PRACTICE - DOESN'T MAKE IT PERFECT - YET!!!!

After several days of practice, slowly my felting making skills are improving.

The two center bowls are the most successful so far.

But...it's time to put the water/soap and wool roving away for awhile.  Our long awaited for annual PTA retreat is almost upon me.  And I'm sure since most of you have probably participated in this sort of event...you know that ultimately one ends up packing up nearly all your studio....just in case!  Grinning.....

Since we are such an enthusiastic group, always talking at once.....laughing, eating, and generally distracted from our sewing project....I've precut all the  patches for the lap quilt I'll be piecing.  Even then I'm sure to sew half of the blocks incorrectly.....

Internet access at the retreat center is sketchy (mostly not at all unless standing in one certain spot on a driveway)......so I'll be back posting when I can......

MORE FELTED BOWLS

My Mom was a do-it-yourselfer' before that phrase came into being.  This wasn't necessarily by choice.....with 4 kids to raise almost alone and short on finances....she did what she needed to do!  (When I was in fourth grade, my dad began his battle with brain cancer). Like so many of us at a young age, we may not have recognized the strength and hard work our parents exhibited to provide a better life for us....AND in my case.....good work ethics too. 

While the completion of my two current projects are in the handwork stage...I was ready for a completely different project.  I'm determined to conquer the secrets of wet felting and bowls are my current obsession.

  Practice....it's the key to unlocking the secrets to a well shaped and felted bowl.  Following a number of online tutorials, I begin working on a tray (to contain the water).  This view is part way through the beginning stage of layering the felt while trapping a plastic 'resist' between the layers. 

Netting covers the layers as they are very gently stroked.  This starts the process of the wool fibers grabbing each other.  That's the goal....as the fibers tangle...the mass shrinks and ultimately become felt. The messy edges are carefully folded over each side to provide a tidy package.

***My explanation is only superficial and doesn't include all the steps, it's provided only to give you an overview of the process.

 The package will eventually look like a tortilla.....when the fibers feel a bit more stable and don't pull apart when pinching them, it's time to layer it between bubble wrap & roll in a bamboo mat.  Friction, hot water and soap are the ingredients that make the fibers 'felt' together.  (Think -  wool sweater washed in a washing machine...and then dried in a dryer....YIKES....it's now 5 times smaller and much thicker!!)

 This entire process is good for the upper arms....though one's hand can get a tad grumpy later in the day!  The 'tortilla' (or better description would be Pita bread) is rolled back and forth....about every 10 rolls, its position is shifted 1/4 turn to keep the round shape.

3 hours later.......with lots of rolling, removal of the 'resist', lots more hot soapy water, and 'kneading' of the bowl....it looked like this.....  Now drying  stuffed with fabric to retain its shape as it dries.

Here's another one...the fabric has been removed as it's now nearly dry.  I'm STILL working on getting the layers of roving more even.....which will make the  edges more uniform.

Follow these links to see what others have created this week:  Whoop, Whoop Friday, Off The Wall Friday, Richard and Tanya Quilts.

FABRIC SHOPPING

A request from a friend who is a new quilter brought the opportunity to spend the day fabric shopping.  She needed a bit of hand holding as she selected 9 batiks for the king size quilt she is embarking on.

4 fabric stores later......all nine were purchased, a lovely lunch was had....and a new fabric outlet was discovered.

 Foust Fabrics, King Mountain, NC was a total surprise to us.  The place is HUGE....unfortunately they restrict sales to wholesale and generally 15 yard bolts or very large bundles of precuts. 

Did I say this place was huge?  They seemed to carry a large variety of fabric....cottons, poly, fleece, burlap.....  A lovely young lady helped steer us through the warehouse....alerting us that they have a warehouse sale twice a year.....  Their website can provide more details.....

CLOTH NAPKINS

A little mental break was needed.....along with the need to replace some of our cloth napkins which we use daily.....so much nicer than paper!

 I've always been partial to plaids....esp. homespun fabrics, of which I have a LOT.  My serger has just been serviced.....so..... 

How about this for immediate gratification!!

DECONSTRUCTED PINE NEEDLES - QUILTING PROGRESS

Thank you everyone....so very much for your positive feedback on this current project. Though my first instinct is always handwork and or beading.....for some crazy reason I actually thought if I took my time, some clean straight line quilting would best suit this piece.

Geesh.......I really, really dislike machine quilting!  Not the look of it....the process of doing it.  #1 reason....it's not a skill I've conquered or frankly, even tried to.  #2. My back kills me sitting at the machine. #3. No matter how many different strengths of glasses I wear, I can not see well. #4. AND of course my impatience during this task is a huge negative. 

I make mistakes faster and it takes longer to remove them....I should just stick with handwork....in the end it'd probably even out in time.  Sorry....I'm venting.....

After now spending more than 2 full days machine quilting....I'm not happy with the quality of my workmanship......But done is done.  The outer border is next and figuring out what to do on the pine needles sections. 

However, I do like the quilt (and will surely like it more once it's done....isn't that always the way???)  So, of course I'll carry on and post a final view soon.

