Working with Wool... Yes! Wool!

I am in awe with some of my friends wool work. Their even blanket stitches, all hand done... well, I decided to give it a try, using one of my patterns. I have been secretly collecting wool squares here and there as I visit different shops over the last year. Well, I think I have enough now to start my project. Using my friends new book, Just A Little Something, as a reference I tackled my project. (Roseann's stitches are so beautiful!) So I gathered my Christmas Delivery pattern, some wool, pins, pearl cotton, freezer paper, pencil and my Primo Plaid flannel from Marcus Fabrics. Using Roseann's book as a how to quide, I traced all my pieces onto my freezer paper. Then I ironed on the freezer paper onto the different colors of wool and cut my shapes out for my Christmas Delivery design.

Here I have all my pieces cut out.

I placed them on a 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" square of flannel.

All ready to stitch away!

I like to stitch a blanket stitch. I'm using a variegated pearl cotton from Valdini Threads.

This is my first attempt at wool applique. My stitches are a little wonky but I think it adds to the charm of the design. I added a couple of star and snowflake buttons.

I then added a patchwork square border all the way around the design.

I do enjoy doing handwork in front of the TV as many of you know. This was a fun project to work on but my ol' eyes needed really good light while working with these darker colors. It was a great car project to work on when I went on the Girls' Trip with my sisters! Stitching in the car really made the miles go by quickly. My sister's kept asking what I was going to do with my square. I couldn't really decide between a pillow or mini quilt. It wasn't until I made it home and added the borders that I decided it would make a really cute mini quilt! To make this cute mini quilt you need a 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" background square, 24-  2 1/2" squares for the pieced border, batting and backing and 2-  2 1/2" strips for the binding. Of coarse you will need wool pieces for the Christmas Delivery design and brown pearl cotton to stitch with.

I'm in love with how it turned out with the quilting. Working on this project made me pretty excited about all of the possibilities working with wool and using my designs. So next time you work with one of my applique designs, think outside the box and stitch it in wool. 

Happy quilting,

Cindy