Creative Felt Gathering--OMG!!!

 

This is me working on a scarf that ended up long enough to wrap around
an average football team!!

 

Jone Rakoski in one of her less outrageous moments! Grin.

 

The inimitable Chad Alice Hagen!

 

Elis Vermeulen...glowing with health and kindness! (inside joke)
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I've just returned home from an absolutely incredible week in Michigan...

...and I can't wait to share my experiences with all of you!!

I attended the first annual Creative Felt Gathering in Manchester, Michigan...

...hosted by the talented, generous and absolutely hilarious Jone Rakoski!!

Our other two teachers were the felting 'rock stars'...

...Chad Alice Hagen and Elis Vermeulen!!!

Our coursework consisted of felt journals, hats, glass fusing...

...and making lots and lots of scarves.

Each instructor had her own unique way of teaching...

...and method of working with fibers.

We worked very hard all week, and late into the evening several nights...

...but the joy, cameraderie and love between felters was absolutely palpable!!

People shared their special techniques, equipment that worked well for them...

...and even their food and wine at mealtimes!!

I came away with a head bursting with ideas, some amazing projects...

...and a new BFF (best friend forever!), Dawn Edwards.

Not to mention a new surrogate daughter...

...Elis' incredibly elegant (and CUTE!!) daughter, Rachael.

The rest of the week will be photos of our amazing projects...

...and some of my new felting friends!!

"Create" Journal Cover: Part 2

 

 

 

 

Because I intended this cover for use with a standard composition notebook, rather than a hardback book...

...I had made the resist somewhat wider this time.

Big mistake!!

It turns out that a very slightly wider resist would have been plenty...

...and I had to get out the rotary cutter and perform some surgery!

After cutting and removing the 'offending extra felt'...

...I sewed the cover back together (using my sewing machine).

You really don't notice the seam all that much...

...since it's right on the journal's spine.

Because of the unfortunate cotton layout and rescue...

...some areas of the cover were too thin, and I had to hand-sew felt patches to some of them for reinforcement.

Suffice it to say that no one is going to see the inside of this cover but me...

...since from the outside, it doesn't look half bad! Grin.

"Create" Journal Cover: Part 1

 

Covering my circles with COTTON sliver!! (Ooops!!)

 

Needle-felted pencil roving "create" on a bit of wool roving.

 

Fully laid out COTTON sliver...right before I realized what I had done. Yeesh!!

 

"Say what???!?!?" After all that fiddling around, it's too big??!??
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Still in my creative fog, I laid out my latest book cover (a journal cover this time!)...

...and discovered (after I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, this wool roving feels really soft and different...I wonder what kind it is?!?!?")...

...that I had laid out the entire back side with organic cotton combed sliver!!!

Now, small amounts of cotton will felt into wool, of course...

...but an entire clot of cotton would only turn into a soggy mess if you tried to felt it!!!

Luckily, I read the label in time and was able to carefully remove the cotton layer and replace it with wool roving.

(I did leave some small cotton wisps around the word "create" and I think they felted in to good effect.)

So that I didn't have to lay out my cursive pencil roving word both upside-down and in reverse ...

...I needle-felted it into a thin batt of roving first.

Unfortunately, when I tried the finished cover on the journal that it was intended for...

...I discovered that I had made it too large! Sighhhh.

Next time: the remedy!

New Pet!!

 

 

 

 

I recently became the proud owner of this new little creature...

...a pewter sheep's head from Rosalie Sherman designs!

She's created lots of whimsical creatures...

...including some adorably angular humans, as well!

Since I didn't want to cover him up in any way...

...and didn't have any drawers in the new studio in need of hardware...

...I decided to mount him as a tongue-in-cheek trophy!!! Giggle.

The last photo shows him in his 'pride-of-place' as you enter my felting studio.

(I just love how startled he looks!!)

Missing Mojo?!?!

 

 

 

 

As some of you may know...

...this summer has been quite a difficult one for our family.

My partner spent a month in Germany...

...making hard decisions concerning how best to care for his elderly, ailing mother.

My firstborn daughter (the puppy's Mama)...

...was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Her endocrinologist thinks that it may have been coming on for 2 or 3 years already(!)...

...following some kind of infection which slowly wiped out the insulin-producing cells in her pancreas.

And if these things didn't make me quite sad enough...

...it's now the week that my youngest daughters (twins) head off to their respective colleges for their Freshman year...

...cementing my 'empty nest syndrome'.

So...you'll understand why my mind hasn't really been on my felting of late...

...and you won't be too hard on me (please?!) about these latest egg cozies.

Believe it or not...

...the pointy one was supposed to be a spaceship!

