"My Valentine" Tutorial (1)

First things first.  Finding or buying the wool.  I went to Jo Ann Fabric for my material.  They carry 20 and 30 percent wool blends. You can also use 100 per cent wool if you chose.  I bought two yards of white and two yards of red. I have enough of the pink in my stash from previous candle mats. I previously had to dye the wool to obtain the pink because Jo Ann Fabric doesn't carry pink.

After getting home I felted the wool. 

Felting the wool means that I put in the washer with hot water and just a scant amount of laundry detergent.  Then into the dryer on high for about 20 min.  I tend to watch it while it is in the dryer (I don't want it to shrink too much).  Sometimes I take it out before it is completely dry and hang it over something to finish drying.  I bought 2 yards (72inches) but now have 52 inches.   When buying wool make sure you buy enough to account for the shrinkage.  The wool is now nice and thick and feels stronger.

I use freezer paper to make copies  from my templates.  Using a dry iron I press the freezer paper wax side down to the felted wool.  I use large scissors for cutting out the larger pieces.  I find that small scissors do a great job when cutting out the smaller pieces.

I have cut out 6 large pink hearts, 6 medium white hearts and 6 small red hearts.  I also cut out 1 red background and 2 white backing pieces.

OK now I'm ready to start to embroidery the roses.  I will probably do it this evening while I'm watching the bachelor  I don't know how I got caught up in these crazy reality shows but  my husband thinks I'm crazy. Lucky for me he won't be around this evening.

This is not a free design to use. I plan on offering up the pattern for purchase.