Friday Night Sew-In: Wool Crazy

It was a Friday Night Sew-in last night that Heidi and Bobbi organized. This was the second time I participated in a sew-in and I found that I pushed myself a little harder to get some sewing done. And this is what I did.

I joined Wool Crazy Sew Along a couple of weeks ago to make crazy quilt using felted wool. I ordered a copy of Wool Crazy from Pumpkin Patch Primitives and it arrived just in time for me to get organized for the Friday Night Sew-in. I love crazy quilt and all things primitives, so this was a good chance for me to put them all together into a quilt. Brenda of Pumpkin Patch Primitives kindly set up a Wool Crazy Sew Along blog for us to play together. Thanks Brenda.

Here are some of the felted wool that I made myself from woolen fabrics. I have been collecting 100% woolen clothing such pleated skirts, shirts and anything else I can find. After I trim off all the bands and cuffs I put them in the washing machine with the temperature setting of 194'F or 90'C. I add a small amount of wool wash liquid in with the wool fabric. I set my machine on the longest cycle with cold rinse. After the wash is finished you will get yourself beautiful felted wool.

There are only 4 large blocks in this quilt, each block is 24" square. I pieced my first block last night. Apart from completing the block, I made such a mess while choosing the fabrics. I didn't have all the colours I wanted, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I like how it looks so far!

I only managed to embellish one bit of it so far. I just love working with wool. I love the feel of the wool and I can be free stitching the motives down without too much accuracy.

A close-up of the stitching. I used my hand-dyed pearl threads for embroidery. The instruction called for fusible web applique, but I found that wool being quite thick it didn't work very well, so I will not used fusible web again. I am going to just use small pins to keep the pieces down while stitching.

The result of the Friday Night Sew-in was very successful. I got to started my new project and I will post this on the Wool Crazy Sew Along blog as well. Thank you once again Heidi for putting on such a fun night. I hope you will visit the Wool Crazy Sew Along blog to see the work of all the other members too.