Kicking It Up A Notch

While at Quilt Market this past week I came across Sue Spargo's new book, Creative Stitches. My first thought was "BINGO!" Finally, a book that takes my Wool Crazy and kicks it up a notch. I love my Wool Crazy pieces but I have to tell you, once I have that applique on there, I am stumped. I find myself thinking, now what?! Yep. It's always the same old stitches for me and I just cannot get motivated to find new ones to add... so I just applique my pieces and they sit there, waiting to be embellished... forever!

Yes, my Wool Crazy unfinished pile is tall, and it is definitely not because my Wool Crazy books don't have the most amazing applique templates ever, it's because once I have them on there I can't think of how the heck to embellish them.

Needless to say, when I saw this book I was beyond excited. I was thrilled. Check out the little chick up there, hello?! This is from the book, Now who the heck thinks like that? Sue Spargo does. 

This book does not have applique patterns of any kind, this book is all about the stitches. There are diagrams for each stitch and a color photo of the finished piece. I tell you, this book is amazing, and a perfect reference for those of us who love our Wool Crazy applique and are looking to kick it up a notch. Don't miss this one, it'll help you get back on track and breathe new life into those Wool Crazy projects. Have fun!

You can order the Creative Stitches book here:

http://www.pumpkinpatchprimitives.com/catalog.php?item=2211

Folk Branches Has Arrived!

Jo Ann Mullaly's new book, Folk Branches has finally arrived at the Pumpkin Patch. It's chock full of beautiful wool projects, including some more of her wonderful Wool Crazy ones.

 Bags, totes, pillow and throws...

A little bit of everything, for everyone. Start small and work your way up.
This book is just wonderful. If you've fallen off the Wool Crazy wagon, dust yourself off and get back on. It's time to get back to creating beautiful things for yourself, your family and your home. Surround yourself with things that inspire you, start something you can actually finish and before you know it, you'll be back on track.
Order your copy today and get to it!
You'll find it here:
Folk Branches Book
Wool Bundles are back in stock too. You'll find those here:
Wool Bundles
Have some Wool Crazy fun today!

Kim's "lady"

Close up of hat

french knots empire dress

the entire lady.

Anyone sewing on their crazy quilt?

Kim's quilt

Now with the cooler weather has anyone gotten their crazy quilt out?
I'm gonna try and get back to it this Fall and Winter.

Happy sewing, Kim

Wool Crazy Pincushion Update

Hi!  Do you remember the group of friends I did my wool crazy round robin with last fall?  This was Debbie's top when she got it back after we all had stitched on it.

 Yesterday I went for a visit and she has it finished!  She decided to remove some of the buttons and do some addition wool work on her section.  She then stuffed it with fiber fill and around the outside crushed walnut shells so it wasn't too heavy.

 Here is a close-up of her revised section.  Didn't she do a lovely job?

Well done Debbie, I'm sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.

New Wool Crazy Patterns

Thisngs are awfully quiet around here so I thought I'd post some new patterns I've added to the shoppe just in case a little inspiration is required. We ll loose our Mojo sometimes so here are some links to get you back on track! Have fun!

Wool Garden Crazy

Oh this one has a vintage feel without going lacey. Fun without cute, Spring without pastels... gotta love that!

Wool Ark Crazy
I love Noah's Ark, so this one was a no brainer. I had to have it!

Wool Crazy Fall Block

Look how much I've finished!!

WOOHOO!!

I have finished the appliques on the Fall block. I may add a few more small ones here and there to fill in. Next I will add all the embroidery stitches and embellishments. WOW, I can't believe I have this much finished.

I also made this little pillow adapted from the Crazy at Home book.

I'm really enjoying this craziness!

Happy Stitching,

Judy

First Block

Wool Crazy First Block

I decided to make my blocks seasonal. I started this project last Fall and that is why I'm still working on the Fall Block. That explains the turkey at the top. Now I want to start on the Spring block. I'm yearning for tulips and bunnies. I am going to try to finish this block first. But I have a feeling I will be yearning for Summer (or maybe Fall again) by the time I finish. I love hand sewing the wool appliques on, but it is time consuming.

Happy Sewing!

Judy

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.