Wool Winter Sleigh

Wool Winter Sleigh

By Vicki McCarty, Calico Patch Designs

15” x 12”

How fun would it be to take a horse drawn ride in a fresh snow?  Imagine breathing brisk, cool air while snuggled under a warm quilt.  There is just something exciting about this nostalgic scene captured on my fun penny rug made from Marcus Fabric wool.

Get all the fabrics, hand selected by Vicki! Visit Calico Patch to buy the kit today!

Materials

Requirements based on 42” usable width of fabric. 
Refer to the photograph for ideas of selecting the wool and embellishments. 
I use wool for all the pieces except the backing, which is homespun.

Oatmeal wool for background- 13” x 16”
Blue wool for sleigh- 6" x 8"
Red wool for seat cushion & pennies- 6" x 9"
White wool for snow, flower & blanket- 6" x 11"
Green wool for leaves- 2" x 2"
Black wool for pennies- 12" x 16"
Homespun for backing- Fat Quarter
24 white seed beads
4 gold seed beads
10 black seed beads
Green, black, white, red, & blue 12 wt. perle cotton threads to match the wool (I use Valdani)
Fusible web (I use Lite Steam-A-Seam 2)
Lightweight tear-away stabilizer (I use Sulky Tear Easy Stabilizer)
Applique pressing sheet
Freezer Paper
Tailor’s Chalk (Optional)
The Hole Thing by Creative Grids (Optional)

Cutting

Appliques- Download applique patterns
Oatmeal wool - 13” x 16”
From the Homespun- 14” x 17”

Construction

The applique patterns are reversed so they can be traced on the paper side of the fusible web. Leave ½” between the applique pieces. Cut out the pieces with a ¼” margin all around.

Iron the fusible web on the wrong side of the wool.

Cut the pieces on the drawn lines.

Place an applique pressing sheet over the placement pattern. Use the lines showing through the pressing sheet for piece placement.

Remove the paper backing from piece 1 and place it in the appropriate position. Press to fuse to the pressing sheet.

Continue fusing the pieces in numerical order on the pressing sheet.

Allow the pieces to cool and then peel the applique off the pressing sheet as one piece.

Place the applique in the center of the wool background and press to fuse.

Since wool appliques are thicker than cotton appliques, press from the back side to make sure it fuses.

Stitch the applique down using a blanket stitch and matching 12 wt perle cotton threads.

I added a little detail by using black thread on the red seat cushion. This helps the other embellishments stand out later in the project.

The blue lines on the placement pattern are for embroidery. Trace the blue lines on tear-away stabilizer.  Pin the stabilizer over the applique and stitch a tight outline stitch.  I used green thread for the detail on the sleigh and black thread for the runners (skis).  The tight stitch will perforate the stabilizer making it easy to remove. I just made one stitch up and one stitch across to make the diamond tuck look on the seat.

Next make an oval template using the Oval Pattern.  Cut a 16” square piece of freezer paper.  Find the center by drawing a line 8” from edge left to right and 8” from edge top to bottom (shiny side down).  Place the freezer paper on the Oval Pattern with the center and lines matching the angle and lines on the pattern. Trace the arc from one line to the other.  With shiny side up, fold the freezer paper in half from left to right and then fold again top to bottom.  Cut through all four layers on the arc line you drew. Unfold the freezer paper and the center is your oval template.

Center and iron the shiny side of the oval template on the applique and background. Cut out the oval.  Remove the paper, but set aside the template for the backing in later steps.

Make the wool flower by drawing the Flower Template on freezer paper (shiny side down).  Cut out the template leaving ¼” margin all around.  Iron template with shiny side white wool.  Cut out on the drawn line using the template.  Peel off template.  Baste the bottom edge of the wool strip with matching thread using big stitches.  Leave the needle attached and pull the thread to gather up the wool towards the needle.  Once gathered, join the two ends together with a small tack stitch to make a flower.  Make a knot on the back and then attach the flower to your background over the leaves as marked by a red circle X on placement pattern.

The red dots on the placement pattern are for the seed beads. Sew white beads on the snow and sleigh, black beads on the seat cushion and gold beads in the center of the flower (gold beads not shown on placement pattern).

Iron the freezer paper oval template to the center of the 14” x 17” homespun backing. With scissors, cut around the template leaving about ½” of homespun outside the template. Iron the extra homespun over the back of the freezer paper to turn under the edge. This will keep the homespun from unraveling.  Remove the template.

Place the backing and the applique background with wrong sides together and blanket stitch around the edge.

Make 24-1¹/₄” red pennies and 48- 1³/₄” black pennies. A pattern is provided if to use freezer paper to make templates.

I used The Hole Thing by Creative Grids, mark the wool with tailor’s chalk, and then cut out the pennies.

Center a red penny on top of a black penny and sew together with a blanket stitch, I used blue thread. Then add a second black penny to hide the blue stitches on the back of the first black penny. Sew the black pennies together with a blanket stitch and black thread.  Repeat the process to make 24 pennies.

Sew the pennies, side to side, together in a row by tacking. Lay the pennies half on, half off the edge of the project slightly tugging and stretching to arrange proper spacing. When they look pleasing to the eye, tack the two ends together.

Sew each penny to the background with black thread. You can do it by hand, but I cheated and used my sewing machine’s button/bar tack stitch.

Proudly display and enjoy!

Purchase the wool kit at calicopatchdesigns.com

If you have questions about this pattern, please feel free to email Vicki at Calico Patch Designs.

Vicki McCarty is a designer, instructor and owner of Calico Patch Quilt Shop in Morehead, Kentucky. Her Calico Patch Designs booth and quilting classes are a common sight at AQS QuiltWeek events and other quilt shows across the country. Vicki learned to quilt from her grandmother in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains over 40 years ago and her fresh style of mixing cottons and wools in her patterns has gained a lot of national attention. Vicki was previously published in American Quilter (July 2017, May 2020, and November 21 issue).