Harvest Basket: Our Wool Appliqué Methods

It's finally time to reveal our block for the Woolen Oak Mystery Stitch-A-Long! It has been SO hard to keep our Harvest Basket block a secret. We hope you enjoy making it as much as we did! To download your free pattern, click here. Just add the free download to your cart, be sure to add the promo code FREE when you go to the checkout, and the price will revert to zero. Best way to shop!

In honor of our Woolen Oak Block reveal, we thought it might be nice to show you how we prepare our wool for appliqué. Both of us use a variety of methods based on a few variables—the size of the piece, the type of wool, and truthfully, our mood for that day might dictate which method we use. Sometimes we use the same process, but most often we stick to the method that works best for each of us. I (Kara) like to use freezer paper for my templates and for many projects, I will use fusible. Teri goes about her prep a little differently, so today we thought would each show you our favorite methods. 

Kara

I start out with my template page, a glue stick and a piece of freezer paper.

I apply glue to the back of all the template pieces (or the whole sheet of paper).

Next I place the template sheet on the matte side of the freezer paper.

Then I cut out a chunk of the templates, so I am working with a smaller piece,

and then cut out the individual pieces.

Cut out and ready to iron onto the wool.

An easier to manage chunk.

 

If I am using fusible, I make sure that my wool has the fusible already applied with the paper still on. Then I iron on my freezer paper template to the wool.

After the template is ironed, I cut out each shape.

Once I have used my templates, I keep them in a bag and then I am able to use them again, or if I need to change out a color, I just pull that template out.

This is just one way of preparing wool for appliqué. I like using this method because I always have the templates available to use whether I choose to use fusible or not. If I am not using fusible, I will staple my pieces to my background. I am not a very good tracer, so I tend to stay away from tracing and my brain doesn't like to reverse images accurately, so this method works well for me. I keep the template bag in with my pattern, in case I decide to make the project again. It is not necessarily the fastest method, but it is important to find the method that works best for you and your brain!

Teri

While Kara has the tidier brain, mine tends to want to find the way that offers me more efficiency. (Translation: I am "lazier" and don't like to go back and forth to my ironing board if I can avoid it.) There are certainly times that I find Kara's method to be the best, but for the most part, I have a much closer relationship with my stapler than my iron. (Again, it is more portable, so I can stay in my living room chair.) It may also have to do with the fact that my hand hurts more if I am cutting through multiple layers of paper. I can find excuses for anything... 

The Harvest Basket block involved several elements that required a different kind of attention, so I used several methods. Most of the time, I do not use fusible; I staple the units onto my block. For this block, the two sections I knew that I would fuse were the basket (video to follow) and the grapes, since there were so many of them and they were small. So I ironed the fusible to the back of the brown for the basket and the purple for the grapes. The rest of the pieces, I left naked. This is how I approached prepping the block for appliqué. 

First, I cut out one of each unique template. For this block, I cut out all the smaller basket templates, and then realized I really only needed to cut one, as they were all the same, so for the longer templates, I cut one and reused it.

  

I bend the staple as pictured below, which makes it pretty easy to remove. I can then restaple the template onto the wool to cut another identical unit, if needed.

The grapes were a bit different. Since there were so many of them, I thought I would use Kara's method, as stapling might have been more challenging. So I glued the templates to freezer paper and was ready to start cutting. Then I noticed that there were only two sizes of grapes, so rather than cut all the templates, iron them on, and cut the grapes, I just cut one of each size and traced the required number of each sized grape onto the back of the fusible. Cutting was then easier on my hand. Having glued the template onto freezer paper did give me a stronger template for tracing.

For the rest of the templates, I stapled them onto the wool, cut out the units, and reused the template when needed. You can see the multiple staple marks on the templates in the picture below.

For the yellow flowers, I cut the template first to ensure better accuracy, since the petals were small. But I often just staple as below and cut only once. I have a designated pair of sharp scissors that I use when I'm cutting through paper as well. I was so excited about stitching my Harvest Basket block that I neglected to stop and take pictures for you, so here is an example from our Hopeful Bluebird. 

I also keep all of my templates in a bag with the pattern, in case I want to make the block again. I include the pieces I haven't used, in case one wears out from too many staplings. I haven't had that happen often, though.

Appliquéing the Block

For this block, Kara fused everything down before appliquéing. I (Teri) fused the basket and the grapes, but I stapled the rest of the pieces in place and then appliquéd. If there are layers, I staple and appliqué the bottom layer, like the pumpkin first, and then staple the leaves in place. We both use an appliqué stitch with matching thread or one strand of matching floss to appliqué our pieces in place, as typically, we want the focus of our stitching to be on the embroidered embellishments. 

