New Look

January 10, 2010

The Quilt Again

I haven't forgotten that this blog is mostly about felting.  I have obviously have been side tracked with dyeing.  And I will continue to be side tracked.  I plan on doing an indigo vat next weekend.  I will post the process and the results.  I'm very excited as I have two friends coming to visit for a Felt-A-Thon, as we call it.  Two days of felting fun.
To prepare for this I have done a few things....like buy a bucket to start my vat in.  But you don't need a picture of a bucket.  What I also have done is make the last four cartoons for the quilt.  Because I think these will be the last quilt squares.  Next I will start the leaf borders.  But first the cartoons:

This is coreopsis tinctora.  It is used for dyeing and that makes it a little more special to me.  Besides I have seen these in California and they were lovely.   Next:

This is my attempt at Lupine.  I'm not especially pleased with this.  But I'll see how this comes out.  Sometimes felting makes things improve.  Next up Wild Onion.


These beauties are a lovely shade of pink that I may have in stock....that is I have some lovely pink silk that is the perfect color.  Finally:

The elusive Calypso.  I searched for about 3 years before I actually found these in the Redwoods on the coast of California.  Even then they were mostly finished and I returned the next year to see them and paint them.  They are truly fairy-like and usually found in singles.
I have two other pieces to show.  I found a large colony of California Pitcher Plants in one of the Sierra Nevada's small valleys.  It was hidden away down a dirt road and I camped there for weeks at a time over a three year period.  I must have taken hundreds of pictures.  Here is my simple felt interpretation:


 
The leaves were just as ...no .. more interesting than the flower.  It was always magical to visit the area and see the leaves ...they looked like little space creatures with mustachios and I always expected them to talk to me in a language I couldn't understand.
And last (but certainly not least)....a pressie as they say Down Under.

A wonderful piece by my friend Doreen, from Austtralia.  I have looked at this since yesterday (when it was received) a multitude of times and cannot for the life of me figure out how this is made  =-)
 
Perhaps with some time of adhesive...and there is lovely hand embroidery on it in Jewel colors.
Thank you Doreen....I hope you enjoy your little piece I sent to you as much.
Next week...pictures of the Felt-A-Thon and our Indigo Vat.




6 comments:

Jasmine said...

I love your felt. I thik you must put much thinner layers of wool onto the silk than I did.

Doreen G said...

It's done on the embellisher and the gold bits are foil added by using bonding powder.
I chopped up one of my sample pieces from Dale's Embellisher workshop.

ArtSparker said...

I very much like that you expected this strange -looking flora to speak to you in a lasnguage you didn't understand. Ties in a bit with my post tomorrow, oddly. Making art with friends sounds like great fun.

t said...

The designs for your last three flowers are beautiful. Your flower quilt will look fantastic when it all comes together.
'
xt

Tammie Lee said...

What a fun post. I loved seeing your drawings and the last is my favorite flower, the wee and divinely scented fairy slipper. My heart leaned forward. Your felt art is wonderful. Will you be doing your indigo vat with beetle bodies? That is what my mother told me the dye was made of when I was a wee girl. She use to dye yarn for weaving. Lovely to find your blog. Thank you for your visit to mine.

Karen said...

your drawings are lovely! and I really hope you enjoy your felt a thon!