Wool Crazy piece finished!

I've finished my latest wool crazy piece.  It came about from another piece I was working on and I decided to combine them together. Can see my initials, shh in the top right corner and the date 2010 below the Christmas tree.

 I decided not to make it directional, to keep interest in it.  I use a crescent moon and star along with my initials for my label on the back of most pieces I make.  Here it was fun to incorporated them in the wool.

 I managed to cover the four seasons in this piece.  This portion is mainly Autumn and Winter.

 This area is mainly Spring and Summer.  I used some original designs and adapted some from JoAnn Mulaly's Wool Crazy book.

 As you may have noted, there is a snowflake button the the Christmas tree, as the piece fold up on itself.  Because it is a Huswif Sewing Case.

 Here is the inside, designed by our friend Kaaren Johnston from The Painted Quilt.  I made mine a bit wider and did not curve the top as she did on her design.  I also added an additional tulip pocket to hold a needle threader.

There are two pockets to hold addition things you may need for your next sewing project.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I have making it.  Now onto something new.

Inside The Pages of Crazy at Home

I went to Quilt market where I was thrilled to have found JoAnn Mullaly's booth. It was chock full of treasures and among them were the projects from the new book, Crazy at Home. The pillow I am holding and all the projects pictured are found in this new book. It's hard to choose a favorite but I'm going with the pillows because I just love having pillows on my couch. There are two of them in the book, but I am blocking the other one. Well, I had to stand somewhere! LOL! And JIC you were wondering.... yes, I did see THE Wool Crazy quilt

And yes, I did meet THE Wool Crazy Lady herself, Jo Ann Mullaly... but now I'm just name dropping, LOL! I'm so bad!
You can preorder your copy of Crazy at Home HERE.
They will ship on Black Friday. =)

Crazy at Home has arrived!

Jo Ann Mullaly's new Crazy at Home has just arrived at Pumpkin Patch Primitives. Yes, it is now in stock. The projects are gorgeous.

This book was well worth the wait.

You can order it HERE

Completed Canadian Wool Crazy Round Robin Tops

Today we made the final exchange of our pin cushion wool crazy pieces.  First up is Ethel's Mr. McGarrity's Garden.  She is thinking of making it a pocket for a sewing bag.  The house and sheep were made by our friend Sandi.  Debbie did the tree on the left with a rabbit hiding in the grass.  I did the white rabbit and corn in the centre.  Ethel started us off with the black rabbit, grey fence and hollyhocks on the right. 

 Here is Debbie's Halloween, she started the piece at the top.  I added the skeleton tree, black cat, pumpkin and moon.  Ethel added the witch flying on the broom over the pumpkin patch.  Sandi added the witches boot, spiders and candy corn.

 Sandi's Autumn theme piece started with her oak leaves and acorns on the top right.  I added the turkey, cone flower and thistle.  Later I added the moon and stars and heart on the turkey.  Debbie created the pumpkin, black cat and scarecrow.  Ethel finished it off with a pumpkin patch and little one dressed up in rain gear to pick out the perfect pumpkin.

 My theme was flowers and bugs, it started with the tulip, lady bug and bee.  Ethel then designed the daffodil and butterfly portion.  Of to Debbie for the fantasy flowers, raindrops, there is a mouse at the base of one flower and a button.  Sandi added the lovely dragonfly with metallic stitched wings.  Ethel then took it back and added a fairy to finish it off.

I think we all did a lovely job on our friends pieces and can't wait to see them finished.  When they are done, I'll post another picture.  I've put some detail pictures on my own blog if you care to drop by for a peek.  I don't know about the rest of my friends but I'm addicted too wool applique!

We're like the Energizer Bunny

We keep going, and going, and going!

Here is the first of the finished WC RR PC's of of Second WC Round Robin.

This piece has traveled near and far and is now heading home to Sharon (Red Geranium Cottage) after many months of travel and many loving stitches from all who worked on it. Isn't it a dream? On it's last stop in NH, Joanna (Applique Today) added this stunning birdhouse.

I think any birdie would be happy living in that cutie, helloAnd she also added the word wool to the center. How cool is that? Very cool indeed.

