What We’re Stitching 2

I love working with felt! It is so easy to stitch into and never frays. I’m hoping my students in Mi Casa es Su Casa class at the Asociación Española de Patchwork festival enjoy it too. Follow along and you’ll see one of the methods I’m showing them for creating their own designs.

The cloud is stitched to the background fabric and now I’ve added a grassy knoll. The green felt is stitched with a variegated size 8 thread called Lime Frappe. Blanket stitches are placed across the base of the knoll and I’m peppering the rest of the fabric with the scattered seed stitch.

I’m also adding a few French knots to the knoll to cheer it up.

I can’t wait to see what my students create with their kits of felt fabrics!

What We’re Stitching

Would you like to follow along with the class I’m teaching for the Asociación Española de Patchwork called Mi Casa es Su Casa? In this class, students free-cut shapes from felt fabrics and add intense hand embroidery. I’ve made up kits using Commonwealth Felt. They are suppliers of beautiful bright colors. I recommend felt with at least 20% wool content.

The process for creating their little felt casa begins with a background fabric. I picked this wine colored felt as a challenge to myself. It’s so dark and moody!

But I cheered myself up by placing a large billowing cloud on it. The cloud shape is free-cut to shape and held in place with large running stitches. Around the edge, I’m adding blanket stitches using a size 8 Ocean thread.

Although you’ve seen the finished product above, trust me. This design is completely improvised. Which is what I’ll be asking of my students. Improvisation makes the design unique to each person.

How to Pack Softly

One of the mysteries of travel is how to pack a suitcase. For me, there are three big concerns: weight, keeping things dry, and packing so nothing breaks while en route. My lightweight cloth suitcase with wheels is my go-to companion on trips. And having seen my luggage sitting on the tarmac in a heavy rainstorm, I know that everything in my suitcase must be in a plastic bag.

And then there is breakage. In the past my hand-dyed threads were displayed in plastic trays at a venue. And often I returned with the plastic trays cracked or broken by the airline baggage system. But finally I came up with a soft, lightweight, non-breakable solution- fabric trays.

How to Make a Quick Fabric Tray

  • Choose an old quilt that is hankering for a new life. The quilts I’m using measure about 20 inches by 20 inches.
  • Fold the quilt with the right sides together at each corner. Stitch across the folded quilt at about 3 inches from where the sides meet to the fold.
  • You may want to use the walking foot on your machine.
  • Roll the corner flaps back to reveal the pretty quilt interior.
  • Fill the fabric trays with beautiful hand-dyed threads.
  • Enjoy your flight!