Hiatus

And how!! I've not been able to felt much...and then when I did it was not on my quilt. My Guild has a show that I will be helping to hang next Wednesday. I've been trying to finish the 3rd book in a series on environmental awareness. Sigh. My "work" (that is paying job) has been extremely taxing on me both mentally and time wise for about a month now. And I've had little time to spend with my projects.

I did try my first fulling in the washing machine....with mixed results. I felted the book so the nuno pieces all stuck nicely then wrapped in a towel and stuffed it in the dryer with regular laundry. It was a gamble...I was a little concerned it would wonky and not maintain fairly straight edges or the silk would lift. But it did neither. However....it fulled in so well I lost much of the detail of the silk....and some of the colors faded. Will need to go back and test this...there was no color on the towel when done.
To the left is the pre felted stage

Below is how washed out it became. It sat for about 2 weeks while I mulled over what to do. This piece is called "Bee Gone" and the pages were to have less and less number of bees on each page...signifying the decreased number of bees and how nature depends on pollinators. I finally decided to embroider the left pages and have a bee on it and do nothing with the right page....Bee Gone....Flower Gone (or fading as it were). Still feel unsettled by how it has worked out. But I set up my workstation outside in the (finally!!!) sunshine.
Here is what the Shooting Star looks like now......no Bee yet. I am going to try some stumpwork without wire and apply the Bees when the embroidery is done.



And its faded neighbor ..my favorite when it was lightly felted...the Lady Slipper.


Back to embroidery work now...no more procrastination. I will try to post pictures of the show's hanging and opening...if I'm allowed. It will be at ArtWorks in New Bedford, Mass.