FELTED MUSHROOMS

Since this seems to be the week to share my felting adventures, here's another recent project.  My dear friend Judy Simmons celebrated a milestone birthday last month.  Her fabulous work often features mushroom motifs, but she won't eat one!!

 I decided to see if I could needle felt one for her.  NOW...I must admit I know little to nothing about this method of felting.  With the help of some online tutorials, I decided to give it a try.....beginning with wool roving and a piece of pre-felt batting.

 It's common to needle felt onto a foam base.....well....I didn't own any but a piece of foam pipe insulation was a good substitute.  These very sharp, barbed needles work the fibers into a dense mass.  Both of which I broke....clearly I don't have the technique down pat!

 Not surprising, once a mushroom was completed, it seemed to need a base.

 .....and then another mushroom grew.  So I wet felted a 'forest ground' to display them.

 Yup.....and you all know how this goes....one idea leads to another and another mushroom was born. Some hand-dyed gauze threads helped to provide the mossy appearance.

A few felted and hand embroidered leaves, along with the roadside finds of acorns and moss and the little display was complete.  (click photo to enlarge)

I'm linking to the following blogs where you can see what others have been up to:  Off The Wall Friday,  Whoop, Whoop Friday, and Crazy Mom Quilts.