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2024 Block of the Month Preview!

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for … I hope! It’s time for me to reveal the 2024 block of the month blocks. Like last year, I am creating seasonal groups of blocks for each season. At the end of each 3 month time period, you will be able to make a wall hanging for hang for the season! The big reveal will take place below after I share my favorite tips & tools for wool appliqué. Let’s get started!

Tips & Tools

These are the tips and tools I like to use every time I am doing wool stitchery. Feel free to adopt them or not. Also, search the internet for other wool appliqué enthusiasts. You never know where you’ll find the tip or tool you can’t live without.

Tip #1: I’m different from many wool stitchers as I like to appliqué my wool motifs onto fabric. Because of this, I recommend treating the edges of the fabric background with Fray Check to prevent the background from fraying too much from handling. This helps save your seam allowance.

Tip #2: If you are stitching wool onto individual blocks, cut the background fabric and inch larger than needed. If your block is supposed to be 12 1/2″, including seam allowance, cut the fabric background 13 1/2″. Then, draw a line 3/4″ around all sides of the square (photo below). This defines a center 12″ space for your design. Then keep your stitching at least 1/8″ inside that line to make sure your motif does not go into the seam allowance.

Tip #3: Templates. For pattern templates that need to be used several times over for tracing, I reinforce them. I do this by either copying them directly onto card stock from the pattern or by gluing the template page to a piece of card stock and then cutting them out. 

Once you have them cut out, you can write the number of shapes needed for the pattern and the color of wool on the template. Save them in a plastic bag attached to the pattern for future use.

Tip #4: Use the thread color that will complement your project. I like to use Valdani Perle Cotton threads in size 8.  I often use an array of neutrals from light to dark, depending on the color of my appliqué  piece.

You can also use threads that match the color of your wool appliqué piece so your stitches blend in and don’t show. I like to store my threads in a small box I found at a local craft store. A school pencil box works also!

If you don’t want to use perle cotton, you can use embroidery floss like DMC. You’ll need to use 3 to 5 strands to mimic the thickness of perle cotton.

Tip #5: Even if you use fusible web to secure your appliqué pieces, it’s always a good idea to keep some fabric glue by your side in case a piece loosens while you are stitching. I use both the large size and a smaller size that I keep in my thread box.

2024 BOM

Here’s what you’ve come here for! Below is the preview of all 12 of the 2024 BOM blocks grouped into four seasonal panels.

I hope they look like fun to you! To get started, I have written starting instructions that you can find here: 2024 BOM Starting Instructions.

The fabric I used for the background is from the Cheddar & Coal collection from Marcus Fabrics. It is a line that’s a few years old, but you still may find some in your favorite quilt shop that carries these fabrics. If you want the look of my blocks, you should be able to find fabrics that are close to those I used if you are unable to find the exact fabrics. The background I have chosen is a dark grey with a small black print. The fabric that will be used in the pieced blocks to finish the wall hangings is a black print from the Cheddar & Coal II collection.

The first block will appear on January 15, 2024 and there will be a limited amount of wool only kits available in my shop on that day, as in previous years. If you want the block instructions early, sign up for my newsletter here on my web site. You often receive the block at least a week before the public release.

That’s all for now! If you have not downloaded any of the 2023 blocks but still want to do that BOM someday, download the blocks before 12/31/23. After that, the blocks will disappear and will no longer be free.

Happy Quilting and Stitching!
Deanne

UPDATE: I’ve had some questions on the fabric I used for the BOM. The photo below shows them. The fabric on the right is from the Cheddar & Coal collection and will probably be scarce since that line has been out awhile. That’s why I felt I should share a photo so you can match it with a similar fabric. The fabric on the right is the one that will be used for the pieced blocks that finish each wall hanging.

Wool Appliqué for the Beginner – Part 2

Welcome back to my wool appliqué series. We are now on to part 2 of the series where we will cover tips on creating your wool pieces using the fusible shapes you drew and cut out last week and laying out the motif on your background. If you missed the first week, you can find that post here: Wool Appliqué for the Beginner – Part 1. As with last week’s post, there will be a mini video tutorial at the end of this installment demonstrating what I talk about. Let’s get started!