The round one might have been ok...

...except that I used variegated grey and white roving for the background...

...and it just came out looking dirty.

The only nice photo I have for you today...

...is the bit of embroidery (on twill tape) that I did inside a book cover I made
a few weeks ago.

I like the way the white shows off my friend's name...

...and I think I'll use this technique again.

Yummy Mixed Berry Cobbler

 

 

 

 

I've been so lucky this Summer...

...to have access to lots of wonderful, juicy berries.

Of course, they are perfect, eaten 'as is'...

...but if you have a bumper crop, this is a wonderful way to use them up!

Yummy Mixed Berry Cobbler

For the batter:
1/2 c butter
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 c sugar
3/4 c milk

For the fruit:
2 c fresh, washed berries-any kind (halve if using strawberries)
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees(F).

Melt the butter in a shallow, 6-cup baking dish.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and milk.
Mix and pour evenly over the melted butter.

Combine berries, sugar and water and spoon evenly over the batter.
DO NOT STIR!!

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

This is delicious warm or cold, and can be served with milk or ice cream for extra 'yumminess'!!

"Holey Flat Felt, Batman"!

 

 

 

 

Here's another project in my 'series' of flat felt pieces...

...and this one's a bit of a 'peep show'. Giggle.

I cut foam underlayment into small ovals and one cigar-shaped piece...

...and placed them on a black wool batt.

Next, I covered the resist shapes with a couple of layers of wool...

...each in a different, bright color.

After felting for some time, and working from the front (black) side...

...I cut 'X's into the center of each oval...

...and a slit along the length of the cigar-shaped piece, removing the resists.

Since I'd never intentionally made cuts and slits in the surface of finished felt before...

...it felt a little subversive to me to do so. Grin.

I finished felting the piece in the usual way...

...and allowed it to dry completely.

I thought that cutting an 'X' into the resist sections would allow a lot of color to peep out...

...but in practice, very little was revealed.

Removing the points of the 'X' and making circular openings in the felt...

...was all that was needed to make the colors really 'pop'!

I left the slit 'as is' in the cigar-shaped section...

...and I like the rugae-like ridges it made!

Woven Flat Felt

 

 

 

 

I've been trying various kinds of flat felt pieces lately...

...in order to test drive different techniques without too much committment. Har.

For this piece, I wanted to try weaving the design elements...

...so I started out with one thick and one thin.

For the thick element, I tore strips of yellow hand-dyed silk...

...so that the edges would be a bit wiggly and 'catch' the wool better.

The thin was comprised of lengths of novelty yarn...

...in shades of pink, orange, yellow and green.

For the 'grid', I laid out alternating strips of silk and yarn...

...weaving 'under-over' with the perpendicular pieces.

Next, I covered the surface of my lattice...

...with thin layers of orange wool roving, and began felting.

After working on this side for some time...

...I flipped it to the opposite side to check for problem areas.

To the spots where yarn crossed yarn, or yarn topped silk...

...I added a thin 'veiling' of wool, and continued to felt.

Conpared to my last silk gauze/wool project (the yellow book cover)...

...this thicker silk did a better job of 'felting-in' without disappearing.

I always love what the felting process does to the texture of silk...

...and how it turns straight lengths of yarn into Marcel waves.

Goddess Hand Book Cover

 

 

 

 

You'll have to bear with me for a little while...

...since the process photos from my last several projects were lost in the miasma of cyberland, never to be seen again.

It serves me right for not taking the time to back things up...

...but I'm happy to report that my operating system has been re-installed and I hope to be a bit more compliant going forward! Grin.

I've made a couple of additions to this book cover since last you've seen it...

...a bit of hand embroidery (har...I just love a cheap joke!)...

...and a few colored beads sewn on, too.

Since it's for a birthday gift, I've sewn my friend's initials into the front flap as well...

...so people know who to return it to (she is an inveterate book lender!)

Spring Swap Presents and a Sunflower!!

 

 

 

 

Today, I received an amazing package in the mail...

...my Clasheen Spring Swap!!

When my original swap partner fell through...

...a lovely 'swap angel' came to my rescue and sent these lovely gifts.

She sent a wonderful recipe for Spanish Tomato Toast...

...that I can't wait to make (with my farm share tomatoes)!

There's a silk scarf blank...

...and some glorious, iridescent roving...shot with silk fibers.

She included a vintage scarf...

...with images of exotic temples, flowers, animals and tropical fruit.

The most wonderful part, though...

...is a handspun, handknit scarf in my favorite colors!!

(It's so soft, and has a lovely fragrance to it, too!)

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The sunflower is from my CSA farm share...

...and is as big as my hand.