Wool applique ~ is it possible?

[Carole B.]

I'm a huge Wendy Williams fan and do wool applique. Not a quilter (yet!). Wondering if people think it would be possible to adapt this beautiful pattern using wool applique on fabric. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

[Emrice]

I have admired her work on Instagram and followed the link to The Quilt Show when I saw her post for this quilt pattern. I do collage style quilts with raw edges and use Steam-a-Seam if I want a crisp edge and think I will use this method as I haven't done much piecing in a long time. I'll use the pattern pieces as templates and just sew the finished blocks together. I know it will give it a different look but I think it would be a fun project. I imagine this approach would be quite similar to working with wool and applique.

I'm very happy to have discovered The Quilt Show too!

[Peggy S.]

Yes and I think it would be lovely. You might not want to use the Quick Bias in this case, but that's just my opinion.

[Carole B.]

Thank you for confirming I’m not crazy in thinking this is possible. I’m going to give it a shot and see where it leads me.

[Karen W.]

I have lots of hand dyed felted wool and would love to do it with that too or batiks, as I don't have many solid regular fabrics.

[Helen W.]

I have lots of hand dyed felted wool and would love to do it with that too or batiks, as I don't have many solid regular fabrics.

KLwheeler, I think it would be a wonderful idea. Love wool, but seems like I can only afford flannel. But beautiful flannel I think. I just bought Wendy Williams other pattern
Round the Garden, thinking since it is whole cloth, but similar circle idea for the outside ring of houses, she would have some great ideas for making a circle of applique. Not
much help in that way, but love that pattern too. If you plan to applique your wool, maybe you could use a piece of background fabric the size of a wedge, including seam
allowance marked. Applique onto that piece and then when it is time to put all the house wedges together you could just assemble as the directions show. I was thinking about
applique, and using whole cloth idea, but I would have to wait for the Mariners compass and inside road before I could see where to mark the circle for small houses. Right now
I am just making samples of various ways. I have a habit of never following the pattern, but using it for a jumping off spot. HelenW

[Carole B.]

HelenW—that’s exactly how I was thinking of approaching this for each section. I know Wendy prefers wool felt rather than felted wool, so I’ll on the hunt for where to find the necessary colors and determine the background. This certainly will be a learning process!

[smardl]

HelenW—that’s exactly how I was thinking of approaching this for each section. I know Wendy prefers wool felt rather than felted wool, so I’ll on the hunt for where to find the necessary colors and determine the background. This certainly will be a learning process!

If you are looking for wool felt (not felted wool) may I recommend this Merino wool felt scrap bag which is on sale, 1 pound for $15. Perfect for the windows and doors, maybe a a few pieces big enough for a roof on the small houses. I buy from Over The River felt a lot. Very high quality wool felt. The Merino wool felt needles beautifully if you want to add embellishment stitching.

https://overtheriverfelt.com/shop/1-pound-wool-blend-goody-bag/

I apologize in advance if your are not allowed to posts links to sales not at The Quilt Store. I can't find the location of the rules of what we can post.

[Judith A.]

I plan to do mine with wool felt on a whole cloth background, which will be a new experience for me.
I also bought Wendy William's Round the Garden pattern and her book, for tips about how to go about it.

I am not really a city skyscraper type person, so my houses will be smaller. I hope to add my neighbor's red barn, and a church, and my house, and some of our local animals (horses, rabbits, turtles, chickens, ducks, the deer that visit my front yard every evening to dine on acorns, etc.)
I have been dyeing wool felt for about 2 weeks. I have dyed a lot of cotton, but have never dyed wool before. There is not much information out there on dyeing small pieces of wool felt for applique, so I am basically learning as I go, and having great fun!

Judy

[Carole B.]

So this is what I’ve been trying out today. I ended up combining the top and bottom sections of each small house into one (left side of template). Body of house will be one piece of wool felt. I appliquéd door and windows first, then attached to background and added roof. I’m thinking by using one piece of background fabric, this will work best, as JudithA mentioned. This is my sample of Small House 1 and 2 using scrap wool felt on a piece of flannel. Was thinking of using a linen for the background, but I kind of like working with the flannel. Would it be too heavy?

[smardl]

So this is what I’ve been trying out today. I ended up combining the top and bottom sections of each small house into one (left side of template). Body of house will be one piece of wool felt. I appliquéd door and windows first, then attached to background and added roof. I’m thinking by using one piece of background fabric, this will work best, as JudithA mentioned. This is my sample of Small House 1 and 2 using scrap wool felt on a piece of flannel. Was thinking of using a linen for the background, but I kind of like working with the flannel. Would it be too heavy?

Wow that is awesome. I especially like the details on the windows. What weight of thread are you using for the embellishment stitching?

[Carole B.]

Wow that is awesome. I especially like the details on the windows. What weight of thread are you using for the embellishment stitching?

I used Valdani 8 and 12. I’m new to wool appliqué, so are just building my stash and inventory of threads. With Covid, I’ve had to shop online, so it’s been challenging.

[Helen W.]

So this is what I’ve been trying out today. I ended up combining the top and bottom sections of each small house into one (left side of template). Body of house will be one piece of wool felt. I appliquéd door and windows first, then attached to background and added roof. I’m thinking by using one piece of background fabric, this will work best, as JudithA mentioned. This is my sample of Small House 1 and 2 using scrap wool felt on a piece of flannel. Was thinking of using a linen for the background, but I kind of like working with the flannel. Would it be too heavy?

NHbaskets, Your houses look perfect. Love the embellishment stitching on the windows. What size blanket stitch did you use? Looks great. Are you doing it as a whole
cloth quilt or doing a section of like 8 on a background and then cutting the background by making a paper template that would be the right size for a quarter of a circle?
You are off to a great start!!! HelenW

[Carole B.]

NHbaskets, Your houses look perfect. Love the embellishment stitching on the windows. What size blanket stitch did you use? Looks great. Are you doing it as a whole
cloth quilt or doing a section of like 8 on a background and then cutting the background by making a paper template that would be the right size for a quarter of a circle?
You are off to a great start!!! HelenW

Thanks, Helen for the encouragement! I used Valdani 8 and 12 pearl. I think I read that Wendy prefers 8 so the stitching shows up, but on smaller pieces I think 12 might work better. At this point, I’m leaning towards whole cloth. I reduced pattern to 75%, but might go down to 65 or 60% to cut down on weight and fabric. As I’ve said before, I’m not a quilter, and truth be told, my sewing machine is 40 years old and hasn’t been used in at least 30 years.

[Helen W.]

Nhbaskets. I thought you did the blanket stitch by machine. It is so perfect. If you go with whole cloth does that mean your center Mariners Compass will be applique too , like Wendy Williams did her flying geese in Round The Garden. Since the progression of months do not go from center out you would need to wait for Feb for the compass and what ever month will be the inside road. You could cut out all 32 small house 1 and2 parts as a trade off for staying on time line. HelenW