I was very excited when I received the peacock die from Crafter’s Edge! I just love peacocks! There used to be one that roamed freely along the road on which I traveled to pick up my grands from school. It always made my day to see it and especially if it was strutting it’s beautiful plumage! Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him in a while. I’m hoping that he has been placed in a fenced area and is safe. Our kiddos visited a zoo recently and there was one roaming around and wanted to go home with them. I wish I had the picture to show you. It followed them all the way to their car!
I wanted to try wool with my Crafter’s Edge Crossover II cutting machine, and remembered I had some 5×5 squares in my stash. I chose a few colors and began cutting. It cut through the wool like a dream!!
I decided to make a candle mat. It’s larger than a mug rug, but could be used as one. I chose a teal Island Batik scrap I had in my stash and cut it to the size I wanted. I cut the backing the same size. Next I used Quilter’s Dream Fusible and, following manufacturer’s directions, adhered it to the back of the fabric.
First I took the five small dark teal ovals and added a little Roxanne’s Glue-Baste It to the back and ironed them in place on five of the feathers. I love this product and use it a lot in quilting, especially to hold bindings in place while stitching them down. After gluing them in place, I stitched them using a blanket stitch.
Next, I decided the placement of the feathers and glued the two dark red ones in place and stitched them with the blanket stitch. I continued in this fashion until they were all secured, and then added the body.
After all blanket stitching was complete, I added the backing, right sides together and stitched, leaving a small opening for turning. I then turned the mat, and stitched the edges as shown. Next, I carefully straight-stitched around the entire peacock close to the edges, then again about 3/8 of an inch away. This was just enough quilting to hold everything in place. Here is the finished project!
I hope you like my pretty peacock! I know they don’t have red feathers, but I only had so much blue and black!! I will link up today with Joy at The Joyful Quilter!
I didn’t notice on the CE facebook post that you used wool for the peacock. Now I like it even more. I love working with wool–another project idea for me. :)–and another great project for you!
Hi again! Your wool peacock turned out just fab. I love all the colors you chose – it is very pleasing all the way around. That die cutter looks like it works well, and that particular die would be great for other designs as well. Like a Dresden maybe? {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
So cute Brenda. I wonder if you used fall colors if that peacock would look like a turkey? Maybe you would need to add a waddle? Just a wild and crazy thought, lol. I love how the Crossover II cuts felt. It’s my favorite material to cut.
What a fun project~~!~~ Well done ! So, the question is…more wool in your future? I don’t use any and I have several friends trying to convince me to hand applique…..nope…not my deal. As I was looking at this, and the beautiful batik background I started to think how much fun you could have with other batik scraps making peacocks. QUESTION – if you are cutting cotton, do you put something on the back first, like heat n bond lite? I do that when I machine applique using the embroidery machine or the sewing machine. Just curious. Looks like a great time and a fun story too!
Cute!!!
Your peacock candle mat is beautiful! looks like you are enjoying learning how to use your crafters edge fabric dies. Have a great week.
Beautiful
Your candle mat was a great way to try out that new peacock cutting die, Brenda. Bonus points for working in the RSC Color of the Month! Thanks for linking up with the August 2021 TABLE SCRAPS Challenge. Will we be seeing more little peacocks in your future?