Easter Theme Stitching Projects

Once my back pain started to get

under control last week I started to get bored out of my mind. These stitching projects helped to relieve the boredom. The background fabric is hand dyed using Wilton Cake dyes. The carrots and many of the fabrics in the flowers were also hand dyed.

The rabbits are cut from a gray flannel wool that used to be slacks from

Goodwill. Wool off the bolt is very expensive ($20+++), but a pair of slacks or a skirt from Goodwill can provide a good bit of fabric for less than $4. I wash it on a hot/cold cycle and then dry it on high in the dryer. The fabric felts up well enough so that it doesn't fray when I cut it.

Online searches for coloring pages can provide line drawings that can be used as patterns. That is how I found the carrot shapes. I do not trust my own drawing ability.

Making the Colors I Want

One interesting thing has been to overdye wool from tweed jackets. You get a more dimensional color that way.

People who do rug hooking, like my sister, love to use these overdyed tweeds in their projects because they give subtle changes in shading. I use them in my projects to add a pattern to my solid colors. The sunflowers I made using some orange over-dyed tweed looks just fabulous!

Here are some examples of the colors of hand dyed wool I have been making in my kitchen. Using Wilton cake dyes and Vinegar, these strips of cream colored wool have been transformed into a rainbow of colors. I have found that the longer you keep the wool in the dye pot, the more vibrant the colors are.

Daffodils Wool Applique Art

Here is a project that I recently completed. It is a wool applique wall hanging made from felted wool and felt balls. The background is felted wool from an old winter coat in a soft cream color. The stems, leaves and grass are made with felted wool from a pair of slacks obtained at a local thrift store. The wool in the daffodil blossoms is hand dyed by me. I used Wilton cake dyes to create several complementary shades of orange and yellow. I cut the pieces and hand-stitched them to look very like real daffodil blooms.

All the elements of the picture are embroidered with the blanket stitch using either persian wool floss or perle cotton floss.

This project was alot of fun to make and has inspired me to do some more similar flower pictures.