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Saturday, September 24, 2016

Sewing machine is gathering dust

...while I play in wool. This is what I have pulled together in the past couple of days.
Nothing is fused yet. I just got all of the pieces cut out and laid on their respective backgrounds to see if they were happy there. I see that the crookneck squash doesn't have much contrast with its background, but I don't know if I will change it. I really like that piece of wool.


This is from a Buttermilk Basin pattern that I ordered a while back when Stacy had a sale. I've wanted a Thanksgiving wall hanging and when I saw this, I thought it was perfect. But I had not looked carefully at the size before I ordered.
With the sloping outer walls of our dome, the places where I can hang things are limited. Quilts need to be kept to under 3' square.
This pattern is for a 42.5" x 50.5" wall hanging.
I was sad, and stuffed the pattern deep in a drawer.
But as I have been up to my elbows in Kool-Aid lately, dying wool, I have come up with some rich colors that had me wanting to do something Fall-ish.


I have gone through so much Kool-Aid this week, I have had to replenish my supply twice. I wonder if the clerks at the store think I am addicted (I don't even drink the stuff). I have raised suspicions before when buying large quantities of lye for soap making (since it is also used in meth labs). But as far as I know there aren't nefarious activities associated with Kool-Aid (but even as I typed that, Jim Jones came to mind). (That was quite a parenthetical paragraph. Uh-oh, I am posting late at night again. Can you tell?)

I decided to dig out the pattern and reduce the designs. With the help of my scanner and printer, I believe it will work out to under 30" square once the borders are attached.
Excuse the glaring light over my kitchen island. Maybe this gives you some perspective, considering the pattern beside it is standard 8 1/2" x 11".  I think it will be very cute. : )
Half of the wools I used for this piece are from thrift store clothing, and then many of them were tea-dyed, or took a bath in Kool-Aid.

Another change I made, besides the size, is in Mr. Gobbler's coloring. If you compare the pattern with my Tom Turkey, you can see mine is not so pale.
Though the soft and creamy turkey on the pattern is pretty, we have wild turkeys in our area, and their complexions aren't that nice. Of course, I haven't seen one wearing a hat either, but I still included that.

For at least a couple of years now I have been wanting to run a side-by-side comparison of the fusible products different instructors use for wool applique. Lisa Bongean recommends Lite Steam-a-Seam 2, Stacy West is in favor of Soft Fuse, and Kim Diehl uses Heat'nBond Lite. Then there is one called TransWeb, that I hadn't heard of until my friend Kris introduced me to it.
So I divided a muslin square into quarters and used a different fusible in each one to attach an identical wool bird. I kept notes on the different properties of each one up to this point. Next step is to stitch around the edges and see what differences I can detect there. I already know from experience some of what I will find, but I am curious to get a feel for each of the four products. I'll let you know what I learn.

Until next time,
Janet O.




40 comments:

  1. The wild turkeys in these parts are very dark also. And the hunters say if you've eaten a wild turkey you'll never want to buy a domestic one again. I'll be interested in your fusible findings, having had fairly disappointing results with what I've used in the past. Your Kool-Aid dyes have worked beautifully. I love the soft subtle colors you've chosen. Much more subtle than the blue and purple hair my daughter sported after some Kool-Aid dying experiments many years ago, lol!

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  2. You must have cleaned out the thrift stores.....great wool finds! I love the overdye effect you got with the koolaid and such a good variety of colors. I don't think they can come after you for that...lol.
    I agree about the turkey--darker is better. For the squash, could you outline stitch with a darker shade to enhance its presence? Great experiment with the fusibles...look forward to your findings.

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  3. Give Thanks is looking beautiful!

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  4. Oh my, it's the "A" word, applique! yours are beautiful and the wools came out in lovely shades. Tom turkey looks very authentic and sporty with his hat, LOL!

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  5. That is adorable. I think your light colored gourd will be fine once you stitch around it. Do you use matching thread or darker? I have been doing some wool applique lately also. Cheri Payne's qal. It is so fun.

