Flowers in a vase: a wetfelted abstract project

Flowers in a vase: a wetfelted abstract project

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Hello all!

First of all a recap of my recent activities to give you a background to my most recent piece.

I have been very taken with preparing and then attending my local Art Trail in the first 2 weeks of September: if you remember, my last post was about how I prepared a few new felted items for it, because I wanted to bring a mix of new and old things.

One of the Bourough of Ealing Art Trail banners on a railing at a local park.
It’s quite the event in our local community!

Here is what my stand was looking like at the beginning of the first day of the BEAT (Borough of Ealing Art Trail):

Kiki Peruzzi's stand at the Borough of Ealing Art Trail 2026 is a small table covered in a white cloth. Some scarves are hanging from a small rack on the left, and the items on the table are all small and brightly colored, with some small white framed artworks and other small items. There are small windows above the stand and the walls behind the stand are bare bricks and crumbling mortar.
My small corner. I actually did not bring a lot of items, as I could always get more from home if needed and I did not want to get a very crowded look.

 

A closer look to Kiki's stand at BEAT 2026. At the center of the image, there is the table with many different white framed artworks, two felted bowls holding small felted objects, and some coaster sets in plastic wraps. In the background there is a brick wall and in the upper part of the image there is a window letting bright light come through.
A closer look at the table. You may be able to spot some of the items I was working on the last time that I wrote a post.

 

The left hand side of Kiki's stand at BEAT 2026, with a closer glimpse to some colorful felted scarves, and some small artworks in mixed media and felt.
Here is a closer look at the left hand side.

I have to say, this event is the most fun one among the various exhibitions and events that I participate in with my local art group, the Ealing Art Group: we meet tons of people, and our families and friends are encouraged to pass through. We set up demonstrations of our art in the little yards in front of the hall (weather permitting), to pass the time and  to call passers-by inside (some of us tried also to improvise a little dance routine to catch the attention of people going by, but we felt that it was a bit too much in the end..). And we chat a lot among ourselves, as it is the only time in the year when we actually pass hours together in the same room (the other exhibitions are manned or womaned on a rota as a group, whereas each of us has to take care of their own stand in this one).

Kiki Peruzzi smiles while demonstrating wet felting outside of the Art Trail venue for her local art group. There is a white plastic table set in front of a brick wall decorated with colorful bunting. On the table there are some wool bags in white, teal, grey and pink. There are also a green sprinkler and a plastic container with some water, and on the right there is a small log on top of some white netting and bubble wrap. Kiki is holding some wool in her hands. She is wearing a white sleeveless top and dark blue short trousers.
I had an interesting time demonstrating wet felting while battling the wind and chatting to visitors: you can see it in my please-take-that-shoot-quickly-before-it-all-flies-away smile! I like to think that at least I caught many children’s hearts by giving away wisps of pink and green wool all during my demos!

This year we had a brilliant attendance on the first weekend, weirdly not matched by proportionally higher sales, and usual good attendance on the second weekend: we think that it was because other non-related events were going on in the area during the first weekend, so more people were out and about.

While I was in the middle of this, plenty of new ideas for felting and mixed media pieces were coming to my mind of course: I do not know about you, but that is what happens to me whenever I have no time and I can chat with other creative people and see what they make.

One of the ideas that I thought that I could start on without much fuss was a new wet felted piece about flowers. I need to explain that the artist exhibiting her watercolour pieces right in front of me in the room, and a good friend, is very fond of representational abstract artwork of bright flowers, and I was inspired to make a bright and colourful small piece. What I really set up to make in the end, though, was something quite different.

First of all, I considered that I had bought two canvases 65 x 90 cm (25.6 x 35.5 inches) that I had never used yet, so that a bigger artwork was in order. And, most of all, the base prefelt that I prepared for my artwork was in pewter, as I did not have enough wool of a brighter colour and also, to be totally candid, when I actually got to it, I did not feel like a brighter colour for my base.

So, you just have to take my word for it, my initial idea was of a jolly and quick little flowery piece, but good intentions did not last the first five minutes of actually setting up to make something for real, as it so often happens to me.

I put my chosen canvas on the working table to understand the approximate size of my base felt and started to lay the wool out, from the setting up of the edges to the filling of the area inside them with two layers of Merino wool. In hindsight I maybe should have gone for my usual 3 layers for the base, but as I was laying out the wool to cover the whole area I had started panicking that the project was too big for the time that I had, and so I was trying to cut times where I felt that I could. That resulted in a coverage that was not as good as I wanted for it, also because in the following steps I ended up deciding to not cover all the base with other colours so as to provide another layer on top of it, as I often do instead.

That is how I started:

There is an oval table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap. On it there is the outline in pewter wool of a big rectangle
The size for this new piece was almost at the limits of what I can make on my table when it is closed.
On an oval table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap there is a big rectangular shape almost completely covered in a first vertical layer of wool.
I tend to layout my base layers not very carefully, as it is supposed to just be a support base to the actual piece. This was my first layer.

After laying out the base and lightly wetting and soaping it, I started laying out the colours for the background from the darkest greens and greys to the lightest (light lime green, yellow and light greys and white):

On a table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap, there is a work in progress wet felted piece by Kiki Peruzzi. The piece at this stage is a big rectangle in wet pewter wool with a build up of background wisps of wool in dark and lighter green, dark and lighter grey, light yellow and white on it.
I tend to have light coming from the upper right hand in my pieces, it just works this way for me in most cases. It is also true that the table that I work on has light coming from the right naturally anyway, so maybe that is one reason.

