"Gnome-shave" November (or How to Attach a Beard)

Instead of "No-shave November," over here it is "Gnome-shave November," as our gentleman gnome has a fun and curly beard! We have used curly wool to give some great texture to our gnome's beard, and the curly wool is available as part of the embellishments in our wool kit. While it might look complicated, we have broken the process down for you in a series of pictures.

 

Use just a small amount of curly wool—it doesn't take much.

Roll it around in your hands until you have a small, slightly compacted ball of wool. 

Pull apart the ball of wool to fit your beard shape.

Stick a few pins in the wool, then thread your needle with matching thread and start stitching at the top of the beard. 

With small tack stitches, couch the wool down working your way around the face.

Down one side of the beard...

...until you get back to where you started.

Your beard will look very fluffy and somewhat out of control. 

In order to tame that beard, take small tack stitches within the beard to tidy up the fluff. As you are taking those stitches, you can tack down any stray fibers and bring them under control. You will use a lot of tack stitches.

So that is how we attached the wool for our gentleman gnome's beard. If you don't have curly wool, wool roving would work, or just use the plain cream wool and add some stitching within it with wool thread.

Have fun with it!

Flora and Fauna

Almost 5 years ago, we started a project called Flora and Fauna of Germany. I (Kara) can't believe it has been that long! We began the project as a way to use up our scraps of wool and cotton with simple blocks inspired by the flora and fauna I would see on my walks in Germany with our two hounds. We released 16 blocks over the course of the next two years—one in cotton and one in wool—and loved being able to have the opportunity to bring nature to life with interesting threads, fabrics, and stitches. Once the project was finished, I put together the cotton blocks in a quilt with inked labels and hand-quilted it.

Meanwhile, the wool blocks were sitting on a shelf waiting to be assembled. A thought occurred to us that maybe we could add more blocks to create a larger quilt, and that is how our most recent pattern came about. 

Flora and Fauna is a 30-block quilt, made up of the original 16 blocks and 14 brand new blocks. We have also added an apple blossom border to finish the quilt. Whether it is a butterfly or a bloom, you will be able to stitch all sorts of things found in the forest or on a garden path. 

The pattern contains directions and templates for all thirty 6-inch (finished) blocks and the borders, as well as assembly directions. Embroidery directions and suggestions for thread selection are also included. This project is a perfect way to use up some of those small scraps of wool that we always save, as well as a way to try out some of those beautiful threads that we purchased just because they were pretty. The blocks can be put together quickly and before you know it you will have a lovely quilt.

Since it has been a while since we have had a Hopeful Stitchers project, we knew that Flora and Fauna would be just the thing for our Facebook group. The members of our Hopeful Stitchers group will be able to download the selected 5 patterns for free and have exclusive access to the discounted full pattern.

Each Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, we will offer one or two of the blocks digitally as a free pattern—only in our Hopeful Stitchers Facebook group. The pattern for the full quilt will be available for purchase on Thursday, July 21, in our web store. Group members will have access to a special discounted price for 2 days only: Thursday, July 21 and Friday July 22. What a deal—30 patterns plus assembly instructions, all for about a dollar a pattern or less! If you are a member of our Hopeful Stitchers group, you will receive five patterns free. (You must join the Facebook group to get the free patterns and the coupon code for the reduced price.)

The first free pattern is the Wild Strawberry Block

This block is brought to life with just a few simple stitches and a little bit of ribbon. The PDF of the pattern will be over in the Facebook group. If you haven't joined our Hopeful Stitchers Facebook group, you can do so by clicking on the link below. (Blocks will finish at 6")

We hope you love this quilt as much as we do, and as always, please post your progress on our Facebook group page as you complete these little wooly blocks inspired by the great outdoors!

Hopeful Stitchers Facebook Group

What's Stitching?

Over the course of the last two weeks, Teri shared about the first installment of our Village Wanderings project that she taught at the Academy of Appliqué. Much to my dismay, I (Kara) was unable to make the trip to the Academy this year, due to travel restrictions here in Europe. We did a little stitching session via video, but it wasn't quite the same. Although the lockdown is quite restrictive here in Germany, I have been keeping the stitching home fires burning for future projects, and today, I thought I would share some little picture hints of what I have been stitching. 

Maybe you can guess what we have in store!

  

We love the look of hand quilting, but it does take a lot of time. My plan for our Fraktur quilt is to chip away at it a little bit at a time...

...but the pinwheels are never ending!

Another thing that is keeping us busy, is turning some of our past Academy projects into patterns and kits that will be available on our website. One of the blocks, Oiseau et Panier, needs to be taken from a lowly block into a quilted beauty before we can pattern her for the website.