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  6. I think your gourd will pop once you put some blanket stitching around it! This is a cute piece and you are so very smart to make all those changes to make it fit your dome. Now, what is a dome? LOL

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  7. This is lovely! Great idea reducing the size so it will fit on your wall. The wool is gorgeous and the colors look wonderful in the design. I think the gourd will look perfect with the outline stitching. We have dark wild turkeys in my neighborhood too :-) Happy Autumn!

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  8. PS can't wait to hear more of your review with the fusibles :-)

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  9. Oh I just love that header photo. I could sit and look at that all day.
    Your Thanksgiving pattern is great and your changes are nice.
    what a great fusible test. Looking forward to your results.

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  10. Wool, dying, fusibles, applique, ; four things I know nothing or very little about! But I do know I love the results of your work with them. Looking forward to your finish of this pretty project! ---"Love"

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  11. I am drooling over the wool piece you are working on now. I love fall colors. A good design for November.

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  12. a gorgeous pattern and glad you have resized for use...i love it the way it is and i agree about the turkeys...we also have vultures around here that i had never seen in new england...it is finally cool here in maryland so gonna dig out my fall decorations...beautiful as always janet!

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  13. That's such a great idea to shrink the quilt a bit to fit your space--it's going to be gorgeous! Good call on your dark turkey!

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  14. Gorgeous colors you chose! I'm fond of your turkey :), really love the pomegranates. Another great post!

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  15. I adore your Thanksgiving pattern! The wool is so beautiful and rich!
    Looking forward to hearing about your experiment. I have a hard time using any fusible with wool.

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  16. We have dark wild turkeys here. Just some three yesterday. Good you can recycle the wool. I always love your header picture. Always the farm girl. Now gathering black walnuts and trying a new baked zucchini fritter recipe.

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  17. I agree your Appliqued wool is adorable and will adorn your wall nicely. Late night posting and the Jim Jones reference made me laugh. Hope the bad weather that went through Ogden bypasses you!

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  18. Your woolly project is lovely, I like the changes you have made. It will be interesting to see what the results are of your experimenting with the fusible webs; we don't always have a lot of choice of what we can purchase here.

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  19. Same with our turkeys here in the northwoods - very dark and typically hatless! Though your Mr. Tom looks very dashing with his hat...such a cute wallhanging this will be - Kool Aid? Who knew it could be used for such creative purposes - so much better than other uses...

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  20. Very cute project! And I am excited to see what you find out about the different fusibles!

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  21. I really like it Mom! I like that you kept with Stacey's pattern and put your initials in as well :)
    Maybe you could just stitch around the gourd in a darker color (if that isn't against wool applique etiquette) to make it stand out more.
    I could tell you were in a late night mood when you wrote this one :)
    I had to look up the Jim Jones reference...didn't know who he was...terrible stuff :(

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  22. I love the colours of the wool you have dyed. I have to assume Kool Aid is lemonade (drink?) but I shudder to think how that helps with dying...so hoping it isnt the primary colour addition! Good idea to reduce the pattern. I have a reasonable amount of wall space, but think that 30 -35" is enough for a wall hanging, any bigger and I consider it a cot quilt!
    I have had no sucess with fusing wool at all, so will be really interested to hear what you find with these different products. I just had a clean up yesterday and found a heavier brand fuse web that I forgot I brought so will have to try it...because right now I just cut them out and pin them on and as the pieces are so small they fall off and get lost!

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  23. Love this Give Thanks quilt! Ya' know... I never think to make smaller versions of these quilts? lol! Looking forward to your results on the fuse testing! I had tried the Lite Steam a Seam once... did not like how "fake" it make the wool feel... so then I went back to traditional wool applique... BUT, I'd sure like to be able to rinse my wool on cotton pieces in the washer and have them stay together nicely, know what I mean? I'm all about "easy care"... :-)

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  24. Great job on all your kool aid dyeing Janet - can't wait to see what project you've designed for your class! Your Thanksgiving quilt is awesome, and you're very clever to do a comparison on the different fusibles. Lately, I've been using a stapler to attach my pieces while I stitch them down. The staples hold them securely, and are very easily removed after the fact. I worried about snags, but so far it hasn't been an issue at all. I think Lori is the one who convinced me to give it a try & I'm sold, but I would like to find a stapler with a longer throat for larger projects (at the thrift store, of course). I had to chuckle when I saw that Aimee didn't know who Jim Jones was - but I guess it might be good that she didn't know about the horror of that particular story.

