I recently had an opportunity to take two half-day classes with the very talented and thoroughly enjoyable Karen Miller of Redbird Quilt Co.! The morning session of the class had us wool appliquéing one of Karen’s lovely wool designs, “Wooly Wren”. Though I consider myself very experienced in wool appliqué, I learned a few new things from Karen and I’m willing to share!
Instead of fusible products, Karen uses tiny little dots Roxanne basting glue to 
hold the appliqué pieces in place while stitching. I had doubts but was pleasantly surprised that it worked great! In using pins to hold the piece in place, stitching thread getting caught on said pins can be a hassle, even with the itsy bitsy appliqué pins I use. The glue made the stitching very nice.
Speaking of stitches, I’m a big fan of buttonhole appliqué stitch but Karen’s suggestion of using the tack stitch was very good, as was the French knots in center of flower buds instead of stitching down the perimeter. The very best part of the wool appliqué is that Aurifil now makes a 12 wt. thread for embroidery!!! The thread was so smooth, glided through the wool effortlessly and is rich with color.
Karen has her own Redbird Quilt Co. collection through Aurifil. 
Look at those colors, so bright and look like spring flowers! I’ll be using this set of threads for a new pattern I’m currently stitching and will have ready to share in the next couple of weeks.
The next time we’re together, I will tell, and show you about the McTavishing portion of my day with Karen Miller.
Those colors remind me of the Carribean or Easter…. both speak of warm breezes! That little wren looks so cute! Just the right attitude… in that pose.