Wool Crazy – Making Progress

I have been working on my crazy block on and off for about 2 months and I’ve made a lot of progress. Here is the original foundation I made about 2 months ago. I knew I wanted to feature holidays on my first block, so I picked all kinds of spring, summer, fall colors so that I could display this year-round.

Here is the “rough” layout of my main appliques. Some pieces seemed to naturally fit (like the flag and the snowman), but I was having a hard time figuring out how to place the rest of them. After playing around with these a few days, I decided I needed to switch out some of my foundation colors so the appliques would show up better.

Here is the “refined” layout. I added in some darker backgrounds and settled on the final placement of my main appliques. For the center area, I plan to embroider a big bunch of flowers in the jack-o-lantern and maybe add some bats, candy, etc.

I eventually plan to include some smaller appliques such as chicks and flowers. My plan is to stitch these down, and then go back and start doing all my embellishing. I’m sure that will take some time, but I look forward to it!

Giveaway Winner!!!

Well, by default, Mrs. B is the winner of my blog giveaway! Congratulations to her – I guess she got rid of the other competition :). I’m sure she will enjoy her red, white, and blue fabric and homemade pincushion.

Here’s another little Liberty Rose pincushion that honors the Red Cross. It is complemented by a vintage Red Cross pin. I have some other projects in the works, but it’s been hard to find time to finish them. Hopefully, I can get caught up in the next few weeks.

I’ve Gone Wool Crazy!

Wool Crazy is sweeping the nation! JoAnn Mullaly’s book, Wool Crazy has inspired many mild-mannered people to start cutting up their wool skirts in order to get material for their crazy quilt blocks!

I saw this book a few months ago, and was really impressed with the color and chaos of this quilt. When Sharon of Liberty Rose decided to teach this as a class, I signed up without a second thought. The bonus part of taking a class with Sharon is that you get to go through her wool stash – so I knew I would be able to create the perfect background for my crazy block:

You start off with a 25″ square piece of batting and muslin for a foundation, and then start adding pieces of wool, working from the center out. First, the pieces are pinned onto the foundation, and when all the pieces are laid out, each one is stitched down with a tack stitch (in a neutral thread). This makes it a lot easier when you add the appliques and finish it up with crazy quilt stitches, so you end up with something that will look like this (photo is from JoAnn’s original quilt):

The theme for my first block is going to be holidays, which is one reason why I selected so many different types of colors. The background needed to compliment holidays of all seasons (not just fall and winter). It took about 4 hours for me to place the wool pieces (this includes the time I spent digging through Sharon’s stash), and then another 4 hours to stitch the pieces down. Now that the hard part is over, the fun will begin. There are already have plans to make at least one more block (and possibly 3 more so I can have a quilt). Pictures will be posted each month of my project – so be sure to check back!

Snowman Family

Sharon Stewart of Liberty Rose scores again with another great pattern! I took a class from her to make these adorable snowmen! The original plan was to make three snowman with a top hat, but while I was in class I suggested we also create a Mama and a Little Boy snowman. Sharon whipped up some new ideas on the spot for the ladies’ red hat and the child’s ear muffs. I am very pleased with my snowman family! Now if there were only a way to create a pet dog snowman….

These will make great gifts and are so easy to make. I will probably make more with some different faces and hats. Christmas is only 6 months away, so it’s time to start planning!

Tomato Needlekeep

Here’s a cute little needlekeep that goes with all the tomato pin cushions I made. Sharon at Liberty Rose strikes again with another fun class! This is hand-stitched out of wool, and only took a couple hours. I added the small tomato pin cushion on the end – I always like to add my own thing to a project :). This is small enough to throw in your purse, along with a few skeins of floss and an embroidery project.

Chicks and Thread

Here’s another super cute Liberty Rose pattern I just finished. It’s great because is combines two of my favorite things – Spring and sewing! I took a class with Sharon Stewart and some other ladies and we had too much fun making these.

Sharon called the class “Chicks and Pussy Willows”, but many of us commented on how the last word in the name was cut off on Sharon’s website and also on our calendars. My husband saw the name of the class and wondered if I was really going to a sewing class. Sharon kept trying to calm us down when we would start laughing, but we couldn’t contain ourselves when Sharon started talking about how you can use a dab of glue on the “willows” to make them sticky, but you didn’t want to make them hard and stiff. Anyway, we made it through the class and I am very happy with the results!

Spring is Here!

Yesterday, it finally started to feel like Spring. The Winter has been lingering on way to long around here it’s nice to finally get to spend some time outside in warmer weather! For those of you who are up North, you probably think we are pretty wimpy down here because we complain when it gets below 40. But this has been a harsh winter for us – it snowed three times this year!!

In celebration of Spring, I make a basket of colorful peeps. The pattern is from Liberty Rose, and it was originally larger. I scaled it down to about 65% on the copy machine to make these small peeps (I got the idea for doing this from Sharon of Liberty Rose). They are so cute, but now my son wants me to make him a blue one too! Kids are never satisfied are they??

I also finished up this Wool Penny Mat that I started 2 years ago. It’s nice to finish up some project so I can start on new ones!

Simplify

Isn’t this the cutest crow? This is a Buttermilk Basin pattern that I stitched up as a wool applique. I love the pear and the word “Simplify” – I think that’s good advice to keep in mind. Simplifying is easier said than done ;).

Finished Projects!

It’s been a busy few weeks, but I did manage to get two projects completed. The first one is a wool hootie owl from “Falloween Threads” by Need’l Love. This guy stitched up pretty quickly, but he did take a bit of brown wool for the body, wings, and ears:

He was so cute, I am making another one out of a dark brown plaid. I’ll post a picture when he is finished! I am trying to think of some fun way to embellish him for fall or Halloween – any ideas are welcome!

The other thing I finished was a hand-pieced wall hanging that I started at the beginning of the summer:

I took a hand-piecing class from Corrine Kerns at Plain and Simple Quilt Shop and fell in love with this method. This is definitely something that is very portable, and good to do if you don’t have access to a sewing machine. I plan to hand-quilt it this winter. This project also inspired me to embark on a larger hand-piecing project – details to come later.

That’s all for now. I am trying to finish some other UFO’s before the end of the summer, only two more weeks to go!

Christmas and Halloween In July

My favorite holidays are 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas (who doesn’t love Christmas?), and some of my favorite projects reflect these holidays. I have a 4th of July Table Runner that I almost completed in time this year, but my sewing machine broke in the middle of quilting it, so I will have to finish it in a few weeks. At least it will be ready next year!

I just finished a Halloween Penny Rug that I started last year, and am excited to show it off here:

Halloween Penny Rug

It is all stitched by hand with scraps of wool. The pattern is by Sharon Stewart of Liberty Rose (check out her blog!)

I made this adorable Snowman Pillow from another Liberty Rose Pattern:

It is all hand-stitched in wool. I added black piping to the edge of the pillow which really makes the snowman pop! Also, I ironed fusible fleece onto the front and back of the pillow faces before I stitched them together. This makes a more durable pillow that stands up nicely so you can see the snowman.