I wanted a good contrasting area, so I went for pretty dark hues in my background, but that meant that the whole piece was already fast moving from a jolly uncomplicated colour riot to something more meditative and sober. I also realised that I wanted to not completely cover the pewter, as I was more and more reminded of my recent tondi pieces: it is just not possible to go completely away from your memories, I find.

I laid out my flowers in colours that were very bright and close to each other (two reds, a salmon, an orange and a yellow) and I added touches of darker shades to build their depth a bit, without going for realistic description. I wanted some white flowers to make the composition pop, and I went for some in white Merino wool with a center of natural yellow eri silk fiber, and some in white eri silk fiber with a few touches of bright blue mulberry silk fiber, for the shiny effect of silk that is reminiscent of oil paint shine.

I also realised that I needed some kind of vase or holding shape for my bunch of flowers, but I did not like the idea of a too solid shape when my flowers were just quick brush strokes of colours, so to speak. I went for just the outline of a vase in dark green, that could be variously interpreted and avoids weighting down the composition.

Here is what it looked like before the wetting, it seemed to me well full and with a background on the darker side, because the base in pewter was already wet at this point:

There is a work-in-progress wet felted piece on a table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap. The piece is rectangular and has a background in pewter, different hues of green and grey, with some yellow and white. The top layer has wisps of wool in bright reds, salmon pink, yellow, orange and white in different directions to expressively suggest flowers in a dark green vase. The upper layer of wool is not wet yet.
My composition before the wetting: the wool always looks more when it is still dry.

Then, I wetted and soaped the whole, and rubbed it gently under the netting. A bit of rubbing by sander followed, and I went on to the rolling very quickly. I do not need to roll it very much for my purposes, but I added a bit of additional rubbing against the bubblewrap in this case.

There is a rectangular wet felt piece that is almost all covered in bubble wrap for rubbing with a sander, on a table covered in white towel and bubble wrap.
Ready for a bit of sander rubbing.
A pewter work-in-progress felt piece is rolled into bubble wrap and rests on a table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap, ready for the rolling. On the table in the distance there is a glass half full of a clear yellow drink.
And here we go with the rolling, after some rehydration with an Italian favourite soda drink called Cedrata.

After drying it, that is what it looks like:

A wet felted artwork by Kiki Peruzzi is resting on a white canvas. The piece is rectangular, it has a pewter base layer and green and grey, yellow and white background. This abstract piece represents a vase of bright flowers in reds, salmon pink, yellow, orange and white.
This is before the ironing and to test the size of the finished felt on the canvas: it fits nicely as I wanted (I like my canvas to be seen all around the edges).

Because of the rubbing against the bubblewrap, it ended up with the piece developing a bit of movement around the edges, so that I had to iron it a bit to flatten it again after the drying.

I feel that it looks a lot less full than what I wanted, and I am pretty divided about it: do I work on it more or do I call it done? What I am thinking is that this piece would be closer to my idea if I added stitched fabrics in colours similar to the flowers to full up the areas in and around the flowers. I can not really explain well the idea that I have in mind, but I am thinking floating pieces of fabric here, very lightweight and not realistic. I also am very into textural pieces more than flat pieces, so I miss that textural element in this piece, though I understand that it is not what everybody looks for in an artwork, but I am really drawn to textures and 3D elements.

I have asked opinions about it to some of my artist friends during our breaks from the Art Trail work: mostly, they feel that the piece is fine as is, while some agree that I could work on it a bit more. I feel that they do not see in their mind what I could do with it and the right fabrics, because none of them are as familiar with textiles, but it may be that they genuinely do not feel that it will benefit from additions, with some of them mentioning the need to avoid overcrowding the composition.

So, what are my textile friends thinking about it? I can always try something and then unstitch it if I see that it is not going anywhere, but time is at a premium right now in my life, and I have so many UFOs in my pile already!

Let me know your thoughts on it, please.

In the meantime, I will take a bit of rest and relax:

There is a brown and orange Guinea pig sleeping snuggled in a soft cup in light blue and other bright colors, inside a cage with black grids and wood shavings on the bottom.
Repeat with our sweet Pumpkin: “Good nap, everyone!”

Kiki

http://www.kikistextileart.com

Instagram: kiki.textile.art

 

There’s a lurgy doing the rounds

There’s a lurgy doing the rounds

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There are some things you really should be warned about before attending a fibre retreat…

You might accidentally buy more wool that is of course “absolutely essential“.

And that you might catch a lurgy, in this instance, the sock knitting lurgy.

I caught the infection at the Auckland Creative Fibre retreat in June where Kylie was the source, spreading it to all who came near enough, enticing the weak with the beautiful stripy colours of her sock tubes. Who could resist?!! Not me apparently 😉

Kylie is, amongst other things, an engineer. This is perhaps why she is particularly well qualified to be called the Sock Engineer. Socks, after all, are basically engineering for your feet. There are calculations, shaping, structural integrity and an alarming number of opportunities for things to go wrong.

I don’t really consider myself to be a knitter, my knitting skills only extend as far as making 10 x 10cm swatches of handspun samples of the fibres I have for sale. Socks were firmly in the category of things other people make. They look complicated. There were tiny needles. There were mysterious heels. And then there were toes, which appeared to involve some sort of knitting magic that I had no intention of attempting.

