'Log cabin quilt' valances from my days as a 'sewist'.
Laying out one layer of domestic wool roving...
...and adding silk yarn, tussah silk, lace, and pieces of silk fabric.
During fulling...note the shrinkage!
After ironing and drying.
Pinning and marking stitching lines for the rod pocket.
All ready to sew!
I have four studio windows...
...that were sorely in need of new curtains.
I had been musing about this project for some time, but without a clear direction...
...and then came the
votive candle holders at Christmas-time!
It suddenly struck me that this sheer, white,
luminous look was what I was after, all along...
...and I knew
exactly what I needed to do!
Since I wanted 'unfussy' valances with irregular borders...
...(I had had enough
geometry with my quilt-block ones)...
...I decided to use domestic wool roving that I had on hand.
It's a bit rough and not
pure white in color...
...and I love the little 'hairy bits' that I found in it while felting. :)
Instead of placing the embellishments on the
outside of the felt, like I did with the votive holders...
...I 'sandwiched' them between two thin layers of roving, instead.
I used small bits of any white or off-white fiber, fabric or yarn that I found in my stash...
...and placed them roughly
parallel to each other during my layout.
After adding a second layer of fiber (perpendicular to the first)...
...I proceeded to felt the piece as usual.
To make the finished pieces
wide enough for adequate coverage (including
gathers for fullness)...
...I laid out roving two-and-a-half times the
width of each window...
...and one-and-a-half times the
height.
Next time: the finished valances
in situ.
