Applique is my Passion

My Sheep Wannabees is getting more and more ornate. The more I work on it, the heavier it gets!  The wools and the fibers and the embroidery all add to the interest.  I have been accepted to teach a class on needle felting and hand embroidery at Road to CA, January 23, 2011.  I hope to have this quilt in the show so there is a lot more work ahead.  Felting is an easy technique.  A tool holding three or more needles is used to push the wool fiber into the wool fabric to make a design.  Since I specialize in applique, I am making fused appliques on the backgrounds before I felt.  It just makes sense to me.  The edge of the appliques are easier to see than a drawn line outlining where I want to felt.  The felting in the background is done free form, with no plan.  Then the embroidery is added on top of the felted grass/ground that the animals are walking on.  The embroidery helps to hold the felting in place.  The blocks are added to the main part of the top with seams that go up and do