Then along came Kylie (very ably assisted by Tracy and Cher).

The inoculation

At the retreat, Kylie taught us how to make the bits of a sock that had always seemed particularly mysterious to me — toes and especially the heels!

There was tea accompanied by some very nice home-baking.

There was laughter and some tongue-poking moments of intense concentration.

There was knitting and picking up dropped stitches.

There was more tea and of course, some wine (and possibly some gin but what happens at retreat stays at retreat 😉 ).

And gradually the whole thing started to make sense. Or was that just the alcohol tricking me into thinking it made sense?

The heel was no longer an incomprehensible bit of knitted origami, and the toe actually began to look like a toe rather than some sort of woolly lopsided geological formation.

Of course, once you realise you can make one sock, you immediately start thinking about making another one. A single sock would be lonely on its todd, wouldn’t it?

This is how the lurgy spreads.

By the end of the retreat, several of us were thoroughly infected. We had become sock knitters.

We were no longer to be trusted around sock yarn.

Sock yarn to be, on the latest addition to my flock of spinning wheels

And now I can’t stop

Since the retreat I’ve been dying sock yarn, spinning fibre to make socks, handing said yarn to Kylie who, like any good drug dealer, returns it knitted into gorgeous tubes, long enough to make a pair of knee-high socks. By the time you read this I will be travelling around South America with a small pile of yarn and sock tubes (and hopefully some new socks!) in tow. Fingers crossed the border control police don’t realise I have a stash of highly addictive substances in my bag…

Sock tubes from the Sock Engineer, demanding my attention…

The Great Cuff Problem

There is, however, one small problem.

I have not yet managed to find a cuff that I am really happy with.

I’ve been knitting 2 x 2 rib, which is lovely and stretchy while I’m knitting it. Unfortunately, when it comes to binding off, my cuff seems to develop a sudden and rather alarming case of commitment issues.

It simply refuses to stretch enough to get comfortably over my heel.

I tried the “loop over” between each stitch when binding off for sock number 2, which has helped, but I can’t help feeling there is a more professional looking bind off…

And this is where I am hoping that the collective wisdom of this beautiful community might come to my rescue!

How do you finish your sock cuffs?

Do you have a particular stretchy bind-off that you swear by? Do you use a different rib? Is there a magical technique that every sock knitter knows except me?

Please share your favourite methods in the comments — preferably before I knit another twelve pairs of socks with cuffs that won’t go over my heels!

In the meantime, I shall continue knitting socks.

There are worse addictions and this one is eminently more portable than wet felting.

Time for another glass of vino and a couple more rows…

a tail/tale of a whale – part 2

a tail/tale of a whale – part 2

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Part 2

(part 1 is here: https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2026/09/02/a-tail-tale-of-a-whale-part-1/ ‎)

Saturday Morning, we had the car packed and we were driving south to Kempville. Stash-it fiber festival was on and you can imagine how tiny my stash of fiber is! i might need more. Glenn and i were early, and were first in line. It was a fun morning of photography and shopping. i will only so you a tiny bit so we can get back to the tale of the whale.

sign of sheep in a bag for stash it fiber festival vew into the gym that the sale is going to happen vew of part of the gym bag of alpaca fiber with sign saying touch me fiber and boxes of locks some having felting needles wool aplicay, dragon fly and interlocking cercle patterns needle felting kit to make sheep and other animals booth with fiber for sale snoozing husband My perches from the sale the paper bag unpacked to show the mostly blue fiber i perchused4.1- 4.11 sign, hall, shopping, Glenn snoozing, my loot!

As i collected mostly blue fibre, locks, a bit more silk, and interesting shots, Glenn looked around, read a book, and snoozed as he often dose at fiber festivals. After successful acquisitions, of fibre and photos, we headed off cross country to the cottage. it was a nice drive and different views of rocks, trees, cows, sheep, but no bison farm this route. We did eventually get to the cottage.

As i told you last post, the lower skin i had started needed a bit more rolling, then i let it dry overnight on the screen porch.

Sunday: In the morning i pleated the throat. I used the small sewing clips i had ordered on line, they were easy to use, but if you don’t have them, then pins or a basting stitch would have worked. I started pleating from the centre of the chin working out to both sides.  once i had the wrinkles positioned, it was time to pulled out the new steam iron, to iron the skins.

top vew of pleated skin Underside of pleated skin5.1-5.2) Pleating top and bottom

ironong under side skin ironing the upper skin, folding it in half length wise5.3-5.4) ironing un-pleated sections of lower skin and folding top in half

Once the skins were prepped, it was time to return to getting the shape of the whale more, whale like. I started working on the mouth, adding colour and considering options for baleens (they look like a hairy moustache inside the top jaw of the whale. There used to strain out water and keep in Krill) i had 2 options i was considering, Icelandic tog (the outer guard hairs) or Mohair. The mohair was more lustrous and  i thought the whale would like lustrous shiny white Baleens.  I didn’t have any of the stiffness i wanted. (i had purchased soft mohair, not old course unsalable mohair! Drat.)