Creating the Wool Shapes

This step is where we use those fusible web template shapes created in part 1 to make the appliqué motif pieces from the wool.

Place the fusible shapes in a corner on the piece of wool you have chosen so there is as little waste of wool as possible when they are cut out (left photo, above). Once you have the shapes in place, follow the manufacturer’s directions for the fusible web and use your iron to fuse it to the wool. 

Tip! Wool can be used on either side, however one side of your piece of wool may be prettier than the other, especially if you have a piece of hand dyed wool. Once you decide on the side you like, iron the fusible web shape to the reverse side.

Once I am sure the fusible web is fused securely to the wool, I cut away the leftover wool and put it back in my stash. I like to use the scissors below (left photo). They have a sharp serrated edge and cut the wool cleanly.

The next step is to use the drawn lines to cut out the shapes. Remember that we cut out the fusible shapes outside the lines last week. Following the drawn line now insures our final wool appliqué pieces look like an actual flower. It’s easier to cut along lines now than trying to follow the outside edge of the fusible web.

Once the shape is completely cut out, you can peel off and discard the fusible paper (right photo, above). Notice how the back of the shape is now shiny (photo below). That is the adhesive transferred from the fusible web during the ironing process and it’s the side that will be placed face down on the background when fusing down the motif.

Design Layout

Now that you have all the appliqué shapes cut out from the wool, it’s time to layout the design. This is when those drawn lines or creases you made in your background become useful to guide placement.

Stems: If your appliqué motif has stems, those are usually laid out first and glued in place. Stems for these projects are commonly as thin as 1/4″ so I do not use templates and fusible web to create them. I simply cut strips for the stems from a piece of wool and lay them out using a small amount of Roxanne’s glue to secure in place.

Tip! Use the other appliqué motif pieces as a guide for getting your stems in the correct position before gluing.

As you can see from the above photos, I am using the folds in the background, the flower pot and one of the flowers as guides to laying out my stems. Once I have them in the right place, I glue the stems so they do not move as I lay out and fuse the rest of the design in place.

Lay out & Fusing Design 

Now it’s time to layout the rest of the design and fuse it in place. Here’s the design all laid out:

Now that I have the design completely laid out and the stems glued where I want, it’s time to fuse the entire motif. I use a steam method to do this. Since I do not put water in my iron, I use a spray bottle of water to dampen a towel laying over the wool motif. Be careful not to move any of the pieces as you are covering the project with the towel. Be sure to use a white towel so there is no chance of a dye transfer to your project.

Once the project is covered with the towel, spray it with enough water to dampen it very well. Next, carefully press the project through the towel, holding it down for about 5 to 10 seconds. “Press” being the important word here. Do not to move the iron back and forth during this step. Once you press one section, lift the iron up to move to the next section. 

Don’t forget the mini video tutorial at the bottom of this post!

So that’s all for week 2! See you next week for the last installment in this series. Leave me a comment or ask me questions below and be entered into a drawing for two of my newest mini wool appliqué patterns, Snugg-let Winter Friends and Snugg-let Sew with Friends.

The drawing will be on Monday, November 13th. Good Luck!**We have a winner! Congrats, Diana DeWitt!**

Happy Quilting & Stitching!
Deanne

Wool Appliqué for the Beginner – Part 1

Welcome to wool appliqué class! As you can see by a lot of the patterns I sell in my shop, I love to design and make wool appliqué quilts. Some stitchers do their wool appliqué on wool backgrounds, but I do my wool appliqué on plain and pieced fabric backgrounds. That’s why I want to do this 3 part series so I can share my tips for my style of wool appliqué. So let’s get started.

The Beginning Steps

This week, we cover the basics from preparing templates and the background fabric to actually using the templates. I will also share some of my favorite tools and tips along with my mini video tutorials to demonstrate some of the things I talk about.

