Why I Buy Magazines

I will admit that I have cancelled all my magazine subscriptions. What this doesn't mean is that I don't buy any magazines. I do, and probably too many, but that's another story. This magazine, Primitive Quilts,  was purchased in 2013 and here it is, late March of 2016 and I'm working on the project that piqued my interest almost 3 years ago.

After flipping through the pages of this issue, I knew I had to make this wall hanging. I just didn't know when that would happen. Since I love doing back basting, this was a perfect piece to take on vacation. I just didn't think it would go on two trips.

This is also the first time I've worked with wool. I continue to stay away from all the 'new' things that come my way in regards to quilting. I've got a bit of an addictive personality and if I started working with wool, then I'd need all those threads and with that comes all the new needles, books, workshops....... well, some of you know what slippery slope I've tried to avoid.

Grunge is such a fabulous group of fabrics.  I have used many of their colors and they just lend a really good look to the finished piece.  The designer, Laurie Simpson, of Minick and Simpson used the grey grunge and I loved the look so I copied it.  I did needle turn and used regular cottons for the candy canes. 
Since my collection of wool contained zero pieces, seriously, I had to shop for each color.  I was originally going to use green cottons, but after putting piece after piece onto the layout, there was just something lovely about the wool.  I went with 4 different greens, and since I'm an ex  X stitcher, I have boxes of DMC floss to pick from.

The wool was fused down with a very light product and then I did the blind hem stitch around each leaf.  It was tedious at first, and not what I thought was a good look.  So I did a little section of whip stitching and thought, "yes, that's faster and easier" and went back to finishing that leaf with the blanket stitch.  I started the next leaf with the whip stitch, and quickly went back to the blanket stitch.  It's true, the more you do the better your stitches look, and the wool definitely looked better with the blanket stitch.

Here is everything stitched down, the last bit is the red berries.  25 are on the pattern along with a stem stitch for the berry branches.  I have everything with me to make this a 'finish' with the exception of scissors good enough to cut the circles out with a nice crisp edge. I doubt this will see another vacation, as it's just a few berries.

I've loved this piece since I first saw it, and now, three years later, I'll be able to hang it up at Christmas.  In fact, it's such a good piece there might be a second one at some point, as I think this would make a lovely gift. 

Keep your eyes open for the newest American Patchwork and Quilting June issue, coming to your mailbox or newsstand very soon.  If you don't subscribe, I hope you will purchase this issue as it's packed with great color ideas.  I'm excited to share that one of the reasons my blog has been a bit quiet this past year will be presented to everyone in this next issue.   It's got a wow factor to it, and it was very fun to make. 

Aloha and keep stitching, (yes, I get to say Aloha for one more day)
Sharon