Living Like a Rebel!

In June (2017) I was on a purging and organizing campaign. 

Flicka loves wool too! June 2017

I began by pulling out my wool applique' stash!  In the early 2000's, when I first fell in love with this art form, I had a difficult time finding supplies.  As supplies became more accessible, I started hoarding building a stash!  That process included wool pieces ... and when possible I would purchase kits!  I neglected to take a picture of the tote filled with kits ... YIKES ... I was completely overwhelmed!   It seemed an impossibility that I would ever make a dent in it  ... to say I was discouraged is an understatement!

Fast forward 6 months ... yesterday (1/2) I pulled out that tote of kits!  I am a pragmatic and proactive person, so having had time to get over my abundance of wool kits emotionally ... I developed a plan to make progress on completing some of the kits. This sweet snowman is the first wool applique' kit I bought... back in 2002 while visiting a quilt shop in northern Minnesota.  Just know ... to implement my plan I had to go rogue!  Yep, the dillydally defiant disorder resulted in tossing aside traditional practices and being guilty of noncompliance.  Living like a rebel!  I have sewn a lot of garments using wool, and have had training in textiles, so felt mostly confident I could make my plans work!  With a bit of doubt ... yesterday afternoon I decided to dive in!

I like to decorate with snowmen after Christmas.  I use them for my seasonal "winter" decorations.  That means that I wait and put them out in January ... and they might stay up through April!  Winter is a long season in my remote corner of the planet.  Sew ... first I deleted the holly leaf wreath that surrounds him in the pattern ... it screams Christmas.  I traced his pieces on fusible web and then pressed them together.  I found out that many of the fabrics were not 100% wool.  Yep ... there was a mess on the iron.  Fortunately the kit had generous pieces of fabric, and I could replace the pieces that were ruined.

Here he is on the background that came with the kit ... sort of a yucky grey blue ... the texture was a bit stiff ... none of which made me happy.

Good thing I have a stash!  Pulled out this wonderful plaid ... but it was just too dark.

Back in the stash ... and pulled out this light blue!

Perfect!  Now I could move forward!  So happy to have a stash!

Pressed ... layered ... and pin basted!  All accomplished under Flicka's supervision! 

I chose this design to test out my rogue intentions because the shapes are simple and relatively large.  In this photo the buttonhole stitch is done on the hat and knot.  I was happy with the results!  Onward!

Everything is stitched in place!  I used a straight stitch on the star, and black circles, as pieces with sharp points and tight curves are difficult to do with the buttonhole stitch.

Time to quilt the background!  Just a simple diagonal ... wool moves around much more than cotton ... even with the walking foot!

Done!  And I love him!  He is soft as butter!  Gosh ... I love wool!  Next I pulled out some blue flannel, and a zipper to make the pillow back.

After patiently waiting 15 years, Mr. Snowman can begin his new life on the DillyDally couch!  I cannot begin to tell you how great it feels to have finished him! 

"Finished is better than perfect!'

I don't know who to credit for that quote ... but I am feeling it!

Do what you love!  Be a rebel!  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally