Third Quarter Challenge Sample
I have been trying to decide what to do for the third quarter challenge. I remembered a post Zed did a while back that showed the back of her piece and how a colored piece of prefelt showed on the back as the edges migrated through the felt. So I thought I would try that idea.
I used a piece of white merino prefelt and then cut circles from a batt of short fiber merino in black. The plan was to put the circles on the back of the prefelt and see how the color migrated through the prefelt. I used only one layer of prefelt.
I placed the circles on the prefelt and then wet it down. I flipped it over and then mainly worked from the front side rubbing to felt.
Here is the piece after felting. The front is on the left and the back on the right. There was definitely a lot of migration of the black fiber through the prefelt. It gives it a muted appearance.
I then blocked the felt on a foam square to even out the edges a bit.
And here’s the finished felt after blocking, left is the front and right is the back. It’s interesting how the edges of the circle migrate more than the centers. So you get a darker line around the edge. Now to decide how to finish this. I was thinking of screen printing some circles over the top. What color would you suggest? I think I might cut it up afterwards and make some note cards.
15 thoughts on “Third Quarter Challenge Sample”
The back of felt is often very pretty because of the fibre migration and it seems a shame that it’s never seen!
Your experimental piece has worked well and looks good from both sides – so how do you choose which side to use?
As for colour – just about anything will go with black and white but a strong, bright colour would work well.
Dalmation owners will love this!
Thanks Lyn! Perhaps I could cut it up and use both the back and front sides. That’s an interesting thought. I did think of a Dalmatian or perhaps a cow when I looked at it.
Very interesting experiment, which has made me think too – the cut edges obviously leave these fibres free to migrate hence more definition around the circles….I must remember this.
I agree a strong colour would work well – red is obvious, but mustard yellow or rich turquoise blue could look good with the ‘dalmation’ (that’s totally fixed in my head now) sampler.
Thanks Antje, yes, I did think the difference is the cut edges. I wanted to see how the difference in migration was. I like the idea of mustard yellow even though I don’t often use yellow. Haven’t decided what direction to go next. More to follow.
Very nice sample and interesting experiment, Ruth. A warm amber colour would also be nice – or you could keep it monochrome and go for black? Look forward to seeing what becomes of it in the end.
Thanks Lyndsay! Monochrome is a possibility. No decisions made yet 🙂
Interesting experiment. Did it melt right in flat or is one side raised. You could make cards with a window so you could see both sides.
Thanks Ann, it is raised on the black and white side. That sounds a bit complicated for my style of cards 😉
I like the definition you get with the cut edges. What if you stacked circles of different colours, getting progressively smaller, like a bullseye? You’d have to put them upside down (smallest circle on the bottom) so that all the colours could migrate through the prefelt.
Thanks Kim! That’s a cool idea about the stacked circles. I will have to do a sample to see how that works.
That looks really good 🙂 I can’t think of a colour, because I agree with all suggestions, literally any colour would look good. I like Ann’s idea. You can buy those cards with apertures, I got some in a pack with thin plastic sheets meant for window paints of something like that. But they sell them at craft shops.
Thanks Zed! Yes, any color would work. Yes, I had some of those type of cards at one point but I don’t think I have any more. We’ll see what develops 🙂
Both sides look good, I guess it depends on what your goal is. Perhaps combining them would make an interesting contrast with different colors.
Thanks Marilyn, still haven’t made any plans for completing this one yet.