Woodland Friends

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving... I am going to smoke a turkey which I have never done before. My son brought home a 13 pound turkey that a co-worker raised on his hobby farm. I'm praying to the smoking gods that I do a good job on cooking this turkey. I've got the big ol' bird brining in the fridge in an apple cider herb mixture. (shhhhh, I have a backup turkey breast that I will be roasting in the oven too, there's never enough leftovers!)  Friday is the official start of the silly season and I'm planning a fun weekend with my mom and sisters. There'll be a downsized version of black Friday shopping and the holiday baking will begin on Saturday with our annual cookie day. I'm looking forward to visiting with all my sisters and seeing my nieces and nephews. Today I want to share with you a new fusible applique design that is perfect for the holidays and can be left out all winter long. This design features a snowman and a woodland deer. 

I made a 'tea towel' using some pretty blue plaid shirting. I like using my applique towels to tuck in baskets and draped over cabinet doors showing the design. I thought this blue fabric from Marcus Fabrics would be the perfect background for my design. 

The pattern can be found in my Etsy shop and also on the Quilt Doodle Designs website. Print the pattern up. When you print up PDF patterns make sure you are printing 'actual size' or at 100 percent, otherwise your printer may be shrinking your design down to fit within you preset margins.

I am using my new fabric line, Season Sampler from Marcus Fabrics for this design.

Trace the design elements onto the fusible web. I like to save all my scrap pieces of fusible web in a zip lock bag to use when I have smaller pieces to trace. I also love using mechanical pencils for my tracing. I have a pencil can full of them near my sewing machine.

Then pair up the shapes with with fabric... iron onto the back or wrong side of your fabric following the manufacturers directions.

Cut the shapes out, I like to use my applique scissors for this.

Following the manufacturers directions, iron the design in place. Some of the pieces will overlap to create the design.

Stitch around all the raw edges. I used white thread for around the snowman's body and dark brown thread around everything else.

Using black (or dark brown) pearl cotton, stitch the snowman's eyes and mouth with French knots. I used a pencil to lightly mark where the French knots will be stitched.

~ Woodland Friends ~

I hope that you enjoy this sweet design. I would be cute on a table runner or an apron. It would also be adorable made into a pot holder or pillow too! The PDF pattern can be found in the Etsy Shop and also on the Quilt Doodle Website.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving of fun with your family and friends.

Happy quilting,

Cindy