“I’ll be home for Christmas”…NOT!

Well the Christmas spirit has hit me…I think it was that trip to the Country Loft..the nasty bug bit while I was perusing all the Christmas patterns that I bought while at the Loft!  Before I knew what had happened, I was cutting out the wool pieces to the sweetest JAM pattern called ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’!

Some of my readers have been asking me if I could go over the process of wool applique.  There is no right or wrong way…you do what suits you best…BUT I will tell you what I do…there are many other ways to do it…

I take the pattern sheet and…

..flip it over and draw the reverse pattern with a dark pencil.  This way when I cut out the pattern my girl will be positioned on the left side of the house and I won’t have any problems with the “I’ll Be Home” printing…

Then I get out my Steam-A-Seam Lite (or Heat and Bond Lite) and trace the pattern onto the side with the sticky stuff on the back (see the info on the Steam –A-Seam package).  I taped the pattern to the window and then tape the Steam-A-Seam on top to trace.  (I use the SAS or Heat and Bond to stabilize the wool…keeps it from fraying and I find it easier to work with.  If you don’t like this look and feel substitute the SAS for Butcher’s Paper)

Go to your wool pile and select your colours…decisions…decisions!!  Good thing Molly was there to help!

Iron the Steam-A-Seam on the back…

Cut out your pile…

At home, I put my Teflon sheet over the pattern and place all the pieces on top…but the sheet is at home…so it’s not as easy to transfer.  But I place all the piece onto the pattern and using Roxanne’s Glue I tack it all together and then position it all onto my wool background piece. (make sure you put your dabs of glue in the MIDDLE of the wool pieces not on the edges as it makes it difficult to stitch!)  DO NOT GLUE IT TO THE PAPER PATTERN!!

And here you have it!  All tacked down, ready to be stitched onto the cream coloured wool background!

And because it’s Christmas…it’s just as easy to cut out two as it is to cut out one!! 

Last night I finished stitching down the pieces to one of the pillow tops…I used the tack stitch (whip stitch that is perpendicular rather than slanted).

Tonight I will embroider on the face, window panes and words “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”…LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!  Now if I could only stop humming the SONG!!  AND NO I don’t want to be HOME FOR CHRISTMAS…I’m having way too much FUN!!

YIKES!!  I’m late…OFF to YOGA!

Have thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P