Wool Tutorial - Tulip Gathering

I wanted to share some of the knowledge I gained from working with the Tulip Gathering penny rug pattern. The project involved lots of pieces that had to be evenly distributed.

The first thing I did was fold my background piece in half twice, creating center points. This also provided me with the four (4) sections that I would be working.

To center your wreath, use your center cut out, fold it in half twice and match the folds of your background. I neglected to take a photograph at the beginning of my placement, but you get the idea from this picture.

Then, I positioned the four (4) stems in their proper sections and their two (2) leaves. I stitched the stems and then the leaves in place prior to proceeding further.

The stems were positioned using the technique I mentioned in a prior tutorial, Wool Tutorial - Silent Night, pining from the back.

Once all four (4) stems were stitched, I was then able to work in sections, centering everything within that section.

Because I was going to cross stitch the stems, I first stabilized them by using the button hole stitch and one (1) strand of DMC floss.

The stems now stabled made it easier for me to concentrate on the cross stitch without having to worry about the stem going wonky!

Once all the sections were completed, the wreath was the next piece to stitch. I used the center cut out to make sure that everything was circular and pinned it in place.

I'm ready to stitch!

The tulips were positioned two (2) inches from the edge using a ruler.

I should mention that when I am working with wool on wool, I do not use a fusible web. I pin my pieces in place using my favourite pins - Applique Glass Head Pins size 12 - 3/4 inch from Clover (231CV).

I just love these little pins and use them for all my applique needs! You can find them at your local quilt shop.

I hope you find this information valuable. Catch you all later!

The sound of horror ...!

Woke up around 3:15 a.m. to the sound of fire engine sirens.  A frightening sound in any neighborhood but more particularly in ours, as we are graced with beautiful historic homes dating back to the 1800's. I looked out of my quilting studio window and couldn't see anything but reflections of flashing lights. It wasn't until I checked the hallway window that I quickly saw what was going on. One house over from mine is where the fire was.

In shock, my photojournalism education kicked in, I quickly grabbed my camera, dressed up for arctic weather and headed outside to take photographs. The fire started in the back of the building where the furnace was located.

Sadly, it didn't take long for the fire to spread to the main part of the house into the third floor.

Things took a turn for the worse when the cupola engulfed in flames spreading like wild fire. At times, it was scary to watch.

The fire fighters were present from many surrounding districts.

That's how it is in our area, the volunteer fire department all help one another. Given the scope of the fire, the Champlain volunteer fire department was assisted by Altona, Mooers, Ellenburgh Depot, Ellenburgh Center, West Chazy, Beekmantown and Rouses Point and later on Cumberland Head and Plattsburgh District 3. From Vermont they had Alburgh and Alburgh Center. From Quebec, Canada,  Hemmingford, Lacolle, St Paul and St Bernard volunteer fire department were present.

In a desperate attempt to save the historical structure, the fire was approached from all angles.

The Plattsburgh District 3 brought in one of their state of the art, well that's what it looked like to me who has no clue about fire truck specs, huge ladder bucket truck. The water stream was so powerful that it actually looked like it was blowing the fire out as it doused it with water!

The beautiful historical house belonged to Jeff and Renee. They purchased it approximately a year ago with lots of dreams and determination. They had been working on it for the past year, slowly bringing it to a state where they would eventually move in.

Sadly, this beautiful home is now a total loss.

View from the rear of the house

Sigh!

As you can imagine from the number of volunteer fire departments that responded, my street was blocked. It wasn't until 11:00 a.m. that I was able to leave for Lakeside Coffee, our local coffee shop. I needed to get away for a bit, clear my mind.

Given the gazillion gallons of water that was used to extinguish the fire, our street was a mess. Sadly, this is what I witnessed half way down the street, a propane truck stuck in the ditch.

It sure has been a busy day for the Champlain Volunteer Fire Department.

My heart goes out to Renee and Jeff. They are such wonderful and beautiful souls.  Such a loss for them and our community.

A huge thank you goes out to all the volunteer fire fighters who battled arctic temperatures for hours. I am so grateful for your service and dedication.

Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyber space.

We have a finish!

Brrrr! We're back to arctic temperatures! We also had a beautiful snow storm last weekend! I love the pattern the snow made on the bathroom window.

I've been really good at staying focused and away from ... SQUIRRELS! lol

After I completed Old St Nick I decided to work on Tulip Gathering, a pattern from Primitive Gatherings.

I started this project back in June 2015. This is what I found.

Very little was done on it. So, I rolled up my sleeved and went to work. As you can imagine, after many hours of work ... we have a finish!

It certainly turned out to be a much more complex penny rug than I would have thought. I have learned lots from it and I will be sharing my knowledge in a future tutorial.

I do love how it turned out. It is a stunning piece!

Announcement from Perfectionist Anonymous:

Hello, my name is Carole and I made a mistake on this project. There's a missing piece!!!!

Not that you would ever know, unless that is, you looked at the pattern and did some counting.

The mistake!!! ARGGGGG!

Found on my cutting table hiding under a pattern. I think a Sprite hid it when I wasn't looking. I recall counting the number of tongues before I started pinning them in place to stitch, and the number was correct. Hum ....

Am I taking it apart?  Heck NO! No one will know, unless, that is, you're a tattle teller! lol So, shush, let's keep this our secret! ;)

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace! Catch you all later!

Still on the UFO trail!

Now that the holiday celebrations have come to an end, I'm back on the UFO completion project. I am pleased to report that I have completed another wool project.

The pattern is called Old St. Nick by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  I purchased this kit back in 2009 from the Quilted Crow. This was before Fibre Junction invested in wool.  I wanted to see if it would be a medium I'd  enjoyed working with.

At the time, I was torn with the idea of using a fusible on wool.  I've never been a fusible kind of gal and wanted to stay away from the stuff.

In the UFO project bag was one Santa robe with glue on it. Probably an attempt to have the pieces stick to the wool.

Obviously a failed attempt, as I broke down and used Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite on the other four Santa's robes and arms!

It is actually the first time I worked on a wool project that had so many small pieces.

When I work with small pieces, I use one strand of DMC or Cosmo floss. I find that the size 12 Valdani pearl cotton is much to large and tends to rip up the pieces.

For the trees, I didn't like the wool the Quilted Crow had included, so I changed it to what you see.  Both green wools are from Primitive Gatherings! They do have gorgeous hand dyed wool!

Another photo with a decorations!

Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace! Catch you all later! Cheers!

Cheers!