Monday: Luckily Judy, one of my guild-mates, had some that was courser but not at all as un-sellable as i had been considering. She brought a small bag with her to the guild social. Unfortunately i got distracted with a set of weaving notes that had been donated to the guild and had to put the whale project aside to get some work done. with both dyslexia and discalcula (letters and numbers) its still rather amazing that i have been guild librarian for so long.

Monday evening, luck forsakes me: i should have suspected things would not continue so well. On my way home the engine light came on for my poor rather old car. We made it to the drive way and I got her comfortable in her spot under the big red maple tree.  i went in to email her Doctor to discover what is upsetting her…… hummm the computer is black and i don’t here the fan going…… i guess i will call the mechanics in the morning and see how fast i can get her fixed so i can take the computer in to the computer doctor.  DRAT!!!! luckily i had taken most of the photos for the first part of the blog on my camera or cell phone. I wonder where the old lap top went. I found it, but it needs updating and dose not have word or publisher. Drat.

Tuesday: Car Doctors made a house call, my car has problems with her temperature sensors, so she has developed menopause and is having hot flashes! That’s fixable, they just have to find the parts…. Luck is back, parts were found localy and she is running by the end of the day!

Wednesday: Glenn loaded the ailing, possibly dead, very old, very large, very heavy, tower desktop computer into the car and i drove to Kanata.  Yes they could check her out in about 3 days time.  A quick stop at the dollar store and back home to get some felting done.

All this bad luck was making me feel a bit glum and wondering what the 3rd thing would be. i called Glenn to give him an update and found he was on the way to see a doctor, not at work. (i suspected Glenn falling off some stairs while working, was likely bad thing #3 he heart his wrist and a few other spots but is recovering). Odd i just bot him an ice pack for his knee on the way home, but it will work for his wrist too.

Thursday: Ok, i am going to get some felting done before the weekend. Which is when i want to add the skins.  I collected the whale, my small bag of core wool, the laptop and my notes and climbed into bed to needle felt and work on the blog post (there are some advantages to a lap top and working in bed seems to be one of them). This is not the best place to needle felt but it was comfortable and i could watch midsummer murders and felt during commercials! Its is very important to keep track of your needle if you are felting in stupid locations like bed, so you don’t fall asleep and roll over onto the needle. Which i did not do, but i did drop it twice but found it both times in the sheets, it was even unbroken. After that i switched to a safer activity, I started to write the blog post. I was realizing not having word is a pain since i can’t save photos with the rite label from open office so its taking a lot longer. I kept working on the  blog post with the old laptop into Friday.

Saturday: We got up really early, Glenn loaded the car with whale parts, the lap top, and we headed for the cottage. The plan for today is to join the 2 wrapped armatures together and hopefully start to add the skins. Now that i have the courser mohair fiber i also need to add baleens.

top jaw adding fibr just past the eye which i will atach to the lower jaw adding fiber just behind the bump were the eye will go joining the upper and lower head near the eyes 6.1-6.3) adding fiber to position the upper and lower jaw so they work together (in case there is felted krill)

wrapping the body in core carded roving6.4-6.5) wrapping the whale to join the upper and lower armatures

I started by attaching fiber behind the eye bump to potion the jaw where i wanted it. Then wrapped the built up top and bottom armatures.  He or she seemed a bit thin in spots so a bit more fiber was added.

adding more fibr along sides of body6.6) adding a bit more width to the whale body

They seemed more whale like, so i was distracted by there mouth and started adding the mohair as baleens.  This Mohair is quite course so even using a 36T needle they stuck better with a thin bit of carded core wool to help hold them into the jaw. It works like glue or a staple as you sometimes would when adding a top coat to a figure. I added a few folded layers of mohair then trimmed them to try to get the angle i could see in the picture. I probably should have worked with tinier sections as i worked toward the soft pallet.  But i was getting excited to start working on adding the skins. I left the rest of the baleens long, (un-trimmed), and will trim them when i have the skins on.

a better look at the brush/comb tool. felting needle adjacent for scale vewing the upper mouth and eye brow brush i used to brush the mohair whale mouth propped open with eye brow brush7.1- 7.3) adding the mohair baleens

I got to use my “eyebrow brush” on the baleens it worked wonderfully. I alternated between the tiny comb and the tiny brush sides. I don’t think the whale wants me to use the eye shadow applicator end. I may try a bit of hair spray if I cant get the curl turning the direction I want. I wonder if they make tiny curling irons…. No don’t get distracted, stay focused, no on line shopping until I get this post finished!

I am reasonably pleased with the effect of the moustache like baleens. I will see if I can improve the effect with the blue whale, who will have a longer mouth so more baleens.

Adding the Skins:

Sara started with the upper skin, and then wrapped the lower skin around to meet or overlap it. I wanted to get the throat positioned first, so worked backwards to her method.

taking sewing clips out 8.1)  taking clips out of under skin

I used a few pins to position the nose and split for the tail. I had added extra width for the under side of the fins on both top and lower skin. so i put a pin in to position each side fin on the lower skin. Starting a the centre of the chin i worked felting down each side of the fist wrinkle.

using sewing pins to position the skin over the understructure working wrinkles down body8.2-8.3) chin placement and starting wrinkles

Sara’s whale has his mouth closed so Sara worked the skins between the upper and lower wires for the jaws. Since i wanted to show off his tung, i had the mouth open, so i needed to fit the wrinkles around the lip. A whales lip is smooth running along the mandible and the expansion wrinkles start just below that. Sort of like a set of pleated certens that can expand when needed. The expansion wrinkles can reach down to inferior to the lower fin on its back. I may go back and work on getting the lip correct but for the moment my whale is a mutant and has his wrinkles starting at the edge of the mouth.