The staple holds the pieces in place while appliquéing, and does not catch the thread as a pin would. They are easy to remove and leave no marks on the fabric.

No evidence of the staples

In some situations, if we have a more loosely woven wool, we might use a blanket stitch with matching floss to help to smooth the edges a bit. The green for the leaves was the only wool we used which was not hand-dyed, so we blanket-stitched it to give it a cleaner edge. We wanted the focus to be on the embroidered veins, so you can't really see the blanket stitch, as it melts into the matching wool.

The most unique aspect of the appliqué on this block is the basket. Since many baskets are woven, it gave us an opportunity to weave some wool. Kara made a video to demonstrate how she created the basket. We hope you enjoy it!

Be sure to watch out for videos throughout the week on our Facebook page, giving tips about the Harvest Basket block. If you haven't joined Woolen Oak Mystery Stitch-A-Long group on Facebook, you're missing out on a lot of inspiration and fun! 

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"Potts" of Flowers

As I (Kara) sit here at my computer typing this post, I am basking in the spring sunshine, enjoying the sounds of the birds, when the sound of an Accuweather bulletin breaks my peaceful mood with a frost warning! At least it isn't snow this time, but spring has taken her sweet time in arriving—not just here in Maryland, but across the country.

Photo Credit: Only in Your State

Though spring has been delayed, there are signs that she is on her way. My tulips, daffodils, and carefully cultivated dandelions are showing themselves, and the flowering trees around here have been beautiful.

While we have been waiting for warmer temperatures, the Baltimore Appliqué Society has been helping us with thoughts of spring flowers through the Margaret Potts Quilt. This quilt was made by Margaret Potts and her family, friends, and neighbors from 1851-1858. It was given to her son, Ellis P. Miller, who recorded all the quiltmakers' names and their relationship to the family. The 85 appliquéd blocks are made of cotton fabrics with cotton and wool embroidery and are charming in their simplicity. The quilt was donated by Priscilla Hart Miller and currently resides in the Winterthur museum where it will be treasured as an important part of women's history. The BAS was given permission by Priscilla to create the patterns and share them with quilters everywhere. Mary Lou McDonald, Margo Cramer, and Eleanor Layman did an exceptional job of creating these patterns.

The Margaret Potts Quilt Pattern

As a way to help BAS members who don't live in the Baltimore area feel connected, the BAS is doing a Block of the Month for its members, featuring the Potts quilt. Each month, a new block is showcased with the pattern, a picture from the original quilt, and a color chart. You can join the BAS here if you would like to stitch along with everyone, or you can purchase the pattern here.

Teri and I were asked to teach an embroidery workshop for the BAS members, and as we were throwing around some ideas about how to structure it, Teri came up with the idea of embellishing a Potts block with embroidery. The simplicity of the blocks lends itself to embroidery, so we picked the December block and started to work on our sample. I did the first sample, so we would have some advertisement for the workshop in March.

Teri did the same stitches for her sample with just a few variations in placement and thread color. We chose to use a fused appliqué method since we would be making kits for the workshop, and all the pieces would be anchored with the buttonhole stitch.










Since I had already finished my sample, I thought I would do another block since the first one went together so quickly. I chose to do the February block and used a bit of silk ribbon embroidery for the flower centers and a piece of French ombré ribbon for the bud. This second block allowed us to show how versatile these blocks can be with regard to embellishment.

We had 24 ladies for the workshop, and it went so well that we forgot to take pictures! We learned various embroidery stitches and even played with the ribbon stitch as part of the acorn cap.

When I first saw the Potts pattern for sale a couple of years ago, I thought it was pretty, but I chose then not to purchase it. Now that I've done two of the blocks, I've not only purchased the pattern (currently on sale for 50% off), but am hoping to work my way through all the blocks. In fact, I've just started the February block in batiks.







Fused appliqué or needle-turn, I think you will find that these blocks are mildly addicting. Other stitchers around the country have caught on to the Potts block attraction. Fellow BAS member, Nanette Chopin Cook, has started a few blocks and tells about them on her blog, Chopin—A Passionate Quilter.

If you would like to see the quilt in person, you can visit the Winterthur Museum in Winterthur, Delaware. If you can't visit in person, check out these blogs for more pictures and details of their visits to the museum: Jacquelynne Steves, The Art of Home and What a Load of Scrap.

When we were stitching on these blocks, they provided us with thoughts of the spring flowers to come. Now as I stitch on my latest Potts block, I can look out my window and actually see those spring flowers. Hopefully, we have inspired you to take a closer look at this lovely quilt and to maybe begin stitching one for yourself!