Rocket Ship Applique - Accuquilt Go! Baby Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I am now part of the Accuquilt Go! Blogger incentive program.  Accuquilt contacted me, and asked me to both review their new Accuquilt Go! Baby fabric cutter and dies, and  also share some tutorials with my readers.  I very willingly accepted their offer.

I must say when I first heard from them I was thinking "hmmm...do they know that I've only made a couple of quilts in my lifetime".  I soon discovered that the Go! baby is very versatile, and can help streamline any type of sewing or craft related projects, it is NOT just for quilters.

My Go! baby fabric cutter is lightweight, portable, and extremely compact.  I especially love the fact that it is compact.  I have a small sewing area, and I don't have a lot of extra room to store my "toys".  Clark even refers to it as my "small machine".  One of the things that Accuquilt says about their products is that they are easy to use and very friendly to quilters/crafters that suffer from arthritis or other joint pain that prevents them from enjoying their crafts.  The Go! baby really cuts with ease, and Clark likes to help me by turning the handle as we cut out shapes. 

Not only is it easy to use, but it does everything that it says it will do.  I have used it to cut multiple layers of fabric, felt, and even faux leather (projects coming soon).  So as I'm sure you've gathered, I am very much in love with my new Go! baby fabric cutter, and would recommend it to any and all of you. September is the perfect time to start dropping hints about your holiday wish list.

Click on the badge above to get 22 free project patterns, just for subscribing by e-mail.  Even if you don't have one of their cutting machines yet, these projects are sure to provide you with some inspiration.

Now on with the tutorial.  For this Rocket Ship Applique tutorial, I used my Accuquilt Go! Half Square-4" Finished Triangle die.  When I was selecting my dies I knew that this would be a very versatile die.  Have you seen all of the fantastic chevron quilts out there?  If you haven't there are several tutorials done by Accuquilt bloggers that feature this same die.  I wanted to show the versatility of this die, and focus on the fact that you don't have to be a quilter to use this cutting system.

Go! Half Square-4" Finished Triangle

As you can see the die features clipped corners, and features quarter inch seam allowances.  It really takes so much of the work out of cutting.

Keep reading for the full tutorial on this fun and more dimensional rocket ship applique.




What you'll need for this project:

Accuquilt Go! baby fabric cutter
Half Square 4" Finished Triangle die
Rocket Ship Applique Template (for personal use only)-printable version found here
Scraps of fabric in red, green, blue, yellow, and orange
Scrap pieces of thin batting, such as warm and natural
Heat and Bond Iron-On Adhesive

1. Using your Accuquilt Go! baby fabric cutter, cut four half squares of red fabric.  Cut two half squares (triangles) of the batting material. These will form the fins of the rocket ship.

2. Position two half squares with right sides together and one piece of batting on top.  Pin in place along the two shorter sides.  Repeat with remaining half squares.

3. Using 1/4" seam allowances stitch along the short edges of both stacks of fabric. Leave the long sides open. Clip the corner near the stitching line.

4. Turn the half squares right sides out.  Clip the excess material off the open side. Press flat. Pin in place along open end.

5. Stitch 1/8" away from all edges of the rocket ship fins.  If desired you can machine quilt the fins.  I quilted rows 1/4" apart along both short edges of the fins.

6. Apply iron-on adhesive to the back of red, orange, yellow, and blue scraps of fabric according to manufacturers directions.  Leave the paper backing in place.

7.  Cut out each shape of rocket ship template.  Trace all of the small pieces onto the paper backing of iron-on adhesive.  I did not apply iron on adhesive to the back of the green, and instead used a removable marking pen to transfer the shape to the right side of my green material. Using a pair of craft scissors (not your sewing scissors please), cut out small applique pieces.

8. Once your small pieces are cut you can position them onto the main body of your rocket.  Use your iron to adhere them to the rocket body.   You can next use your favorite machine applique stitch to stitch along the interior edges of your rocket detail pieces.  I used a machine blanket stitch, and carefully stitched along both long edges of the blue shape, and the inside edges of the two red shapes.

9.  Cut out the main body of the rocket. Apply iron on adhesive to the back of the rocket body.   Position it on a scrap piece of batting, remove paper backing,  and iron in place.  Using your favorite stitch (a narrow zig zag stitch would work well) stitch around the perimeter of your rocket.  *If you aren't sure which applique stitches your machine has to offer, see your sewing machine manual.

10. Trim near, but not through the stitching lines.  Apply the small yellow shape to the top of the orange flame shape.  Iron in place.  Stitch along the perimeter of the center yellow piece.  I used a triple stretch stitch for this step. * You could apply the orange shape to a piece of batting as well.  I wish I had.  I like the added dimension that it gives to the applique on the pillow.

11. You will next want to position your rocket ship fins onto your front pillow piece. As you can see the two long sides of the triangles face the center, and angle in toward the bottom.

12. Check your fin position by placing the rocket body on top.  If the fins are angled too much, the body will not cover the corners.  Adjust as needed.  Pin in place.

13. Use a reinforcement stitch to stitch along the long edges of the rocket fins.  At this point I also stitched down the rocket ship flame.

14. Next Pin your rocket body in place.

15. Using your reinforcement stitch of choice, triple stretch stitch in my case, stitch around the perimeter of the rocket.


That's it as far as the applique goes.  You've created a fun (more dimensional) rocket ship.  I made a pillow out of minky to go along with Clark's quilt.  If you were making the applique for a shirt or sweatshirt you could always omit the batting from the body of the rocket ship, or stitch down the fins.


Once again, the rocket ship template is here.  You can find basic instructions on constructing a throw pillow here or here. Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm linking here.