I worked the wrinkles down the body alternating sides until i had pleated to the top of the “arms”, OK, fins. I had seen some of the wrinkle patterns had curved around the fin, so tried to make my wrinkles do that too. Then started to attach the fin cover skins, over the front bump tacking them down in between each bump.

8.4) fins and wrinkles and bumps

needs lips the wrinkles are not correct as lips8.5) the wrinkles extend past where they should be. 

i had to trim off a bit of skin-felt towards the tail fins, around the side, and tail fins. The skin worked quite well, especially for the wrinkle making. It made a smooth surface and is not heavily felted, it could be stretched to the rite shape.

When i got to the tail i started to add the skin over the wrapped wire, as Sara had suggested. It was not sitting well, and i didn’t like the shape. So i checked the reference photos, reshaped the wire, then added a thin amount of core wool between the armature for the tail to give a bit better support .

trimming wet felted skin overlay skin over tail armature cut felt just above base of tail pulled the skin back to reshape the armature needed a bit more support for the tail skin, shows added thin amount of fiber to tail new shape and about to add underside skin of tail9.1-9.5) photos of tail, tail fix and tail lower skin

I was quite please with the lower skin and other than the wrippily lips (8.5), it looks very whale like.

Adding the top skin:  The top skin was similar to the lower skin to work with.  It was a bit thinner and there was not as much extra felt to work with. Luckily I could ether stretch or patch the thin or short spots, to make the top fit the whale. Next time; make extra to allow for a bit more play. I used ether fiber cut from above the tail section or a bit of loose fiber under a thin edge to fill in the couple gaps along the side behind the arms.

laying the upper skin over the whale shape and using pins to hold it in posision starting at the center of the nose, using sewing pins to possion skin working from the nose, reaching the fins. close up of fin tip, i am useing both a bit of trimmed felt and loose fiber to fill in a short spot. fin close up showing bumps along leading edge 10.1-10.5) adding pins for placement, needle fleting down the skin.

I found the pins again help to position the skin. I had been using a T-36 needle and I found that it was excellent with the lower skin especially attaching the wrinkles. I think I should have switched to a finer needle for the top skin which was applied in a flatter way.

trimming skin to alow it to fit around lower body and tail showing underside working top skin around lower tail and tail10.6-10.7) cutting the skin to allow it to settle on top of the tale and lower body.

As with the upper skin, I trimmed the felt to allow the skin to fit over the body.  I extended the tail fin tips to give more feeling of the correct humpback whale tail shape.

stuffed frog with whale showing tail fins11.1) tail fin extension at outer tips with one of the frogs at the cottage.

I may still add a bit of scaring which is common in Humpback whales and possibly a bit more barnacles, but basically I am very happy with the results. It was time to call Glenn over to inspect the whale.

whale inspection, glenn holding whatle in hands as he looks at it whale inspection, glenn holding whatle in hands as he looks at it whale inspection, glenn holding whatle in hands as he looks at it glenn tickeles whale stumic11.2-11.5) whale inspection by Glenn 

I have to still add the eyes. i am not sure if i will felt them or use beads. in the mean time i have put a couple yellow sewing pins to position them.

from the size i think he or she will be a teen whale. i will add a few scars if he is older. i will know better when i have the Blue whale under-structure done.

I can already see a few changes i will be making in the next whale project in the armature. The most important will be moving the arm-fins to the top armature. I will also make the skins bigger to allow for more adjusting on the body and wait to make it after I have the armature fully fleshed out with wool. The density  and adjust-ability of felt-skin worked well, so I will try to make the same thin felt next time. I will need a bigger working table to do the layout and rolling. Maybe I will be social at a social and make whale skin, instead of focusing on the library?

i hope to have enough of the blue whale done to show you progress next post, if you are not worn out on whales? Have fun and keep felting.

Felted Lantern Workshop at Pinhey’s Point.

Felted Lantern Workshop at Pinhey’s Point.

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A couple of weeks ago, I did a class at Pinheys Point Historical Site. It is a beautiful site.

Rob Huntley image for Visit Pinhey’s Point web page.

We set up in what was the ballroom. The room is about the same size as my living and dining room. Not what I think of as a ballroom, but I guess there was enough room even with the big dresses. If you’re not dancing, you have to stand in another room.

They had lots of fun picking wool colours and silk. They were a great group; they listened carefully and asked good questions.

I love how they are all so different.

Here are a couple of group shots in front of the window. I shows you better how they will look with light in them. They will all lighten as they dry, too.

 

I always enjoy this class; it’s only half a day, but it gives such great results.

 

Don’t forget: registration for the expanded 3D resist (book resist) class is open. Class starts September 26, 2026

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/classes/3d-multi-part-resist/

 

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with appliqued flower showing close up of stitched texture on center.
Summer Symphony

Summer Symphony

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I finished another nunofelted landscape in preparation for selling that last set I sent to the gallery (one can always hope). I looked through the remainder of the nunofelt pieces I have left from Paula and decided to make another piece with the autumnul colored one. I had planned on making more trees but decided I wanted to create echinacea flowers instead.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with photos of echinacea placed on top.