Now this sweet RRPC is headed home. If you are just joining us and missed it's progression just click on the tag below and you'll find all the posts relating to this particular RR.

Stay tuned for the other three bases from this RR, they are quite a feast for the eyes.

I'll be back soon, Brenda

New Wool Crazy project

This is my next wool crazy project.  Our pin cushions are still being worked on but we won't be showing any more pictures for awhile until two of our group get back from vacations.  I decided to try a different shape to work with another project.  Several of these wools I found as clothing in thrift shops and felted them. I basted them onto a piece of Osnaburg.

I've started to do some crazy stitching and removing the basting as I go.  I'm still deciding what appliques I'll add to the piece.  I'm mixing both DMC perle cotton and Valdani cottons at the present.  I may add some wool threads into the mix.

First Wool Crazy - Making Progress

This is my first time posting, but I have following the Wool Crazy group for awhile :). It's so much fun to see how everyone puts their own unique

stamp on these blocks. I have been working on my crazy block on and off for about 2 months - in between work, family, and other sewing projects. I am having so much fun with it and am already planning my second block!

Here is the original foundation I made about 2 months ago. A special thanks to Sharon Stewart of Liberty Rose for starting the group so we could have access to her amazing wool stash! I knew I wanted to feature holidays on my first block, so I picked all kinds of spring, summer, fall colors so that I could display this year-round.

Here is the "rough" layout of my main appliques. Some pieces seemed to naturally fit (like the flag and the snowman), but I was having a hard time figuring out how to place the rest of them. After playing around with these a few days, I decided I needed to switch out some of my foundation colors so the appliques would show up better.

Here is the "refined" layout. I added in some darker backgrounds and settled on the final placement of my main appliques. For the center area, I plan to embroider a big bunch of flowers in the jack-o-lantern and maybe add some bats, candy, etc.



I eventually plan to include some smaller appliques such as chicks and flowers. My plan is to stitch these down, and then go back and start doing all my embellishing. I'm sure that will take some time, but I look forward to it! Thanks for reading!

Another Wool Crazy pin cushion round robin update!

Debbie had some fun with Sandi's Fall theme. She stitched a black cat in violet pink thread sitting on top of the pumpkin on the left. The elegant Scarecrow lady guards over the huge pumpkin.
Ethel had some fun creating a witch flying on a broom over the pumpkin patch on Debbie's piece. A cat decided to hop along for a ride.

Some sunflowers and a ghost are peeking out of the pumpkin patch and a bat flies overhead.

Debbie stitched a lovely apple tree in Ethel's Mr. McGarrity's garden.

Did you spot the birds nesting in the tree and the rabbit hiding in the grass?

Debbie had some fun with flowers and bugs on my piece. I love the butterfly she added.

Did you spot the mouse at the base of the left flower and the caterpillar button also?

Sneak Peak

A  little sneak peak of the beginnings of my wool crazy pin cushion round robin.  Now shipping off to Sandi......  Can't wait to see what transpires.

autumn crazy patch

Finshed my autumn crazy patch! what fun I loved doing the smaller round version it's 18"! Now I want to do one with a sewing theme. I used fusible fleese as my foundation with the fusible side facing the bottom, this made finishing a snap I simply ironed the backing onto the fleese and trimmed around the edge and then applied double fold bias binding. Easy peasy!

Another Pincushion Round Robin Update from Canada.
One thing I should mention is that we had a hard time getting all four of us together, as a result I've now stitched on everyone's pincushion! But I'm only going to reveal them as each round is finished. This is Debbie's Halloween theme, I added the black cat sitting on a crescent moon pumpkin with a skeleton tree.

This is Ethel's Mr. McGarrity's garden photographed on Debbie's back porch as I handed it off. I added another rabbit, white this time along with some cornstalks and some green onions growing in the dirt. Another photo I took has a bee flying along the upper green patch!
Here is Sandi's Fall theme. Her birthday falls in early October and often falls on Canadian Thanksgiving, hence the turkey theme to my contribution along with a thistle and echinacea flower.

Ethel's contribution to my flower and bug them was this lovely daffodil, tulip and butterfly along with some white daisies.

