Wool Appliqué the Piece O’ Cake Way

FINISHED BLOCK SIZE: 14˝ × 14˝ or larger, depending on the size of your frame.

Yo-yos are fun to make—in fact, they are kind of addictive. Linda’s Aunt Mildred loves making them and Linda loved using them in this framed basket block.

•Felted wool background fabric: a Chubby (16˝ × 16˝) or a size to fit your frame

•Appliqué threads: Aurifil wool in colors to match or complement the felted wool fabrics

•Sewing thread: 2-ply or 3-ply regular cotton thread to tack the yo-yos to the block

•Quick Yo-Yo Maker (Small) from Clover (optional): This tool is very helpful in making 1¼˝ (30 mm) yo-yos.

Measure the opening in the back side of the frame. Add 2˝ to both the length and the width. Cut the background that size.

2.A felted wool background is too thick to press in half horizontally and vertically. Instead, fold the background in half and draw a ¼˝-long line at each edge of the background to mark the horizontal and vertical centerlines. Place the background on your design wall.

3.Refer to Preparing to Stitch to choose fabrics, fuse the fusible web to all the felted wool appliqués, and cut them out.

4.Place the appliqué pieces on the backgrounds on your design wall. Use the overlay to place the appliqué pieces in the proper position, or place them by eye.

6.Place the yo-yos with the appliqué pieces on the block on your design wall. Play with the placement of the yo-yos until you are happy with the arrangement of colors.

7.Take the block off the wall and fuse the stems, leaves, and tulips to the block.

8.The yo-yos look better if they are tacked to the felted wool background rather than being tightly appliquéd with invisible stitches. Make long stitches that catch the fabric just under the edge of the yo-yo. Since this block will be framed and not subjected to wear and tear, relatively long stitches are fine.

Tack yo-yos to felted wool background with long stitches hidden under edge of fabric. Thread should match yo-yo fabric—our thread is darker so that you can see stitches.

9.When the appliqué is complete, gently press the block on the wrong side if necessary. Trim the block to the size of the opening on the back of the frame.

10.Trim the self-adhesive foam core board to the size of the opening on the back of the frame. Follow the directions on the board and stick it to the back of the block.

11.Secure the mounted block inside the frame. Add hangers or wire. The shop where you bought the framing supplies may help you with these finishing details.

Making Yo-yos

1 If you have the yo-yo maker from Clover, follow the instructions on the package. If you do not have a yo-yo maker, make a template for a 3˝ circle, using the pattern.

2 Trace around the template on the wrong side of a yo-yo fabric scrap. Cut out the circle just inside the drawn line.

3 Finger-press or use an iron to turn under a ¼˝ seam allowance at the edge of the circle.

4 Sew a running stitch around the folded edge of the circle with a doubled strand of regular cotton thread in a matching color. The tighter the stitch, the larger the opening in the finished yo-yo will be.

Sew running stitch around folded edge of circle; thread should match yo-yo fabric—our thread is darker so that you can see stitches.

5 After you have sewn around the circle, pull the thread tight to gather the yo-yo.

6 With the still-threaded needle, make a couple of tack stitches and then knot the thread. Do your best to hide the tack stitches and knot. Bury the tail of thread.

7 Flatten the yo-yo, centering the opening.