These hands have not been idle for sure, but I have a slight sense of urgency to get these projects finished before the movers come to take all my stitching stuff and put it on a boat with the rest of our belongings. It is hard to believe, but in less than 2 months, we will be heading back stateside. In the meantime, I will be stitching feverishly, so that when I get back, we can share full pictures of our exciting new projects!

What's stitching at your house?

Hopeful Flowers Week 4

It has been nice focusing on flowers while many of us have had nothing but cold, snowy weather. Here in Germany, we are experiencing a bit of spring weather, and the snowdrops and crocuses are starting to show their faces. I (Kara) can't believe we are on our last flower in this stitch along!

This week's block is one of my favorites—mainly because it has the cast-on stitch as the center focal point. The cast-on stitch can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you can do so many things with it. It is a cousin to the bullion stitch and is often used in Brazilian embroidery. The leaves in this block are also a favorite, because we have taken a basic stitch and amped it up by using two colors and two different types of thread. So without further ado, let's get started!

Block 4: Rose Flower

As in the previous blocks, we marked our stems using a light box or window and then hooped our block when doing the stitches for the stems.

Stitches used:

Cast-on, Hungarian braided chain, fly, and stem stitch

The cast-on stitch is, as I said, similar to the bullion stitch. It is helpful to use a milliners needle for this stitch, as the eye has the same width as the shaft of the needle, allowing for the wraps to pass the eye more easily. 

We will set the groundwork for our cast-on stitches by surrounding the center with blanket stitches in varying lengths forming an arc for each petal as shown below.

If you are a knitter, then the "cast-on" action might not be a problem for you. It is probably a little hard to show in pictures, so take a look at the videos we have linked for this stitch as well. 

Come up on a small blanket stitch.

Bring your needle down on the other small
blanket stitch and
back out where you came up.

I hold my needle straight up and take my
working thread and make my first loop/wrap.

The working thread needs to be underneath 
the loop.

Make enough wraps to curve over the blanket stitch arc.
Each stitch on the large flower has 25 wraps, 20 for the medium, 
and 16 for the small. That may vary depending on what thread you use.

Here you can see the "ridges" that form from the wraps.

When you have all your wraps on your needle, hold on to the wraps and pull the needle through.

Lay your wraps over the arc. You will need to bring your needle
underneath the wraps as shown so that the stitch lays flat
and that the ridges are on top.

Bring the needle down in the same spot that you came out before.

We are going to anchor our cast-on stitch
by coming up underneath it at the top
of our longest blanket stitch.

Bring your needle down in the cast-on stitch
just below the ridge.

The finished cast-on stitch.

Here is a little video to show how I do the cast-on stitch. (Please excuse my horrible winter hands!)

The Hungarian braided chain is similar to the heavy chain stitch but has a completely different look. This is a great go-to for a nice thick stem.

As we did in the heavy chain stitch, make 
a small stitch at the top of the line, and
then back up on the line below the stitch.

 Bring the back of your needle through 
the stitch.

Come back up a little below the stitch again.

Your first stitch should look like this.

Bring your needle to the back leaving
two loops on either side of the chain 
as shown.

Bring the back of your needle through
the little stitch at the top, but don't pull it
all the way through.

Bring the needle up on the line below the stitch.

Bring the back of the needle under the inner chain and
over the outer chain.

Pull the working thread snugly against the needle.

Bring the needle through leaving a loop on the right.

Complete the chain and leave a loop on the left.

Come up below the stitches on the line.

Bring the back of the needle under the inner chain and over the outer chain.

Pull the working thread snugly against the needle.
Continue on down the stem repeating the same steps.

The stitches on the leaves are very simple. We used a #8 pearl to make fly stitches down the center of the leaf and took the arms of the fly to the outside of the leaf. Then we took two strands of floss in a darker color and did fly stitches in between the previous ones.

To get your free download, follow these instructions:

1. Click on the link below that says Hopeful Flowers Block 4.

2. You will be directed to our What's Happening Page. It may ask you if you would like to go to that page, and if so, click the link provided.

3. Scroll down until you see the Hopeful Flowers wallhanging.

4. Follow the directions there for downloading your free pattern.

And just like that we have finished covering all four blocks! We hope you have enjoyed learning some unique new stitches. Embroidery can add so much to our wool and cotton appliqué—we really feel that it brings it to life. Do you have a favorite stitch from our four blocks? 

Next week we will wrap this project up and share how we completed our wallhanging, so stay tuned, and happy stitching!

Links:

Hopeful Flowers Block 4

Hopeful Flowers Block 3

Hopeful Flowers Block 2

Hopeful Flowers Block 1 

Hopeful Flowers Supply List

Hopeful Stitchers Facebook Group

Mary Corbet Needle N Thread video—Cast-On Stitch

Mary Corbet Needle N Thread video—Hungarian Braided Chain