'Pine Needles' Nuno Felting

I spent an enjoyable (but hard work!) 2 days last week on a fantastic feltmaking course with Leiko Uchiyama as part of the International Feltmakers Association annual get-together at The Friars, Aylesbury. We used her 'pine needles' technique to make nuno-felted wraps and scarves.  It took about a day and a half to lay out the fleece (or 'pine needles' as Leiko calls it) in an intricate design, then half a day to do the wet-felting.  It was great to learn a new technique - it always amazes me how much variety there is in felting.  Here are a few photos of my work in progress and my finished scarf.

Hever Castle Feltmaking, 12-14 Sept 2014

Here are some of the results from last weekend's feltmaking demonstrations at Hever Castle.  My creative crew did a great job dealing with this more unusual feltmaking method (using a ball to create a 3D shape like a bag or bowl).  We ended up with some fantastic felted items - tea cosies, bags and bowls, plus a bag and a flower corsage using the more usual flat-felting methods.  There were over 4000 visitors to Hever during the 3 days of the event and there was lots of interest in our feltmaking, so an enjoyable time was had by all.

  

Feltmaking Demonstrations, Hever Castle, 12-14 Sept 2014

I'm back at Hever Castle in Kent this coming weekend, 12-14 September 2014, demonstrating feltmaking at the annual 'Country Life at the Castle' and quilt show event (along with other craft demonstrations and art and craft for sale).  I've been busy using Norwegian fleece and the 'felting on a ball' method to make felt bags and bowls.  The photos give you an idea how it's done but to find out more come along 1030-1700 daily!

Quilt Diary - Weeks 3 & 4

The last 2 weeks have been all about sewing the quilt - firstly sewing some wavy quilting lines with embroidery thread, and then sewing lots and lots of crystal beads on top.  My deadline for getting the quilt to the post office was today, and to be honest I would liked to have sewn a few more lines of beads on (as well as more quilting lines), but I ran out of time and had to stop (I was also running out of beads, despite making 2 orders!).  Still, I guess I should be pleased that I managed to make a quilt in such a relatively short time.  The next time I see it will be at the Festival of Quilts in August, so the final quilt will be revealed then!