For traditional pieced patterns, try to avoid traditionally stitched seams, they cause a big hump that is hard to disguise.   My suggestion in this case is to cut out the pattern pieces without the seam allowance, and butt them up to each other and/or cut the entire pattern out of one piece of wool and stitch it to a background.   For example:  If you are doing a star quilt, cut the entire star out in one piece and stitch it to the background instead of cutting all the many pieces of the star.  If you choose to cut out each piece individually then you will need to be sure to get them tight so the background fabric doesn’t show through.  Avoid overlapping any of the pieces as this also causes a hump.

With that said, I have used traditional seams to piece a large background on a lap-sized (or bigger) quilt.  I still get the humps, but they are spread-out and don’t overpower my design.

Any and all appliqué patterns are begging to be stitched in wool.  A couple of things to look for and avoid or adjust if possible are:  1.  Designs with lots of small pieces – take the design to a copy machine and enlarge it so the pieces are a stitchable size.  2.  Use only a portion of the design.  Just because it is drawn on the pattern doesn’t mean you have to do it all.  Pick the components of the design that appeal to you and use them.  3.  Cut out your pattern pieces without the seam allowance.

General information:  Everyone will have their own personal preference where needles are concerned.  One of the ladies that works for me favors a short needle with a big eye, while I like a longer needle with a large eye.  So, there isn’t any hard and fast rule on what is right or wrong for each individual.

When looking to purchase a new package of needles, look for a good brand like Bohin (French), Clover (USA), John James (English), Peacemaker (USA), or Richard Hemming (English).  All these companies make very good needles.  You will want to look for Embroidery, Sashico, or Chenille needles.  Packages will cost between $2 and $5 depending on the brand.

When you are stitching, choose a needle that is easy to thread.  With the thicker embroidery threads, you don’t want to be fighting to thread it.  Use a needle threader if you want, it will make your life easier.  Another good tip is if you are having to jerk the thread through your wool/fabric, then the needle is too small.  The needle and larger eye make the hole for the thread to pass through; if it’s too small, it results in you having to jerk the thread through.  Change your needle to a larger one.

I have several projects going at the same time and they all have needles with them.  Which means, I am always out of needles.  A couple tips on how to keep track of extra needles are to keep a piece of wool fabric in your straight pin box and always keep extra needles on it.  The other tip is to thread a ribbon or embroidery floss onto your extra needles about 10” long, and tie a big bow in it and stick it on your pincushion.  It will be so much easier to find.

We use size 6/0 beads because they are a little bigger and show up nicely on the wool.  They will also go through the larger embroidery needles so you don’t have to change needles and thread before stitching them in place.

We are often asked the source of our beads, we get them from Beyond Beadery,  www.beyondbeadery.com.  Their toll-free phone number is 1-800-840-5548.  They DO NOT have a paper catalog, but the Web site has good descriptions.  If any of you have been to the Houston Festival, they are the BIG booth with every imaginable bead available.  They also have a show schedule on their Web site and may be in your area sometime.

I was in Seattle a few weeks ago and found (in a kitchen shop) “Cedar Papers”.  They are thin red cedar planks for cooking but are the thickness of maybe 3 sheets of copy paper.  Thin enough to wrap a piece of salmon in for cooking!  These sheets can be cut (with scissors) and placed in each project basket, tucked in your wool drawer, or any place you have wool fabric.  Be aware that they are natural wood and could leave oils on furniture or other porous surfaces.  The company that produces them is called “Fire & Flavor” and can be reached at www.fireandflavor.com.

There are also cedar sachets and cedar balls that will work in the same way.  They can be purchased in most linen shops.

Moth Proofing Update

We have touched on this topic before but I have a small amount of added information.  While on my travels this Summer (2011), I was in a “Container Store”.  They had a whole section of mothproofing stuff!  There were several types of cedar – balls, planks, and shavings as well as a whole selection of other products – none of which smelled bad!  You can Google The Container Store on-line and type in mothproofing under the search area.  This is just an FYI for anyone looking for help.

As quilters (and mostly women) we tend to have a need to follow the rules or directions.  What happens if we don’t like the directions or want our finished product to look different than everyone else’s?  We panic!  Then fall in line with everyone else and hope no one noticed our lapse in judgment!  What we are all missing, is that most ladies in your classes are thinking the very same thing!  We all want our projects to be original and just a little different than our neighbor.

People – GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO BE DIFFERENT!
Change the colors, use different thread, add more flowers, sew beads and embellishments on – BE DIFFERENT!  Make it your own design.

Any design or pattern you purchase from Wild Thymes, is considered a beginning for you to change as you choose.  We encourage you to add more flowers or leaves, change the colors, use a different background – anything goes – just be happy with the end result.  And, if it turns out just like mine, then it means you liked it exactly as it is, which is also fine.

The most important factor is that you enjoy the process, and stitch for your personal satisfaction.

100% Wool at Wild Thymes

Wool is hard to find, mostly because of the cost; however more and more quilt shops are stocking a few bolts of background colors, and then filling in with some smaller hand-dyed pieces.  Check around your area to support your local shops before you look elsewhere.

