Summer Workshops: Early Signs of Fall

My contribution to Cotton Spice's Summer Workshops is a Woolen project I have titled Early Signs of Fall, for the obvious reasons. This is an original design and is shared in good faith. It is protected by all copyright laws and cannot be reproduced for sale or mass market. With that said, let's get to the fun part!Materials Needed:
a. Fat quarter of Background fabric. I used burlap, you can find this at Walmart. Other options include Prairie Cloth, Wool, Flannel or even flat cotton...use whatever you like, it's your project!
b. 2"x3" scrap of wool for leaf (I used a mottled green but remember that leaves are of all shapes, sizes and colors during fall so don't get hung up on the color; use whatever you have)
c. 8"x3.5" Black wool for Crow (If you don't have wool, use flannel!)
d. 7"x3" Lt.Brown/Tan wool for pumpkin stem -curl
e. 4"x6" Lt.Brown/Tan wool for pumpkin stem -base
f. 2"x2" Dark Brown for Acorn Cap
g. 2"x2" Golden Brown for Acorn bottom
h. 9"x11" wool for Pumpkin
i. 14"x14" Batting of your choice
j. 14"x14"muslin
Optional: wood 12"x12" frame (Commonly used to frame Scrap booking pages; available at Micheal's and Walmart!), adhesive spray and Foam board (AC Moore!)
Prepare materials:
1. Trace all templates onto fusible web. No seam allowance is needed. There really is no need to reverse the templates, unless you have a serious preference as to which side you want your crow to be on. I must admit that my original pattern had the crow on the other side of where my project has it. I didn't reverse it and I like it just the same. If you choose to reverse the pattern just make sure you reverse ALL the templates, not some... (not that I have ever done that!LOL!) You may choose to remove the center of the template or leave it in. I chose to remove the middle part but if you are using the light fusible I would just leave it in.
2. Felt all wool (wash using mild soap and dry in dryer. I use fabric softener but it is not needed. I do not add a towel, I just toss it in the dryer alone. It works for me!
Assemble:
1. Layer Background, Batting and Muslin and secure. I use fusible batting but if you use regular batting just baste it. Because I used burlap and it frays I stitched all sides.

2. Iron the Fusible web to the back of your wool. The "back" is the "non fuzzy" side. if you can't tell which is the wrong side/back then iron it onto the side that you like the least. This ensures that the fuzzy side, or nicest side, will be the side you will see once your project is complete!





3. Referring to the photo and making sure your project is centered in the frame opening start to fuse your wool pieces in the following order.
Note! Wool is not easy to fuse. Hence I fuse, stitch and then fuse some more. If you fuse all your pieces they will start falling off...really!
a. The Pumpkin:
This is important!!!!
When you assemble your pumpkin start from the outside moving in, make sure you overlap your pieces only about 1/4" and play with the pieces until the pumpkin looks just the way you like it. You can also use tracing paper and just fit them exactly as I have done. DO NOT FUSE YET!Now, once you have your pumpkin pieces in order then, tuck the stem into the top. Refer to picture for detail look at how I did it. Not all pumpkin pieces are under the stem, look at the picture but ultimately make your pumpkin as you like it.Stitch the pumpkin down before you go any further! I used a blanket stitch. DO NOT fuse anything else...just stitch down the pumpkin!
b. NOW, after your pumpkin and stem are stitched on the background move on to the crow and leaf. Make sure you put the other pieces on too to make sure you like the arrangement. Do not fuse anything else , just the crow and leaf at this time. Then stitch them on.
c. Lastly, stitch the curly stem tail and the acorn. The acorn will bridge the stem base and the curly tail.
Now Iron your project and square it.
Once everything is stitched on the background you are done! Now, you can choose to frame it as I have done by simply trimming the piece to the frame's insert size and attaching it to foam board using a spray adhesive Or. You can trim it down and add a binding. If you choose the bind your piece add a backing to give it a finished look.
Enjoy!