I found some photos online and printed a bunch off, then cut the flowers out so I could figure out the sizes needed and a good arrangement. It also helps to make the petals and centers more lifelike otherwise the flowers end up looking too much alike.

I had found yellow hand dyed cotton fabric and a bit browner fabric for the centers. I also got out several shades of green for leaves and stems.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with cut fabric in yellow and yellow brown representing echinacea flowers.

Once the pieces of applique fabric were cut out, I tried some stems with fabric but they were a bit too thick. So I tried out green yarn and decided to use it instead. I could couch the yarn down and make the stems with more curves much more easily than out of fabric.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with flowers and stems stitched in place , leaves pinned, ready to stitch.

On to stitching, here the flowers are all appliqued down with matching cotton machine thread. I have also couched the stems down with matching thread. The leaves are cut and pinned in place.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with appliqued flowers, leaves and stems stitched in place.

Yay, all stitched down. A bit of texture on the centers is needed with a graduation of color and a bit of darkness to add depth.

I used four different colors of hand dyed wool thread so it would look a bit more “furry”. The centers were stitched with a random cross stitch and straight stitches.

Next up, I wanted to see if stitching lines in the petals would be a good addition. So I cut another sample petal or two and tried some different thread with stem stitch to see what it looked like. It just didn’t seem to add enough to the petals for the amount of work it would take.

Nunofelted landscape featuring echinacea flowers on multicolored background stitched to green "matte" fabric and laced to matte board.

I decided it was finished. So I bought a piece of background fabric and stitched the nunofelt in place. The piece was finished as usual by lacing the green fabric around two pieces of matte board. It’s all ready to go to the framers when I have a few more pieces finished. I think my next project is to  make some smaller (5×7″) landscapes as I have sold a few of those from the gallery in Kalispell.

What have you been working on? We would love to see your projects, please upload them to our community page.

colourful wool fibres to lay on loose weave fabric to make nuno felt
Doris the hedgehog and an autumn table mat

Doris the hedgehog and an autumn table mat

Comments 18 comments

Lyn

The nights are drawing in and heralding autumn.  The leaves have started to fall and the plants are looking sad.
Gardeners will already be clearing away plant litter, but I urge them not to be too tidy – leave a little mess for our garden friends to shelter in or under.
We had a hedgehog hibernate under a mound of leaves in our garden and it inspired me write a ditty and felt a picture – it’s wet and needle felt with some hand stitching – 28x18cm (11”x7”).

DITTY FOR DORIS

I help you with your garden plants
I eat the slugs and snails and ants
So help me when it’s cold and bitter
Look closely when you rake the litter
Please check that I’m not in my bed
With fallen leaves around my head

Lyn

a hedgehog nestled under autumn leaves at the start of hibernation

Annie

I wanted a small but interesting textiles project to help me get back into the swing of making things again after a busy year has kept me from my fibres, and since autumn is my favourite season it seemed like a good subject!

I decided on a small table mat with an autumn leaves design.   I made a sample set of leaves but actually they might end up being the final ones.  I chopped up and arranged some small squares of open weave fabrics

loose weave fabrics for nuno felt

then flipped them over and laid corresponding colours of fibres over the fabrics so that I could felt it to prefelt and then cut my leaves from the prefelt.

colourful wool fibres to lay on loose weave fabric to make nuno felt

Leaves cut from the prefelt.

nuno felt cut into leaf shapes

Here’s a close up of three of the leaves.

Not sure what the next stage is but this is as far as I have got!

Registration for the expanded 3D Resist, aka a Book Resist, workshop is now open.

Registration for the expanded 3D Resist, aka a Book Resist, workshop is now open.

Comments 3 comments

Registration for the expanded 3D resist, aka a book resist, opens today, September 5, 2026. The class runs from September 26 to Oct 31 2026.  Cost: $75 Canadian, approx. $54 US, $46 Euro, $39 Pounds, $75 Aus, $90 NZ.

This is now a two part course. The first part will show you how to make, assemble and use a 3d book resist. It will guide you step by step from building the multi-part resist to the finished piece and give you the skills to continue on to more fun with sculptures.

The second part of this course will be on design and testing.  This will save you fibre, time, and frustration when things don’t go the way you thought they would. It will show you how to test different shapes and cutting methods without making multiple felt samples. You will be able to assemble and test the concept, testing multiple assembly and cutting techniques. Then you will be able to move on to making a felt piece with confidence.

Here is a link to the materials list. You probably already have most of it. Material List for 3D resist workshop

Please join me for this expanded workshop and have fun learning some new skills.

Register here: https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/classes/3d-multi-part-resist/

 

Here are some pieces other students have made:

Renee 3D with balloon

Fay Starfish

Fay, Red six-leafed book resist vessel

 

 

 

a tail/tale of a whale – part 1

a tail/tale of a whale – part 1

Comments 13 comments

Updated 08/31/26

I had such wonderful plans for the last two weeks of summer. 1; invite Ann to the cottage to relax and do some felting, 2; do some wet felting to add to some dry felting (while Ann was there, sort of like a life guard, to keep the water behaving), and 3; then finish up the first whale. So I suppose it’s not a surprise it is the tale of a whale, or a whale of a tale, I have for you today.

Like many of my plans, they often go astray. It started out fine, but my luck could not last.