The Internet has been a good source for finding wool.   Just type into Google or your favorite search engine and presto – up come several options.  Here at Wild Thymes we stock over 400 bolts of 100% wool.  Our selection has been collected from 4 different wool vendors and includes tweeds, solids, textures, natural, black & white, and heathers.  In addition we offer a full line of hand-dyed woolens.

Another place to find wool is at thrift shops.  Read the labels, if it says “dry clean only”, that is usually a sure bet that the garment will shrink/felt.  If the label says “washable wool”, pass over that piece, it has been treated to NOT shrink or felt.  Once you have purchased a garment, cut all the seams out before felting it.  Any sewn seam will cause the wool to ripple and you will never get them apart.  Cut off the waistbands, cuffs, hems, darts, collars and separate the larger seams – then felt the dickens out of the remaining fabric.

Round tipped scissors

Air travel! Those rules change with the time of day! I am asked all the time about taking scissors, needles, and pins on an airplane. From day one after 9-11, I have traveled with my hand stitching projects. I bought the round tipped (kindergarten type with bright colored handles) and took them out of my bag so the security could see them – they have passed EVERY time, even on International flights. The blades are sharp for cutting the wool but there wasn’t a point that could be used as a weapon. Now they tell us that you can travel with scissors that have a 4” or smaller blade, I’ll play it safe and stick with the kindergarten scissors. As for the pins and needles, there was never a question. Even my tin full of pins has never been questioned. Knitting needles are a different story. However, the rules have lightened up on those as well, especially the larger round tipped needles. If in doubt you can always call the airline to check on specific items. If you can’t get through security with them, be prepared with a self-addressed and stamped envelope and mail your items back to yourself from the airport. Better safe than sorry.

Hand-dyed wool by Wild Thymes Pattern Company

There have been some questions about hand-dyed wool lately that I am going to try to address.  The word “colorfast” should not appear in a description of hand-dyed wool, cotton or any other fiber.  Every hand-dyer will make their product as “colorfast” as they possibly can; however, they can never guarantee it.  If you look at the fine print, there will be a disclaimer (or there should be one) which explains that the dyers’ have done their very best at making their wool colorfast.

We receive bolts of commercially dyed wool all the time from our professional distributors that bleeds or runs all over the place!   Colorfastness simply can’t be guaranteed.

On the bright side, you shouldn’t be afraid of using the hand-dyed fiber products.  If you are using a red floss on a white background – you should color test the red thread.  Don’t color test it in hot water, (unless you are going to wash the finished piece in hot water) test it in lukewarm water.  If you know a finished piece is going to be laundered frequently, then give washing instructions with it and never wash hand-dyed fibers in hot water, always in lukewarm.

In regards to Wild Thymes’ wool, we can’t guarantee that it is “colorfast”.   There is also a multitude of dying products available on the market and each has it’s own formula for how the dye adheres to the fibers. The bottom line is how well the wool/fibers accept, absorb, and hold the dye.  It’s all chemistry; my water may have more minerals in it than another dyer’s water or they may have city water with chlorine in it.  All these factors play a role in providing the very best colorfast fibers that a hand-dyer can achieve.

There may be hand-dyers out there that will not agree with me on these points; however, I am leaning on the side of caution and why wouldn’t you?  Our wool designs don’t need to be laundered unless something really nasty happens to them.  We felt every piece of wool that goes into our kits or bundles and like all the other dyers out there, we provide colorfastness to the best of our ability.

To sum up my thoughts.  Don’t be afraid of using hand-dyed fabrics or thread, just treat them carefully when you need to launder them.

Webster’s definition:
felt, n. 1.  a non woven fabric of wool, fur, or hair, matted together by heat, moisture, and great pressure.  2.  a matted fabric or material that resembles felt.

So, when you hear the term wool felt, it is the process described above that has wool fibers mixed with synthetic fibers. There is usually only about 10% wool fibers and the rest is synthetic.  Felt is made like paper with ground-up fibers pressed together to make sheets.  It is a NON WOVEN product.

Felted wool is another product altogether.  It is garment-quality 100% woven wool fabric that has been washed in hot water, rinsed in cold water and dried in the dryer to shrink or tighten the weave.  In the wool appliqué world we call this felting the wool.  Another term used for this process is boiled wool.

The difference in price and quality is light-years away from each other.  One is an heirloom quality fabric and the other is a craft product.

So, the question to ask when ordering a wool kit is:
Does this kit contain 100% woven wool that has been felted or is it felt?

The price should also give a hint if it is pure woven wool that has been felted or simple craft felt.  Felted woven wool can cost up to 10 times the cost of felt but remember, projects made from felted wool are heirloom quality as opposed to a craft project.

I sincerely hope this helps to clear up the confusion of “felted wool”  a high quality woven fabric that has been washed to shrink it, which is what we use, as opposed to “wool felt” that is a non woven craft product.

Try to always purchase a natural fiber for your quilt batt.  There are so many to choose from including, but not limited to: wool, cotton, down, silk, linen, bamboo, or any other natural fiber.