After collecting the fabric and wool required for your projects, the place to start with any wool appliqué pattern is the template page or pages that will be used to create the appliqué motif. If you plan to use the pattern multiple times, it’s best not to cut the templates out. To create reusable templates, I like to make a copy of the template page onto card stock and then cut them out using a scissors (designated for paper only of course!).

If you do not have a printer that also copies or do not have access to a copier, trace the templates onto plain paper and glue that paper to a piece of card stock. I like reinforcing the templates like this so I can use them multiple times without them losing their shape. You can also use other kinds of materials to reinforce your templates. Here are some of my templates:

Cut the templates from the card stock using a scissors meant to cut paper. My templates are marked with how many of each the shapes are needed and from what color wool. If  your pattern does not have them pre-marked like mine, it’s a good idea to write this information on your reinforced templates. Easy storage for your templates after use is in a bag attached to the pattern or, if they are small enough, slipped into the bag with the pattern. 

Once your templates are prepared and ready to use, it’s time to trace the templates onto fusible web. I use Heat n’ Bond Feather Lite for my fusible. Test out different brands of fusible if you like to see which one you like the best.

I like this Feather Lite version of Heat n’ Bond because it’s very light and I have not noticed it adding any bulk to my appliqué pieces or making them more difficult to stitch.

Trace the templates onto the fusible using a regular or mechanical pencil. Make sure to trace onto the paper side of the fusible web. If you have a template that are not symmetrical, you need to reverse that template before tracing since the fusible side of the shape is the side that will be face down on your background. For this example, I want the handle of the flower pot below to face to the left on the project so, the template is flipped with the handle facing to the right for tracing onto the fusible. 

Read your pattern carefully before tracing. Most patterns today include templates that are at 100% and already reversed for use. However, you may run across a pattern where you have to enlarge the template on a copier or reverse it before use. 

When tracing the shapes, make sure to leave enough space to cut them out outside the drawn lines by a bit. (left photo, below) I don’t like to cut the fusible shapes out right on the line because I use that line later when cutting the wool shapes out after fusing. If you have several shapes that are traced from the same piece of wool, you can trace them closer together and cut them out in a group. (right photo, below) Then follow the lines to cut out the individual pieces, like the leaves below. It’s a good idea to do this because wool is expensive and you don’t want to waste it!

Here are all the template shapes for my project traced onto the fusible, cut out and ready to fuse to the  pieces of wool designated in the pattern:

Preparing the Background

Now that you have all the templates traced and cut from the fusible, it’s time to get your background fabric prepared. Here are the steps:

Step 1:  I like to reinforce the edges of the block with Fray Check. This is an optional step that you can skip if you like. I do it to prevent the edges of the background from fraying into the seam allowance from all the handling while stitching.

Step 2: Next, define your stitching space. I like to measure in 1/2″ from all sides and draw a line. The space inside those lines is where the design will be laid out and stitched.

By defining the space ahead of time, you won’t accidently stitch some of your design into the seam allowance where it will be cut off when you sew the blocks together. I do 1/2″ on all sides so it keeps the design 1/4″ away from the seam allowance.

Step 3: Finally, I like to draw lines or make fold lines in the background to act as a guide for laying out my appliqué motif.

If you don’t want to fold and do creases, use a ruler and a fabric marking pencil and lightly draw those quadrant lines. I also placed a “dot” in the center of the block as a point of reference.

My mini video series on wool appliqué that covers some of the things I talked about in this post appears at the end of this post for those of you who are more visual learners like me.

That is all for this week and part 1 of wool appliqué tips for beginners. Leave me a comment or ask me questions below and be entered into a drawing for two of my newest mini wool appliqué patterns, Snugg-let Winter Friends and Snugg-let Sew with Friends.

The drawing will be at the end of this series on Monday, November 13th. So, you have 3 weeks to enter! **We have a winner! Congrats, Diana DeWitt!**

Happy Quilting & Stitching!
Deanne