3 weeks ago: I re-watched Sara’s humpback whale felt-along on YouTube, and had hours of fun researching both humpback and blue whales. I inadvertently found out a bit about a few other whales as I investigated. It is the way of research, so many rabbit holes to look into.

I followed Sara’s instructions for creating the armature… mostly, instead of a mix of 12 & 14g, I used 12g aluminum. She used coated floral wire to give extra strength and help the fibre hold to the armature. I had the unlabelled floral wire from Dollarama easily to hand, so I was liberal in its application. She had made the armature in 2 parts: the top of the head and body with tail, and the second armature had the lower jaw with side fins and body with 2 wires to add to the tail.

Black grocery box full of wire, fleting suplys and snacks sitting on black walker1.1) project box for whale project, 12g wire, un-gauged floral wire, tool kit, snacks

I wanted my whale to be able to open its mouth, so had research pictures of mouth interiors and how the expansion happens when it sifts water and krill through its mouth and out through the baleen (we will come back to those). Since Sara had an upper and lower jaw already with her armature, I went with what she had worked out for lengths and proportions.

Sara wrapped the upper and lower armatures separately with core wool, building the basic under structure. Then joined both half’s together and wrapped with more core wool.  she added the wet felted skin over the wrapped armature.  I had taken 2 days to make careful notes of what Sara had done, but as usual derailed and just used the photo-reference I had.  I spent most of a week puttering while adding the core wool and had much of the structure blocked in when, on Thursday, Ann arrived at the cottage.

Preamble: I really don’t like getting wet. It’s so, wet. If water were drier, I would be happier. I kept asking my Dad, a hydrogeologist, if he could invent dehydrated water. He seemed to think water was fine the way it was. (I asked him for a dinosaur when I was 3 or 4 and was told he was not that kind of geologist; at least asking him to fix water was on topic. Other than these minor failures, he was a fabulous dad.)

I had picked up a new 4′ long folding table with adjustable leg heights to work on. I had a new pool noodle and the wet felting kit I won from Marie at Living Felt (Texas).  Sara had done some per-blending for the upper layer of colours. I had an extensive selection of tones to work from, so I relied more on colour placement. The under layer for the darker top was a special blend from World of Wool, called “Indigo”; it is a fabulous blue-black, which I hoped would creep a bit into the upper layers.

thin wisps of indigo (which leaned heavily towords black) layed down in a harring bone oriantation.1.2)first layer of the upper skin (W.O.W. Indigo coriedale)

Watching Sara lay out her top layer was interesting. She said the felt skin should be thin so it would be adjustable with a bit of tugging when done. I remember Moy McKay wanting thinness in her wet felted landscapes so they could be needle felted and fit in the sewing machine. Multiple times Sara said “that’s it”, then added a bit more fibre. I wound up doing the exact same thing, “ah I think that’s it,…… no a bit more just here”. Even with my enthusiasm, I was still able to keep the felt fairly thin.

adding embelishments and colour for the second layer embelishments compleat ready to wet - ick1.31-1.32) Embellishments added to second layer of top skin, coriedale, silk, slubs, yarn and locks

Once the fibre for the skin was laid out, it was time to carefully add the soap and water, just enough to wet the wool but not the floor or me. I dampened the top layer of plastic and started to “gently caress the timid bunny”, or you can think of it as “lymphatic effleurage”, which is about the weight of a nickel in pressure.

checking stability of the felt stuffed big frog holding small blue disk with handle and small bumps, good gental rubbing tool Tupper ware lid has flutted surface slightly more aggressive rubbing surface1.41-checking felt integrity before switching to the wet felting tools;  1.42- photo of frog and rubbing tool, 1.43 -photo of tupper ware lid as rubbing tool)

Once the bunny is less timid and the fibre is starting to migrate, I switched to using the soft rubbing tool, then I used Ann’s Tupperware lid.

rolling felt around large diamiter pool noodle 1.5) Starting to roll the felt, flipping and rotating the skin regularly

When the felt was firmer, I could start rolling with my new extra-large pool noodle. A regular pool noodle would have worked too; I just didn’t have one at the cottage.   When I had rolled from each end and side, on both sides, it was time to gently drop the skin on the table. This is a gentle way to shock the fibres into further shrinking.

hand has let go and the felt is falling towords the table1.61)dropping to continue shrinkage

wet felted skin partly done whale armature sitting on top of wet skin1.62-1.63) top skin shrunk and checked with partly finished under structure.

I also did a bit of rolling and rubbing in specific directions to get the last bit of shrinkage I wanted. The skin is still quite thin but is also holding together nicely. It is time to set it aside and work on the lighter underbelly skin. Sara laid out and rolled both together, but I didn’t have a large enough table to do that, so it’s one side at a time.

Underside:

Sara’s lighter under layer was sort of the shape of a large mushroom. I started that way and add a bit more width at the top to allow more wrinkles. I had it layed out, had started to dampen the fiber when i changed my mind and added the “under arms”, OK, fins.

Ann had some grey and white fiber with little black flecks, i think it was from world of wool. i added a bit along the border where the two skins would join.

laying out the base layer in a harring bone pattern second layer of white & Grey, corrodale, silk, locks and slubs adding the under sides of the side fins, sara had not added them to her skin. close up of added fiber fiber layed out and preparing to roll after rubbing gently the fiber was ready to roll2.1-2.6) layout and wetting of the light lower skin

By the time i started rolling it was time for Ann to head home.  We cleaned up the porch a bit, closed up the cottage, and headed out. It had been great to have her company and i felt much braver with her keeping an eye on the sneaky water.

