about 1/8″.
• Place the door on the bottom edge of the house about 1/4″ in from the right edge. 
• Cover the sky and house with paper and fuse-tack into place.

Step #10

• Trim 1/4″ from the long edge of the grass fabric using a pinking blade or pinking shears. 
• Center the grass shape with the pinked side up about 1/4″ over the lower edge of the sky.
• Free cut 4 windows measuring about 1/2″ x 3/4″. Place the windows vertically on the house.
• Free cut a dot measuring about 1/2″ across. Place the dot on the peak of the house. 
• Cover the house and grass with paper and fuse-tack into place.

Step #11

• Place the tree top onto the sky. Cover with paper and fuse-tack into place.
• Clean your iron if necessary. For this next step you can not use paper to cover the fabric. See: How to Clean an Iron
• Cut the tree trunk fabric on the bias to form 2 triangles. (Note: a bias cut fabric is cut at a 45 degree angle from the grain of the fabric or from corner to corner on a square piece of fabric to form 2 triangles.)
• Cut 1 strip measuring about 1/8″ wide and tapering to 1/ 2″ wide by 5″ long from the long or bias side of one of the triangles. Snip the 1/ 2″ wide end of the tree trunk into a curve.
• Fuse the tree trunk from the tree top to the grass by curving the trunk with one hand while fusing with the other.

Step #12

• Center the leaves on the lower point of the grass.
• Cut 6 triangles measuring about 1/2″ across by 1″ long to make the flowers.
• Place the flowers between the leaves. Cover the leaves and flowers with paper and fuse-tack into place.

In today’s lesson we are making the background or foundation layer for the Home, Sweet Home design.

And you’ll learn about the miracle of pattern transfer to a fused fabric. How exciting! 

• Trim 1/4″ from the long edge of the bottom background fabric.
• Use a pinking blade in your rotary cutter or pinking shears. (See: How to Load Decorative Blades onto Your Rotary Cutter.)
• If you don’t have a decorative cutter, just make sure the edge is trimmed neatly without any fraying of the fabric.

• Place parchment paper or silicone release paper on the ironing board. The paper should measure about 13″ x 13″ or larger. You can overlap sheets of paper to make the 13″ square. It’s important to have the paper underneath the fabrics before fusing or the fabric will fused or glue to your ironing board.
• You can also use a Teflon ironing sheet as seen in this photo.
• Place the top background fabric horizontally on the paper.
• Overlap the pinked edge of the bottom background fabric 1/4″ onto the bottom edge of the top background fabric.

• Cover the fabrics with another piece of silicone release paper and fuse-tack into place with a hot dry iron. Cover the fabric to keep it clean. Irons are filthy things.
• This is important: Remember, fusible web is a heat activated glue. Too much heat applied repeatedly for too long burns the glue into the fabric. Over-fusing changes the fabric color, makes the fabric stiff, makes it difficult to stitch, and the fabric will no long adhere to other fabrics.
• Fuse-tacking or exposing the glue to only 5 seconds of heat at a time is best. Once the composition is complete you will steam set the fabric to batting for 10 seconds bonding everything into place.

Thank you all for joining me in making this little fused art quilt from start to finish. Soon you will earn your coveted diploma from the Chicago School of Fusing!

Step #2 Fusing the Fabric

• If you’ve purchased a pre-fused fabric kit please skip to Step #3.
• Cut the fusible web slightly smaller than the fabric. Suggested fusible webs are: Pellon Wonder Under paper backed #805, Soft Fuse, or Misty Fuse (used with parchment paper). Please note that some other brands of fusible web are tacky and will be difficult to hand embroider.
• Place the fabric on the ironing surface then put the rough side or glue side of the paper on top. (If using Misty Fuse, place the web on the fabric and cover the web with parchment paper.)
• Transfer the fusible web to the fabric using a hot (cotton setting), dry iron.
• Glide the iron across the paper from edge to edge for about 5 seconds in each spot. Go to the edge and beyond!
• Note that fabric that bubbles or ripples when fused will flatten out when the paper is peeled off.
• If the web separates from the paper, place the web on the fabric with release paper on top and fuse.

Step #3 Silicone Release Paper

• Let the fabric and web cool 5- 20 minutes before removing the paper. The fused fabric should feel dry, not tacky.
• Before removing the paper, separate the fabric from the paper at one corner. Then trim the non-fused fabric off by following the paper’s edge. Peel the paper off without ripping it. Save the paper.
• The paper you’ve just removed is called silicone release paper. It has a silicone coating and can be used to: 1. assemble fused collages and compositions, 2. build design elements as a unit, 3. store fused fabric scraps, 4. place on top of compositions to protect them from dirty irons and, 5. transfer shapes to fused fabrics.
• Parchment (or baking) paper is similar to release paper and can be used in place of release paper. Test the paper first by ironing a piece of fused fabric to it. The fabric should easily release or come off the paper.
• Either side of silicone release paper or most parchment papers is usable for fusing. Please note, however, that on some versions of fusible web only the “shiny” side of the paper is usable as release paper.
• Both parchment paper and release paper can be used for assembling quilt tops, fused collages, storing fused scraps, protecting the ironing board, and pattern transfer.
• Peel the paper off the fused fabric before cutting shapes. Paper dulls scissors and cutting blades. Also fabric edges may fray if paper is peeled off a cut shape.