Framing Your Wool Appliqué

Oct 182011
 
 October 18, 2011  Techniques No Responses »

Most of Wild Thymes designs can be used in a variety of ways.  One of my favorites is to frame them for hanging in a room that coordinates with the design.   Once the appliqué is finished, trim the background to get the sides to match, and the top and bottom to match.  For example, if the finished piece is 12”x20”, be sure the 2 sides are each 12” and the top and bottom are both 20”.  If you are off a little, trim the background down so you have a perfect size.  Next, position the first background onto a much larger second background (at least 4” larger on all 4 sides).  This becomes the “mat” for your wool appliqué, so make it a nice contrast to the background.  The extra background also gives the framer extra fabric to work with to get your piece framed just right.

Always have the bottom measurement on the wool mat larger than the top and sides.  For example, if the top and sides are 2” wide, be sure the bottom is 3” or 3 1/2” wide.  Your framer will help with these measurements.

Because wool is so dimensional, we do not recommend putting glass over it.  Glass creates a glare and flattens your wool.  I have tried it both ways and definitely like it better without glass.  If the piece gets dusty, just use a roller brush (with sticky tape) on it or a feather duster.  Don’t use anything that has oils or polish on it.

My Favorite Quote

Oct 162011
 
 October 16, 2011  Wisdom - My Way No Responses »

I found this quote in a magazine about a year before we started building our new home.  Because it spoke to the artist in me, I tore it out and carried it in my wallet for the next 2 years.  As our home was finished I hired a painter/artist to write this on my studio wall.  It’s right here to the right of my computer and I look at it all day, everyday.  ENJOY!

“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains it’s original dimensions” by: Oliver Wendell Holmes

Notions

Oct 162011
 
 October 16, 2011  Wisdom - My Way No Responses »

The products we sell on our Web site are all items we have tested and use ourselves on a daily basis.   We don’t sell items for the sake of the sale, if it’s on our site, we really like the product.

In the last few years we have added several very beautiful and resourceful stitch books.  These are all books that I own myself (along with hundreds of others) and thought were the best-of-the-best.

Collecting and Using Antique Wool Quilts

Oct 162011
 
 October 16, 2011  Wool No Responses »

There are some wonderful old wool quilts out there for a fraction of the price of a cotton quilt.    The wool quilts were used for utilitarian purposes not beauty!  However, that doesn’t mean that these quilts are ugly.  Ranch wives, pioneers, and farm wives all added some artistic thoughts when making the simplest utility quilts.  They were made from wool scraps, salesman samples, and old clothes to supply warmth to the bunkhouses for the hired hands’ beds, pallets and even bedrolls called ‘Soogans’.

Today these lowly wool quilts are at the bottom of the collector’s list and can be bought for a song. I have several and paid anywhere from $5 to $100 and some of them are amazing!  I have one that is a ‘Flying Geese” pattern that has been embroidered around each goose, another that is hexagons with red cornerstones, and yet another that is squares on point.  Most of these quilts are tied or quilted with a ‘big stitch’ or ‘utility’ stitch.  They have whole cloth cotton backings, mostly plaids or homespun and are stuffed with cotton or wool batt.   A couple of them have an old blanket for the batt.

If you plan on using these quilts, I would first have them dry-cleaned.  Most, if not all of the wool in these quilts has NOT been felted.  If that worries you because of the fragile condition or shrinking issues, you can always do the bathtub Woolite lay-it-flat to dry method.  Either way, they are nice and warm and a comfort to own.

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