Two of my boxed sets of wet felted fairy shoes have recently gone to new homes so this weekend I set to and made some more. These shoes were demonstrated by Robyn Smith at one of the first felting workshops I attended back in 2014. Trimmed with beads and mounted in a box frame they make a lovely gift for a little girls bedroom…….or maybe even for big girl’s like me who still believe in fairies!
Red Merino Fairy Shoes
Blue Merino Fairy Shoes
Green Merino Fairy Shoes
Back in May, inspired by the work of Lisa Klakulak, I designed and made a Merino necklace and cuff.
My first Merino necklace and cuff
Last week I was spotted wearing them and commissioned by a lovely lady called Katie to make a similar set as a birthday gift. Katie called by to collect the jewellery today and I’m pleased to say that she was absolutely thrilled with it! I hope the recipient will be equally happy and will enjoy wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Commissioned Merino Necklace and Cuff
This weekend the two Cranwell groups, Crafty Ladies & Cranwell Contemporary Textiles, held their first ever quilt show. I’ve been a member for just over a year and during that time have seen many wonderful pieces of work produced by the members but to actually see all of this work, and more, displayed together was amazing!
The show was split between two venues with the contemporary work by the CCTG in Cranwell village hall and the traditional quilts by Crafty Ladies on quilt stands and draped over the pews in the beautiful village church. The following photos show a selection of the quilts on display in the hall.
The next four photos are quilts made in response to our themed quarterly “challenges”.
Challenge Quilts….what Winter means to me
Challenge Quilts…..Flora & Fauna
Challenge Quilts….shape & colour
Challenge Quilts…..(left) Summer garden, (right) Poetry
Dedicated to St Andrew, Cranwell church originates circa the 10th century and it made a wonderful venue for the more traditional quilts…….
Check out this fabulous on-line hat making workshop from Teri Berry.
We are excited to announce that we have a new online class available by Teri Berry. Here’s what Teri has to say about her class. This four-week, hat making course will initially guide you through the different options for hat blocks (from DIY to the extravagant!) and choosing one to fit. Although this module is technically week 1, I will send it out on receipt of payment so you have as much time as possible to make or buy a hat block if you don’t already have one.
Week 2 will focus on making a stylish or quirky concertina hat and will include guidance on how to create a resist for your head size, how to add a felted “pig tail”, creating a brim and forming sharp folds that remain in place. I will also describe how I blend colours and make the “silk stripes” used on some of my hats.
In week 3 we will…
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A couple of weeks ago, at a workshop with Mandy Nash, I was introduced to Bergschaf wool. Since taking up felting I’ve been used to working with Merino and wasn’t too sure if I would take to the coarser, hairier Bergschaf but I love it! Not only does it felt very quickly but, being supplied as carded batts, it makes laying out a lot quicker too. Having previously made a vessel with it, this weekend I thought I would try using Bergschaf to make a felted wall hanging. I’ve revamped a design I did a couple of years ago, making it larger and adding grasses. The new version of Yellow Poppies is approximately 20″ x 15″.
My original Yellow Poppies felted picture
Laying out the new design
New version of Yellow Poppies.
The poppies and smaller flowers were made with Merino, the stalks are knitting wool and the detail was added with free machine stitching. The black backing fabric is garden membrane which is great to use as it doesn’t tear or fray.
Reverse side of Yellow Poppies
This morning I visited the Pearoom Quilt Show, which is on over the weekend from 10am – 4pm, in Great Hale near Heckington. It was nice to see so many friends there and so many beautiful quilts. Here are just a few images from the show…..
Wet felted flowers made with multiple resists
Ive been using up my bright Merino wool tops making wet felted flowers to add to the CCTG display at Cranwell next month.
It’s funny how one thing can lead to another. A few weeks ago I was out having a coffee when I got chatting to a lady who told me she was keen on various crafts and a member of the Wellingore U3A. I happened to mention that my passion was felting and as a result, this afternoon I held a felting demo for U3A members, Sue included, at home in Horncastle.
Non of the ladies had tried felting previously so I began by demonstrating needle felting and showing some of the different applications I had used it for. They were all keen to have a go but, as time was limited and we had to cover wet felting too, the ladies just did a few minutes with a cookie cutter and some Merino to get a feel for it.
U3A ladies Celia, Myra & Chris trying out needle felting
Sue and Velma getting to grips with needle felting.
Unfortunately, as I was demonstrating, I didn’t get any other photos this afternoon but, suffice to say, the ladies were very enthusiastic regarding both the needle and wet felting so I’m hoping I’ve encouraged their creativity and they have gone away enthused about their new found hobby!
Day two of the Experimental Sculptural Forms Workshop with Mandy Nash and we had a few new faces join us. Those of us doing the two days got straight on with our projects while Mandy talked through the process with the newbies.
Getting down to detail.
A hive of activity!
Several ladies completely finished their fish by the end of the day while I seemed to work flat-out on my vessel but still didn’t quite get done.
A few of the amazing funky fish displaying their colourful gills
It was fabulous how each fish had its own distinct character
Jen’s fish required the kiss of life!
Georgina chose to take her vessel home to finish as she, and Tracy, were keen to use the workshop time to get started on another piece of work which the tutor demonstrated on the Sunday. Mandy hasn’t named this piece but all three of us were excited to see how it was made and it’s something I am intending to have a go at next week.
Mandy demonstrating how she created the wet felted objects displayed on the table.
After getting it home and giving it a bit more pummelling I was really pleased with how my piece worked out.
Mandy Nash is a wonderful tutor and this has to be one of the most interesting workshops I’ve been on. The venue was good, the company was great and hopefully I will meet up with some of you again at future workshops. Oh, and when you do get your vessel and “un-named thingy’s” finished Georgina & Tracy, send me images and I will post them here!
I’m writing this sitting in my B&B in Stoney Stanton having just eaten a delicious meal in Nemos Bar. I travelled down here last night ahead of a two day workshop with Mandy Nash to make experimental sculptural forms. The workshop is being held in Arnesby, a small village just south of Leicester.
Examples of Mandy’s sculptural work
This morning Mandy began by showing us some of her wonderful wet felted objects, including hats, bags and funky fish, and explaining how the various 3 dimensional shapes were achieved. Several of the bags and vessels had been created using “book resists” and this was the method we were going to be working with. In addition Mandy talked us through the various surface design techniques she uses and demonstrated how we could achieve these effects using Bergschaf wool batts. Most of the ladies chose to make a fish and the following photos show their work in progress.
Georgina and I chose to make a vessel and treat it as a sampler, using the various surface treatments on each of the sides.
Georgina applying resists for surface decoration
This is my three sided vessel taking shape…..
It was full day and a lot of fun but none of us have finished our pieces yet so I will post an update on how things turned out tomorrow.
Lincs In Stitches 
