A Good Night

I finally quilted the Santa quilt I made a number of months ago and made a second one.  I did not do a good job of pinning them so they hang straight on the design wall.  One is a bit larger than the other as I cut the outside border pieces a bit wider.  And the applique designs are in reverse.  Didn't mean to do that but it turned out okay.  The pattern used is "A Good Night" and is by Cheri.  The applique is wool on cotton.

I also finished the snowman ornament I showed you in this post.  We have house guests for two weeks.  I have prepped one of the snowman ornaments for my friend to stitch and she has a start on it and building her confidence that yes she can do some basic embroidery.  I used a piece of cotton batting inside the snowman but you could just as easily add light stuffing and make him a bit plump.

I hope that if you celebrate Thanksgiving, it is a good one.

Karen

Slow Sunday Stitching

My Slow Sunday Stitching will be the handwork on another sheep blanket.  This one is for April.

And for those have asked what a sheep blanket is, I made the sheep and have the January blanket displayed on it for the photo.

I am not sure I like the sheep all that well.  I can display the wool mats on a small table if I choose to.  Or I thought of using magnetic strips and attaching them to something metal such as a fridge.  I have seen decorating shows where they use magnetized paint on a surface.  That sounds interesting too.

I am linking to Kathy's Sunday Slow Stitching.  Pay her blog a visit and see what other's are doing.

Karen

Pumpkin Seed Mat

The Pumpkin Seed shown in my previous post is now done.  It is approximately ten inches square.

I used a brushed flannel plaid for the backing.

To give you an idea of the process, I took some pictures.  I mentioned in my previous post that I obtained the seed shape from the Electric Quilt program but there are online images that you can find if you do a search.  The larger the seed, the more black you will see.  I traced the seed shape to Heat 'n Bond Lite, rough cut them outside the drawn line.  Then fused them to scrap pieces of wool.  I then cut on the line.  Once I had quite a few seeds ready, I began laying them out on black wool. Point to point.  I was not sure how large of a mat I wanted so I worked on a big piece of wool and then trimmed it down leaving some of the black wool extending beyond the outer edge of the seeds.  I fused the seeds down using an iron.  You could use any method of preparation that you normally prep your wool applique shapes.  I happen to like this method.

I used two strands of black embroidery floss and an overcast stitch but left the outer edge of the mat unstitched at this point.  I adhered the fusible to a piece of brushed cotton plaid that was a bit larger than I needed.  This was then fused to the back of the black wool.

I trimmed the curved outer edges with sharp scissors before doing a button hole stitch with the black floss.  I was able to hide my knots between the layers of wool.

I am including a drawing of my pumpkin seed template.  I have never added a template to my blog post before so I don't know how this is going to work.

I can see making a larger size mat with only one round of the seeds around the outside edge and a blank inner space for some kind of wool applique.  Maybe done in spring colors with a rabbit.  If you make one of these wool mats, I would love to see a picture of it.

Karen

Scrappy Wool Pumpkin Seeds

Today I am linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching and working on a scrappy wool mat.

I have a big bag of small bits of wool that are left overs from projects.  I often search through the scraps when I need a single small piece of something for wool applique.  It was during one of these searches that I decided to use some for a pumpkin seed design.  I found the shape in the Electric Quilt program under stencils/curves and printed it out small.  If you go larger, more black will show. You could also do an image search on Google for the pumpkin seed quilt design.   After I had a bunch cut out, I rough cut a piece of black wool about the size I thought I might want the end product to be.  I have Heat 'n Bond Lite on the back of the shapes but you could use your favorite method for prepping the wool pieces.  I just started laying out the pieces matching points to points.  I worked on a pressing mat so I could apply heat from the iron without having to move anything.  I plan on leaving the outer side of the seeds un-stitched until all the other pieces are attached.  I will then add a backing and trim the edges of the black to match the curve of the seeds.  I will stitch the outer edge at that time.

I found that I liked the look of medium and dark values on the black wool background.  Not too dark, though, as I wanted to be able to distinguish the shapes of the seeds well.  I will save the lighter seeds I cut out for future use.  I did not cut many of those but I think on a white wool background, they would make a nice mat for spring display.

Be sure to pay Kathy a visit today and follow the links to what others are working on.  Her blog post today is an interesting read.

Karen

Mistletoe and Holly Wool Mat

The Winter 2014 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects is full of good designs.  I selected one of them to make a wool mat.  The pattern is by Jan Speed of A Piece of Work.  The mat is about 10" x 19" so not too big or too small.

I used part of a khaki wool army blanket for the backing.  The color worked well with the other green wool pieces I had in stash.  This design could be used for the Christmas holiday season but I think it is one that could be out all winter long.

Back to playing in the sewing room.
Karen

Slow Sunday Stitching

I am going to be doing some slow stitching today so I am linking with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.
I have finished a small table topper called "Snowman Garland".  Mary from Quilt Hollow gifted me the pattern which also comes with the snowman head buttons.  The pattern is by Red Button Quilt Company.  The pattern also had a loose red button in with it.  I am assuming the designer adds those in since it fits the name of her design company.  Cute idea.

The snowman heads add a whimsical look to the garland.  This measures about 16 inches square.  Easy to piece once the embroidery is done.  I did not follow the pattern instructions to piece the top and then do the embroidery.  Instead, I sectioned off the amount of space each garland strip required using a Frixion pen.  I allowed for extra space between the sections so that any shrinking of the sections with the embroidery done would still allow me ample seam allowance.  Once the embroidery was done, I cut out the strips and then pieced the top.

Next, I will be working on a snowman ornament.  The stitchery design is by The Talking Crow.  The designer's patterns are found on Etsy.  There are many to select from.

I plan on doing the nose, moon, and star with fused fabric.  Embroidery for the rest.

Enjoy your Sunday.
Karen