beleive it or not the wallhanging was my first project. Talk about jumping in with both feet. I saw the pattern in a magazine and fell in love with it. I bought a scrap bag of wool to get me started and my background. Right after I started my DH had a heart problem and we spend many a day in the hospital. This project saved my sanity. I took it everywhere. I don't use pins to hold my appliques. I just staple the wool peices to the background and then remove the staples after it is attached. This makes it very easy to take along with you as you don't have to worry about pins falling out.Wool is very portable.