Super Loooooong Scarf!

 

 

 

 

One challenge last week at the Creative Felt Gathering...

...was to make an 'Elis-style' scarf with lots of 'dreads' (spiky fringes)...and felted very hard!

Each of us started with some sketches...

...and it's remarkable to me how much a concept can develop in just a few minutes' time!!

My 'scarf concept' had a very long, narrow profile...

...but I got a little carried away, and it ended up being nearly three times longer than it needs to be!! Ulp!!!

Since we started with pre-felt instead of roving...

...the 'laying out' process was mostly cutting and needle-felting.

We used an interlocking foam floor mat as our needle-felting mat...

...and as a textured surface for making the dreads.

These mats are truly amazing...

...and if I hadn't tried it for myself, I would have been certain that a felting needle would just break right off in the hard foam!! (They don't!!)

I added some orange Heidi Greb-type-tube closures for fun (you know how much I lurve these!)

...and a few orange dots and spikes to enliven my grey and white scarf base.

Making nice, firm dreads is hard work...

...and I still have two blisters on my fingers to prove it!!

I spent a looong day felting this 'puppy'...

...and I think you can see the relief and exhaustion on both Elis' and my face when it was finally done!!

Wrapped Feltbook and Fused Glass Buttons

 

Some of the bookmaking tools used to make Chad Alice Hagen's 'feltbook with limp binding'.

 

The spine of my feltbook---sewn with waxed linen thread.

 

Glass that I'd cut and glued...awaiting firing in Jone Rakoski's glass kiln.

 

Finished feltbook with bone clasp and leather thong closure.

Fused glass buttons (some with drilled holes and some with button-backs).
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You may recognize the cover of my book...

...from my earlier 'woven flat felt' project!

I used a template to cut the felt to size...

...then covered it with a thin layer of matte medium.

A leather spine strip was glued to the felt...

...and sewing stations were poked through the leather and felt.

A text block was made with 36 sheets of paper...

...by dividing the paper into 6 signatures.

After stitching the paper into the felt cover...

...I glued a leather thong to the cover and wrapped it.

A bone clasp keeps its contents secure.
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For the fused glass buttons, we first learned to cut glass safely...

...then assembled three-layers of glass for each one.

The pieces were glued together with small amounts of white glue...

...and fired in a glass kiln.

Holes were drilled through some of them...

...and button backs were UV glued to the backs of others.

Neither project was one I could imagine doing on my own...

...but with step-by-step instruction and guidance, I ended up with quite respectable end products!! :)

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.