Ann and her dry balls ready to felt3) Ann had been Preparing dryer balls and had quite a few ready to go.

I still have more rolling to do on the under side skin but that will have to wait until i get back to the cottage.  i should let you have a brake and we can continue the whale saga next post.

Making a Blue Bird Feeder

Making a Blue Bird Feeder

Comments 13 comments

The Ottawa Valley Weavers’ and Spinners’ Guild has an annual Sale and Exhibition. Every year there is a theme for the Exhibition.   This year and the next two years.  we are doing a section of the colour wheel. This year we are doing the blue section. We are taking it to the secondary colour on each side to give people the most scope to work with.

Wendy, the Coordinator of the Exhibition, also asked people to let her know if the piece was done in a class or was a class we teach. So, I made a blue bird feeder. It is a fun class. It is always more fun if it doesn’t have to fit anyone at the end.

I like to do a gourd shape, and with the blue theme, I used 4 shades of blue.

 

Then I picked out some of my blue handspun that has some sparkle in it. I created an all over random design that wrapped around onto the other side.

Then fixed the front so I could cut the hole without cutting the design.

You can see some of the yarn above the hole shifted while I was rolling. Impatience getting the better of me again. I may try to shift them a little with a felting needle.

these to great outside. My mother-in-law’s feeder was hanging outside for 3 years before the rope hanger broke. It was purple with orange locks. After 3 years, it was bluish grey from the sun. The chickadees in particular liked it.

View from Kiwanis Lodge to Little Bitterroot Lake
Cyanotypes at Annual Art Retreat

Cyanotypes at Annual Art Retreat

Comments 21 comments

My art group had our annual art retreat at Kiwanis Lodge on Little Bitterroot Lake in Marion, MT. This year we had decided to experiment with cyanotypes. We had actually done a bit of this a few years ago but hadn’t experimented with all the “extra” chemicals that you can add to change the colors and the way the prints developed. Luckily, the weather had cooled down, we got a bit of rain at the start of the weekend and the smoke cleared. Perfect weather to stay at the lodge.

We set up the tables with all our equipment and supplies. We were printing on paper and fabric. Cotton paper and natural fiber fabric seemed to work the best. Everyone brought different botanicals, some dried and flattened and others fresh. The first night we mixed up the cyanotype chemicals and painted our paper and fabric. These were dried in a room that didn’t have outdoor light which ended up being the bathroom. Once dry, the papers were stacked and kept under black paper to prevent sun exposure.

I used some transparencies I had printed in hopes of creating more tree spirit faces. However, I forgot that I needed these to be like a photo negative. I didn’t reverse the black and white so I ended up with some pretty spooky faces which you will see later. We used both the dry and wet methods. The dry method means that the cyanotype painted paper is covered with either botanicals or a printed transparency, covered with glass, clipped on the edges and placed in the sun. The top left photo shows the dry method getting it’s sunshine.

The wet method adds water and other “chemicals” to the mix. The painted fabric or paper is laid down. Here, Paula used feathers and placed them over the cyanotype paper. She then spritzed with water, watered down vinegar and watered down baking soda. With the pipette, she added some yellow pigment to the mix. Then she covered with glass, clamped the glass in place and put it out in the sun. You could also add bubbles or coarse salt to the wet surface.

Once it’s “cooked” in the sun, the piece is rinsed in water or water and hydrogen peroxide and the result is the typical blue cyanotype.

Here’s a video of rinsing the paper and seeing the change to blue.

Then, if you want a bit different look, you can “bleach” the paper in soda ash water. The picture on the left shows the paper from the video as it is put into the bleach bath and the one on the right is after bleaching it for a minute or two.

Cyanotype of face soaking in water rinse.

Here’s one of my creepy faces. Unfortunately, after I rinsed this one, I decided to bleach it. The cyanotype disappeared all together. I’m not sure if it was the previously screen printed surface that caused that or the type of fabric. Experimentation often lends itself to failures but you always learn new things.

Here’s some pieces drying. Some of the ones that have lots of brown were either previously eco printed or rusted.

 

Once the pieces were dry, then they could be bleached or toned. For toning we soaked in baths of pigment, tea, or coffee. That can add some background color. After the weekend was over, I kept getting all kinds of videos about using different substances to rinse or tone. Apparently, you can use nettles, madder root, citric acid and who knows what else. I am sure there are more options available. If you’re interested, there are loads of videos on Instagram and YouTube on cyanotype printing.

Cyanotype of face

Here’s one more creepy face for you. I have a few printed faces on paper and some on different types of fabric. I even printed on some lightweight, sheer silk so I will be trying a few cyanotypes with nuno felting.

The other interesting thing that happened was printing on these tea bags. The end result had a purple color that we couldn’t figure out where it came from. We used several different kinds of tea bag paper and this was the only brand that gave a purple print. I don’t remember the brand though so who knows if it’s repeatable.

Cyanotypes drying

I think it’s really interesting seeing these other colors develop with this type of printing. Cyanotype printing is so recognizable that I find it difficult to use in my work. I prefer methods that are more layered and difficult to recognize immediately.

Sunset on Little Bitterroot Lake

We had a great time as usual and it’s so wonderful to spend uninteruppted time creating with friends.