Working with Wool – Sandi Bard
If you ever want to work with wool, Sandi Bard is the go to person. She is a wealth of information regarding wool. She has turned wool applique into an art form. Her work is exquisite. To view a slide show of Sandi’s work click here. As you view the slide show, note how even her stitches are. She does it all freehand. It goes to show practice makes perfect.
If you want to learn about felting wool, ask Sandi. If you want to know where to find wool fabrics, ask Sandi. If you can’t remember how to start a button-hole stitch, ask Sandi. If you want to know the best way to do an outline stitch, ask Sandi.
Sandi shared her experiences with wool both good and bad, where the pitfalls were and what she found worked best for her.
Sandi had us use freezer paper as a template for our applique pieces. We were to glue the pieces in place then button-hole stitch them down. Using the water-soluble glue allowed us to place the pieces without pins. That way the floss would not get caught on the pins nor would our fingers. She found that starting on an edge as opposed to a corner would allow for more accurate points. How to stitch an accurate point was also demonstrated.
Everyone in the class chose to work on a gold star pumpkin. Sandi demonstrated the use of clear vinyl as a guide to accurately place our piece as we worked. Unlike cotton, wool is not translucent so a light box would not work. We started by gluing the various pumpkin pieces together first. Then glued the stem to the pumpkin. Then glued the completed pumpkin to the background. Once all the pieces were secured, we started stitching. I was never a fan of applique. I would get frustrated with turning the edges under. This is much easier. No edges to turn under made the stitching go quickly.
I think I’m hooked. I had purchased a pattern for wool applique a few year back. Now I think I’m ready to tackle it.
Thank you, Sandi. I really had a great time in your class.
Now where can I put all this wool?
Cathy
Merrimack Valley Quilters 