Fatigued Friday

It's a little after 10 p.m., and I'm afraid I'm not going to have the next steps of the Happy Jacks quilt to show you tonight. I'm just too pooped! I hope none of you are anxiously waiting to see what's next--I prefer to believe that those of you making this quilt are trying to catch up on making all your blocks and getting them sewn into a quilt! But, just in case you're sitting there, twiddling your thumbs and toes, here are a few thoughts about using wool for the Jack faces.

Yes, wool will work best, because you can sew it on while quilting and not worry about turning the edges under or ending up with fraying edges. So if you don't already have black wool, force yourself to head down to the quilt shop and get some! You won't need much--a fat quarter will be plenty. If you buy wool from a bolt, make sure you wash and dry it first to get the excess dye out and felt it. That way, you'll be able to wash your quilt later and not worry about the wool. And, if you're not familiar with felting wool and if you just need a small amount, boil some water on the stove or in the microwave, stick your wool into it for a bit, and then toss it into the dryer on high heat. Voila! Felted wool!

If you don't buy wool from the bolt, just make sure the weave is tight. I've seen overdyed wools in the shops that I'm not sure wouldn't unravel a bit with this method.

If you don't have wool or chose not to use it, you could probably just use cotton and Steam-A-Seam or some other fusible material. And although I'm normally a BIG proponent of hand applique, I think it would just be too much work with this project.

As far as making the faces, I mentioned before that I just grabbed my scissors and wool and started cutting eyes and mouths for the Jacks. If you're not comfortable with such lack of planning, another suggestion I have is that you draw your eyes and mouths on freezer paper and iron it onto your wool. Then you can cut your pieces on your drawn lines and peel off the freezer paper.

So there. Even though I'm an awful slacker tonight, I've given you some homework to keep you occupied until I can catch up. I'll try to get the next instructions posted by Saturday afternoon sometime, west coast time.

Also this weekend, I plan to post for you another decorative display using thrift store finds--probably on Saturday night's post. Yes, I sacrificed myself to the thrift stores today on your behalf. The things I do for you because I like you so much! I'll share with you now photos of a couple little needlepoint pieces I found. They'll need to be reframed, but I think they're kind of cute! And please ignore the fact that I haven't even bothered to wipe the price off yet--I just grabbed them out of the bag and took their photos because I thought you might enjoy seeing them.

Finally, remember when I went thrifting a week or two ago and showed you all the stuff out on the bed? Since Halloween's coming, I've meant to get a closer photo of this owl piece because it didn't show up well among all the other things.

Kind of goofy, huh? It sure brings back memories of the 1960s/1970s! But I like goofy, so it came home with me and has been on display in my witch's cabinet.

Now, go get your homework done--I'll be back to check up on you before long!