I took Allison Glass’ Wool Applique class this morning. Here’s what I left with:
Allison Glass
Wool Applique Class
QuiltCon 2016
2/21/2016
So, one thing I learned was to glue the wool onto the fabric and that helps hold the project in place while I whip stitched them on. But, glue does not work when you are putting wool on wool. That’s why those are pinned. I also learned that we whip stitch the pieces and not blanket stitch them. I’d been blanket stitching (by hand) my previous wool projects. Here’s a sample of the three blocks I’ve done with A Rainbow Garden so far:
A Rainbow Garden
Block #3
3/1/2014
Rainbow Garden
Block #2
Finished 12/29/13
Rainbow Garden
Block #1
Finished 11/17/13
I like how the blanket stitch looks but I don’t know if I’ll keep using it. The whip stitch is much easier. Another thing I learned in the class is that it doesn’t really matter how you do it as long as you like how it looks. I like that. The class gave me confidence in tackling the rest of the blocks in this old BOM. 🙂 I don’t know if I’ll finish the class project. It was just a way to cut wool, use the templates, and whipstitch.
The last lecture of the day was with Angela Walters’ “How to quilt it”. Angela is a great lecturer. She encouraged us to quilt it according to our abilities and to just finish the quilts. Ask myself, what is the most important thing about the quilt and showcase it with the quilting. It could be the pattern, or if I want to showcase the quilting. It could be simple 2 patterns. Whatever you choose, have fun. Use 50w or thinner thread so you don’t see the quilting much. Use 40w or thicker if you want your quilting to show. Obviously, I’m not a confident quilter so give me the 50w. But I’m slowly growing my 40w and thicker thread collection so one day, I’ll be quilting with those. One of her helpful comments was that if you’re stuck, just get started. It’s okay if that just means to baste and stabilize the blocks. If you only know what to do with 1 block, start with that 1 block. Just the act of getting started will help get it finished.
I checked out the vendors one last time then headed home. Apparently we had a plumbing issue while I was out today and the plumbers were taking care of it. The water was off for the thouse so laundry did not get done for the week and I’m back to stealing socks from the kiddos. 🙂
~melanie
I’m glad you made the comment about doing what you like the look of for stitching. I will always use the blanket over the whip stitch, except when I am English paper piecing and the whip stitch doesn’t show. I do like the 3 blocks you’ve been doing and think they look very nice. Blanket stitch helps get neater, straighter, more evenly spaced stitches, I think. It’s all opinions. =) Angela’s class sounds like a real winner!
Thanks for posting Angela Waters tips. Getting started is sometimes by biggest hurdle, and being over confident can get me into trouble too ( like having to rip out pebbling in a border).