Third Try with Wool

I recently posted pictures of my Striped Heart and Purple Mountain Majesties.

Both are made with strips of wool appliqued down with embroidery.  It seemed like a good idea, but I didn't know how it would turn out.

I made the heart first and used some painted aida cloth and multi-colored floss. 

Then I added beads to fill in the gaps.  The whole stitching process went smoothly.

When I went to finish it the aida was difficult to work with - hearts are a difficult shape with both inward and outward points and aida doesn't ease well.  I had liked the idea of the paint showing through but when I finished you could barely see it.

So, I tried something different the next time around.

I used needlepoint canvas.  I managed to completely cover it so none of the canvas was visible.  I liked working on the stiffer fabric.  But, sometimes I wanted to split the thread and other times I didn't so I was constantly switching between a tapestry needle and a sharp needle.

Now, I'm on my third wool strip project.

Christmas ornaments this time.  I'm using some fabric I picked up at an elephant sale.  It's a cross between linen and burlap.  Since not much of it will be showing I don't care what it looks like and I can use a sharp needle.  It should be much easier to finish than the aida. 

So far so good, I'll let you know how it works.