Off project

I have to admit....I haven't been working on my quilt. I have a show through my Guild that will be in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Two of my pieces are done but the third has been an issue for me. I have had at least 3 starts on the third piece. None of which have been The One. I finally saw something in paper that spoke to me and I began all over again.

Looks simple.....doesn't it?

So the next thing was to draw the pictures.

I have to say....I'm a bit on a time line and stayed with what I know....cartoons. And, I even used some to the pictures....modified a bit....from the quilt. But overall I'm pretty satisfied with how it's turning out.


First I did my usual research.... =-)

I have lots of wildflower books and I perused them looking for ideas.










Then I began to draw my cartoons.

I suppose this looks familiar....but the size and colors have been changed.















After several ideas I settled on these:










Next I decided on colors and cut out my patterns. I needed new greens...I'd used alot on my T-Shirt in the class. So a few yards of silk in the crockpot.



And then this came out:















It wasn't dark enough...so I did another piece.....and another piece. Each had enough dark but more light....but since I only want small bits...I went with it.


Here is a close up of one section ....a bit fuzzy I'm afraid.


I also am afraid that it is almost 10pm and it's time for me to Hit the Hay as they say in the States.

That's it for this time....Not sure how much further I can take this if it is going to be in a show. .... I love when bloggers leave things undone and you must wait for the next installment. Perhaps I should make this one of those teasers.


Nighty night.... =-)

And Then Ya Felt Some More

Have I tired you yet of my adventures in class? We were told the next day, by our teacher, she would push us to finish laying out and start to felt so the third day was fulling and fitting. Everyone took such a different direction in their garments. Most were jackets with double fronts...I, however, took the simple direction with a 3/4 length sleeve and a V neck T shirt.
Laying out is a long process:

Wetting down is more exciting....
Every time you open your rolled package the little adjustments and the excitement of watching it shrink by inches and runch up into the silk start to make it worthwhile. One of my classmates did a gorgeous sleeveless tunic with a V like design...this piece was beautiful when done.
Rolling seem to go on and on and on. Each of us rolled for what seemed forever....and the pieces seem to take even longer to shrink.
Linda was there at each step....helping heal tiny separations, advising on blending silk to wool and encouraging us to keep going.....But we all persisted and in the end we were rewarded. Every seamless piece reflected the personality of the felter....in colors, style and fit!!
So here is my piece....an orange and green/blue T shirt....and my stained forearms... =-)

Felt Until You Can't Stand

This last weekend I attended the most wonderful class. It was held at New England Felting Supply in Easthampton, Mass. Chris White, the author of Uniquely Felt, was our hostess at her shop..... http://www.feltingsupply.com/ Our teacher, I claim as a friend, Linda Veilleux....an outstanding teacher and seamstress extraordinaire! She can make a felt garment....and it is gorgeous....and it will fit...to a T!

These were my two samples. I do a very thin cross pattern as taught by Inga Bauer.....another felter of superlative qualities. My squares were 3 strips of green home dyed silks layered with commercial blue and green merino. The orange square was similiar with 3 strips again and 3 colors of commercial dyed merino.
After we were measured (no, no picture) we calculated our total pattern size. Everyone in the class groaned as we were called to do math.....but Linda not only had a formula printed on paper that we could fill in the blanks....but.....drum roll here....she has made a CD for your computer that calculates it all out and gives you the dimensions of your pattern to use over and over!!!! YEAH!!! LINDA....I will be ordering one of these to make other patterns for myself...and possibly for others....I'm thinking I still owe my sister a Birthday Present.

Then we laid out our silks....Oh! The colors people picked .... some were brought from home...but some came from Chris' store....take a gander of what we had to choose from:




Yummy Felters' Heaven!! I'd brought silk and wool from home.....but that didn't keep me from shopping!! But the class was time pressured and I was on a limited budget .... sigh..... so off to work on my T Shirt
I bought some lushious silk yardage from Chris (hummmm the computer seems to have changed to italics and I can't shift back....) the green and blue. The orange and blue was my own. This is the front laid out. I am really not that huge!!! I have lost a few pounds since my vacation...but my calculations said it would shrink almost 63%....Yipes! My silk hung over the edges of my two tables from top to bottom....and my sleeves .... which were only 3/4 length....stretched end to end.

This about it for me that first day. I met with two classmates and off we went for dinner and well deserved glasses of wine before falling exhausted (from all that math!) and aching legs and knees.... into bed....by 9:30pm! I slept like a log with visions of orange and blue dancing in my head....too much orange????? Would it all work out? Oh, I agonized over my color choices after seeing what my classmates had done.

Long Time No Felt

Well, I had a most wonderful vacation. I flew to Brisbane, Australia and stayed with my son and his family in Tangolooma. We fed the dolphins, the Kookaburras, rode 4 wheelers on the sand, fed fish food to the fish then watched the cormarants eat the fish. We went tobogganing down sand dunes and ate and drank until we had to lie on the beach to recover.


The dolphins come into the cove every evening and we got to feed them. It is really a magical moment to have a dolphin lean his head over, look you in the eye and take a fish you are offering.
Here we are trekking up the sand dune to slide down on those little pieces of fiberboard. My son won the prize....a T shirt....for going the furthest.

It was a real vacation and even the weather cooperated. Although I never did any fiber work I relaxed and enjoyed myself greatly.

I go next weekend to a class at New England Felting Supply. I will take some pictures (with the instructors permission) of my project. I plan on making a nuno shirt with a v neck and 3/4 sleeves. Now to pick out my colors of silk and wool.