Farmhouse Woolens “Wool Garden”

Can you believe it?  The Wool Garden block of the month from Farmhouse Woolens is complete.  Woo-Hoo!!!  I can hardly believe that over the course of a year I never lost any of the blocks.  I got them finished in a timely manner (deadlines are a good thing!)  And even better is the fact that Baxter, our almost perfect Brittany never ate ANY of it.  If  you don’t believe that Baxter could do such a thing, check this out:

  

I kid you not, I didn’t get to enjoy this one for even 24 hours.  In his defense, he was still a puppy when that happened – last year – and I was silly enough to think I could put a cute pillow on the couch.  What was I thinking?  How long does puppy-ness last on a Brittany?  Be gentle with me & tell me it’ll only be another week or so.  I’m just sayin….

Back to our story: we started this a year ago and we’re ready to finish it up. I’m sure EVERYONE is totally up-to-date on doing their blocks – right?  :-)  I made the sample for Mrs. Farmhouse that she has shown on her Farmhouse Woolens site and it finishes a bit differently than most quilts.  I thought I’d attempt to go more in-depth than the pattern instructions and maybe add a tip or two I have from having done it myself.

Ready? 

One little tip on the rick rack.  Look at blocks 1-2-3.  Apply the rick rack between 1 & 2 – leave raw edges.  Now when you apply it between the 1 & 2 and the #3, lay out the rick rack to find a good place for it to fall on the intersection of those 3 blocks.  Then pin at that intersection and then toward the edges of the blocks.  Match your thread to the rick rack or use invisible thread on top with regular cotton thread in the bobbin.

The first section.  Blocks 1 – 2 –3.

The 2nd section.  Blocks 4 – 5 – 6.

The 3rd section.  Blocks 7 – 8 – 9.

And Section 4.  Blocks 10 – 11 – 12.

If you are applying the scalloped wool border, you’ll want to follow the pattern through the “Finishing” section, #4.   

The pattern didn’t specify how wide to cut the binding.  I cut mine 2” wide – on the bias.

VERY IMPORTANT – DO NOT SKIP

Check the scallop pattern against your quilt.  It may or may not fit.  If it doesn’t, you’ll need to re-draw it.  It’ll be well worth any time you spend on this step.  Once the size is perfect, trace pattern onto freezer paper.  Iron it to the wool (no steam).  I like to leave just a bit above the scallop and I will trim the bottom with a rotary cutter so it’s straight.  A nice sharp scissors will make you happy when cutting this out. 

On the back side, mark a line 1” from all edges.  I like to use “Miracle Chalk” to make the line.  Why?  It’s easy to make a line – it feels sorta like soap.  But the best part is that if you want to erase the line, just touch the iron to it and it’s gone.  I LOVE IT! 

Pin the straight edge of wool along the line you just drew on the back of the quilt.  The scallop will stick out beyond the quilt edge in front.  Since wool will stretch, I recommend pinning the wool at the edge of each side first, then working toward the center with pinning.

  

Now, turn the quilt over so you’re looking at the front.  With right sides together, pin binding all the way around the quilt, matching the edge to the quilt.  Now remove the pins on the back side so you don’t hit them with your sewing machine…..When you sew the binding on, you will be sewing through the wool scallop, the quilt, and the binding all at once.  Ready, set, SEW.

Your binding is on so now press the binding edges together, wrong sides together.  Raw edges even.

   

Then fold binding in half again and press away from the seam.

 

 

I always sew binding down by hand but in this case I felt that sewing it to the wool would distort the wool so it wouldn’t lay flat.  I machine sewed it using invisible thread and a small zig zag stitch. 

I should add that the round dots could be added before you apply the scallop to the quilt or you can do it now after it is finished.

 

That’s it.  I’ve read it over and it makes sense to me.  Now, I hope it makes sense to YOU!  I always hope that more information is better than less but if I wasn’t clear on something, please leave a comment and I will get back to you.