FULLED  WOOL  QUILTS  continued

Right is my Harvest Tabletopper made with two shades of hand dyed wool and some wonderful Fimo vegetable buttons.  The center area of each circle is machine embroidered in a quilting design.  I used a coordinating cotton print on the back and binding is the normal bias binding.

If you make fulled wool by recycling old clothing which you disassemble and shrink, you will end up with unusual shaped pieces.  Fulled wool, however, doesn't have any nap or bias stretch (it is also windproof and waterproof) so you can cut your pieces out to make the best use of the fabric.  You also don't have to include seam allowances, you cut them out finished size.  For instance when you take a man's jacket apart and full it you end up with a lot of narrow rectangular pieces, perfect for cutting strips.

Below left is a design I am currently working on -- a Prairie Braid pattern, to use up a lot of those strips.  This one is about 3/4 recycled wool from men's jackets, which tend to be slightly more textural when they are fulled.  Because most of them were dark colors I also used several shades of green, peach and rust hand dyed fulled wools to brighten the braids up.  The braids will be set surrounding a center lighter fulled wool area that is embroidered and has ultrasuede appliques on it. 

Because you get unusual shapes when you full from old clothing, crazy piecing is a natural for fulled wool quilts. 

Click here to  take a look at some crazy piecing using fulled wool.