Thanks for letting us share our pieces with you.

Taking Wool Crazy to a Whole New Level

There is something to be said for "practice makes perfect". You've heard that phrase, haven't you? I think we've all heard it, at one time or another. I thought of how it applies to crafting and in particular to our ongoing Wool Crazy Round Robin #2. Take a look at Joanna's contribution to Anna's pincushion. First of all, Joanna LOVES beads. She is a bedazzler if I ever met one. But I gotta tell you, I would have never thought to make the watering can look like it had polka dots with all those beads.

Isn't that amazing? Oh, and you gotta love the velvet rick rack. Hello? Jo takes Wool Crazy to a whole new level.

This is Anna's pincushion as it heads out to its last stop before heading home.

Joanna is an experienced crafter so don't feel bad if your work (like mine) isn't quite as fancy as hers. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Hope your weekend is filled with Wool Crazy fun. Enjoy! Brenda

These photos were taken by Joanna before she shipped it out to Sharon.

Another Wool Crazy Round Robin Pincushion group.

Hi, my name is Sandi, a friend of mine named Ethel told me Wool Crazy this Spring. As I was going on a driving holiday to California, I told her I would look for the book and purchase it for her if I found it. Unfortunately I didn't find it, but she got a copy from Pat Sloan's site. Ethel also introduced me to this blog and I suggested that we do a pincushion round robin. At first she declined and then she decided to try it. She made one in about 3 days! Now to find 2 other friends to play. We did and here are our first rounds. Ethel's piece is called Mr. McGarrity's garden, her bunny is just so sweet! She has used wool thread to do all her stitching. Ethel is a very prolific quilter and has been a spinner and weaver in the past. She is a well known quilter in our community.

This is my starting piece with the theme of Flowers and bugs. I have used both Valdani and DMC perle cotton threads on mine.

Our friend Debbie loves all things Halloween and you can tell from her colour choices. Debbie is also a rug hooker and quilter. She has created many lovely pieces.

Our final member is also named Sandi and her theme is Fall. Sandi does lovely cross stitch, quilting and is another rug hooker. I met all these ladies about 17 years ago at a local quilt shop. I plan on sharing our pieces as they grow.

Wool Crazy RR Update

I'm still trying to complete my first Wool Crazy Round Robin pincushion and I am happy to report that my center is done. I added the little boot before I sent my base on its travels and I am happy to report that it is now done.

This is how my base looks today: and here's a close up of my fancy boot. Are you lovin' the spider? I still have much to do to complete the base but I thought I'd show you how its coming along. Hope you're having some wool crazy fun...Brenda

A Little Bit At A Time

Hi Everyone -
Well, I'm moving slowly on my Wool Crazy but thoroughly enjoying it.

I hadn't picked it up in awhile but we put some new windows in the house - year three on the three year plan :) - and the sewing room was torn up so I decided to return to the relaxing art of hand work. I have much more to add but trying to work on just the appliques right now. Everyone's pictures are such an encouragement - thanks for sharing and happy stitching!

I'm in Wool Crazy Heaven!

Look at what came in the mail todayThis is Joanna's Wool Crazy pincushion, now in progress. Joanna is part of the second wool crazy round robin. I know, it gets confusing so just know she is in a WC RR. =) Her pincushion has traveled far and is now close to home and close to being finished. Anna Romaine Fogg added a little house and gorgeous garden to Joanna's Small Town theme.

The house has a 4Sale sign... I guess even the pincushions can't escape the recession, LOL!

I'll be working on my contribution to this cutie this week. Stay tuned for the final chapter of Joanna's WC journey. =) Brenda

Wool Crazy Pincushion Round Robin THREE, Now In Progress!

We now have two Wool Crazy Round Ronbins in progress. This pincushion base belongs to Sandi Linn Andersen who is taking part in the third and final WC Pincushion Round Robin. It arrived just in time for the weekend. Once I got going, I just could not put it down. Here's what I added to it:

and this is what it looks like now. It's now heading to Canada for Kaaren to add her creativity to it before heading back for its last contributor before heading home.

Sandi added the corn stalk before sending it to me. This is going to be one to watch, stay tuned!