DECONSTRUCTED SCREEN PRINTED PINE NEEDLES

Our Fiber Junkies group loves to create deconstructed screen printed fabrics.  A whole pile of them in my stash is a testiment to our love of this technique.

The screens dictate the finished size of the piece (unless one overlaps when printing). Using 1 large and 1 small pine needle sprig, placed over a piece of corrigated cardboard, my screen yielded 8 prints.  Usually the first one or two pulls through the prepared screen are not that great, then comes several good ones, and finally as the dye peeters out....the remaining are of less quality.  Deconstruced screen printing does NOT acheive clear images....rather, the beauty of this method is the blurred interesting images that result.

It's not unusal for me to have a difficult time working them.  For one thing, the images generally have so much energy.  Additionally, there are often so few of one design/colorway etc. In this case, with 8 options and a fairly recognizable design, I opted to use 6, splitting each 'block' and assembling again with other fabrics.

Here's the result.....my idea to eliminate the center (white) sashing may or may not have been wise.  Perhaps it is fine either way.....though the goal was to create a piece that wasn't set in quite such a traditional manner.  So stitching the two blocks vertically, w/o a sashing seemed to add more interest.  

The next design hurtle will be figuring out the finishing details.  For you FMQ's.....it'd be a no brainer.....but that's not a skill I have or I guess care enough about to do the work (and I know it's work) to acquire it!  The finished piece will be posted....sigh....when the work is complete.

Follow these links to see what creative projects others have worked on this week:  Whoop, Whoop Fridays, Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts, Richard & Tanya Quilts

GOT SNOW?!?!

Is winter over yet?!?  Not here, that's for sure.  We got another 5+ ".... I ONLY ventured out to the porch railing.....other areas seemed to have more but whose counting anyway?

Roads of course are all impassible......mountain living ya know.....guess that means I HAVE to spend another day in the studio....oh too bad!

MORE FELTING RE-DO'S

What's a gal to do when our monthly Fiber Junkie's meeting had to be cancelled due to weather?  Well....first pout!  Next, get on with it.....

DESERT SUNSET  9" X 11"

Wet and needle felted wool

 Okay, I admit....I still wasn't satisfied with the re-do's of my 'girlfriend art camp' felted pieces. (see here)  With the roads impassable....I got out my felting supplies and added more needle felting to this piece. 

 Then I got out my beads (happy, happy) and perked up this bowl (the one I said would not be beaded!!)

Predictions are calling for a really big storm beginning later today - 7-10" of snow.  I shouldn't whimper as other parts of the country have had it much worse this winter....  Instead, I'll treasure the 'forced' studio time.....

BLUEGRASS WEEKEND

As long time readers of this blog know.....I'm an avid bluegrass fan. We are so fortunate to have access to so many talented groups that pass through this area.  Each February 'Bluegrass First Class' - a 2+ day festival is held in Asheville. Live performances run 12 hours a day in the showroom, but everywhere in the hotel, music can be heard at every hour from the open doorways of rooms as the 'jams' are non-stop.

Without going to check the line-up sheet....I'm guessing we saw 12 different groups.  Here are some highlights.

I was excited to see Dale Ann Bradley's group this year for the first time.  This 5 time IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) female vocalist of the year did not disappoint.

 Russel Moore and lllrd Tyme Out plays annually and they never disappoint. Every member of that group is outstanding.....with loads of awards to their names.

 Rhonda Vincent also performs every year......professional, entertaining, and toe tapping.

 I'm partial to the dobro....an instrument that looks similar to a guitar....with what looks like a hub cab on top!  Normally, one or maybe two groups will feature one....this year, to my delight, that number was much higher.

 Doyle Lawson (and his group) has appeared the last two years at this festival. If you listen to Sirius radio (Bluegrass channel).....I swear you'll hear one of his recordings every hour.  A tribute to his longevity in bluegrass. His flashy clothing is more at home in the country music world, but it suits this 70+ gentleman so well.

 Then there's the new kids.......Joe Dean who may now but all of 21 has probably been playing professionally since he was 16.....and can he play the banjo!!!!  Wow...

Here's the really new kids on the block....none over the age of 25.  Flatt Lonesome just won the 2015 IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year Award.  There's something about family groups who sing together....the harmony is hard to beat.  With the exception of the shorter male playing the upright base.....the others are siblings.  Older sister on the left (at age 24)....in the center is Buddy....who is a twin of Charly on the right.  The blend of their voices sound like they have come straight from heaven.

The evening session began at 6:00 PM.....we didn't get to bed that night until 1:45 AM.  My butt is dragging now......

FINALE - 2015 ART CAMP PIECES

Hopefully this hasn't gotten too repetitive for you all......hummmm.... I've become a bit obsessed.  Here are the 4 REWORKED pieces, created at "Girlfriend 2015 AZ Art Camp".  

Lessons learned:  take more care to achieve evenly distributed layers of wool and work harder and longer to felt more fully (firmly).

To read about this process from the beginning......either go to my Feb. 16, 2015 post and continue through the following two posts, OR click here  then here  and finally here

Visit these links to check out how others have used their week to create:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday,  Whoop, Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts, and Richard and Tanya Quilts.