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  25. This is such a sweet piece Janet! And you have chosen beautful wools to make it come alive - especially those yummy colorful kool-aid ones you created yourself!!! Smart girl reducing the size to make it work for you and your home. Looking forward to seeing the results of your experiment as I do quite a lot of Applique too. A friend just gifted me with a box of her wools saying she doesn't do anything with wools anymore. I was thrilled and already thinking about delving into them!

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  26. So, a quilt maker AND a P lab! Just when you think you know someone! :-) Lovely woolly projects.

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  27. I do like a good Buttermilk Basin pattern, and this Thanksgiving one is no exception! I see exactly what you mean about the crook-neck squash...I didn't see it originally until I looked for it because you said it was there. Maybe a darker outlining stitch will help bring it out and allow you to keep in that beautiful, buttery colored piece of wool. I love seeing all your wool dying prosperity!! And a hearty "LOL!" on the koolaid paragraph! I'll be very interested in learning what you determine in your experiment. I've never fused my stuff, but I'm ready to start! Break that ground for me, okay? Haha! :)

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  28. It looks like the pattern is coming along. I didn't notice the squash but looked again when you mentioned it. I think some darker stitching will outline it perfectly. I will like to read about your comparisons when you are done.

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  29. I think the only thing good about kook-aid is dyeing wool! Fantastic colors. The Thanksgiving wool piece is looking great. I'm not surprised that you have shrunk it up. I've been using Soft to Fuse for awhile, but it will be interesting to hear about your comparisons.

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  30. LOL!! MY first thought was "what crookneck squash" and then I saw it!! :-)) Great piece and I am so glad you are not going with the Jim Jones story!! Can't wait to see which fusible you like the best, hint, hint!! ;-0

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  31. You are so clever and industrious to dye your own wool and it looks like the results are great. Those patterns are so nice. Good luck with your fusibles comparison.

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  32. I like your slightly lightened background colors, compared to the original, Janet. It will be a beautiful wall hanging.

    Your stack of wool makes me want to use wool again -- woven and braided rugs, not yet for applique. What a smart idea to scan the images to change the size. I usually head for the copier at local office supply store but a scanner's so much less work.

    I've never dyed with kool-aid but I can imagine it's fairly permanent, especially the red. Can you recommend a combination for a light tan?

    --Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)

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  33. You dyed all that with kook-aid? Wow! What did you start with? I've never worked with wool, but hope to one day.

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  34. Great wool choices! I like Soft-Fuse, so I will be curious which one you prefer and why!

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  35. I'm very curious to see which fusible you decide is the best.
    and I thought you were kidding about kool-aid! I had no idea. Imagine what we were drinking back then (Jim Jones aside!)
    You never cease to amaze, Janet. Beautiful turkey wallhanging!! Love it!

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  36. Your dyed wool from kool aid looks fabulous. Am interested in learning the results of the fusibles

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  37. Fall "yummies" Janet!!!! I guess I will have to order a new pattern because of your fun and incising project! Thanks as always--- with all your fabulous inspiration!

    Hug's, Carolyn

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  38. I can't say I'm totally surprised that you reduced the size of a project - I'm glad you've made the project as it's just adorable. I've never seen such a pale Tom so I think your colors are more appropriate. I may not be in to wool but I am interested to see what you think of the 4 fusibles...

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  39. The perfect project to work on at this time of year.
    Will be interested to hear your observations on the fusibles.

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  40. I LOVE your Autumnal quilt! just Beautiful.

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