Summertime sampler progress

Back on March 30th, I did a class for wool appliqué.  We didn't even open the pattern in the class.  Instead the instructor had us making a coaster.  The coaster was of a wool circle with a flower and a couple of leaves.  It was a good starter kit, to get a handle on how to make the buttonhole stitch and just in general working with wool.

Our next meeting is on May 4th, and I up until this point, haven't even opened my pattern.  I hope she is not expecting us to have it done....lol

Making the coaster, taught me that I like working with the soft texture of wool, and how easy it is to appliqué without having to turn under the seam allowance.

I cleaned the piles up a bit for the picture, but earlier, it looked like colour just threw up all over my cutting table....lol   Don't those piles of colour look yummy!

This next table is across from the cutting table pictured above.  It's my sewing table, where I set up all the black background blocks, with each of the paper patterns of the individual blocks.  I've basically lay out some of the major colours, dispersing them across the quilt.  Minus all the green leaves.

I am currently working on the tea pot and tea cups block.  That is where the hole is, on the table with no block.  The pattern book lays on my machine edge, at the top righthand corner of the picture, and my ironing pad is just to the right of that.

The way I work is, I take the background block to my wool ironing pad, which sits beside my machine.  I staple the plastic see through drawing, of the block design I made, to the top edge of the block.  From there I have the placement pattern and flip it up and down as I need it.  My wool ironing pad is large enough to hold my block, some space for my iron and a corner for ironing the pieces to the Barely There fusible web.  I cut the pieces out, place them on the block, according to the plastic placement sheet and iron them in place.

I will continue this for each piece until I complete the block, layering all the different elements, and moving on to the next block, until all the blocks are done.  The whole process is very soothing.  Playing with colours, drawing the shapes, ironing, cutting , ironing some more, repeat.  I could do this all day.  In fact, until I had to get ready for Easter dinner at my mom's, that is exactly what I did all day.  I felt so peaceful in my happy place.

After all the colour play, I got down to business and completed this block.  My first block of twelve.  This is the watering can full of sunflowers.  I am really loving the texture you get from the different layers of wool and the different shades of yellow with their different fabric patterns.  

I am loving it!!  Can you guess what I will be doing all day today! Lol