Felting at Camp Judy Layne

Felting at Camp Judy Layne

I recently told you about preparing for volunteering at Girl Scout camp. I have returned from Camp Judy Layne in Kentucky where I taught eco printing and four sessions of wet felting. It was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed myself and introduced wet felting to camp.

Welcome Sign at the cabin on Lake Cumberland, KY USA

Before we went to camp, Debbie (right) invited us to her cabin on Lake Cumberland. When Susan (left), Dennis and I arrived there was a big sign on the cabin. This is an old joke having to do with plaques at camp where I signed my name really large (even on plaques I wasn’t supposed to be on).

Detail of welcome sign with "and Dennis, Susan & John"

Debbie who is not at all “arts and crafty” made this sign to make me laugh.

At Lake Cumberland in the boat with Debbie and Susan

We went on Curt’s (Debbie’s husband) boat and had a great time on a gorgeous day.

Dennis caught a fish on Lake Cumberland

Dennis (my husband) went fishing with Curt and John (Susan’s husband) and he was the only one who caught a fish. The stay at the cabin was very relaxing in preparation for the craziness of camp the following week.

Camp counselors and volunteers first session of Camp Judy Layne 2026

We all got camp shirts when we arrived and here is the staff and volunteers for the first session of camp on Sunday afternoon.

Montana, Snooz and Mac on Muu Muu Monday. No muu muus for us!

On Monday morning, staff and volunteers are encouraged to wear muu muus. Here we are on Moo Moo Monday!

Eco printed book covers laid out to dry.

After breakfast on Monday, I helped Poecat (the arts and crafts director) and we eco printed some book covers for small books that the campers were creating. I was concerned the eco printing wouldn’t be successful but I was happy with the prints. The campers learned how to make a folded 8 page book (from an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper) and then used waxed linen thread and the pamphlet stitch to attach their covers to the books.

Snooz, Mac and Montana at Crazy Hat dinner in the dining hall at Camp Judy Layne in Kentucky

Monday night is crazy hat dinner so here we are in the dining hall with our hats. Look closely to see my hat 😉 At camp we have camp names, mine was Montana, and then we had Mac and Snooz. Mac and Snooz were teaching a unit of girls to play guitar which was called Treble in the Trees.

The next day was crazy sock day. Mac got us matching  “friend” socks that hold hands. Ramblr is to the right of me. She stayed with us at the Air BNB cabin just outside of camp.

Then on to my four felting sessions, two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday. The first three groups were smaller but then the last group was 18-20 campers (10-11 years old).

 

I started them out with batts that I had made at home (packed into a large suitcase and brought on the plane) and then had them add the design on top.

I wanted them all to create different designs. The first group listened to music and created a piece inspired by the music. The next was inspired by “fauvist” landscapes as I had a bunch of crazy colors. The third group made portraits and the last group their favorite flower.

We had two hours for each session and the girls did a great job. Everyone ended up with a piece of felt that was holding together. Yay!

Group of campers with finished "inspired by music" felt pictures

Here’s the Treble in the Trees group with their creations.

Group of campers displaying "fauvist landscapes" felted pictures.

These are the CIT’s (counselors in training) with their landscapes.

 

Group of campers with "portrait" wet felted picture

This group was the theatre group who gave a show at the end about llamas.

Group of campers with "flower" inspired felt pictures

And here is the final group that created their favorite flower. Didn’t they all do a great job?

For Wednesday night, it was crazy hair dinner. I made these wool dreads for us to wear and we sang a ukulele rendition of Three Little Birds. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a video of our performance 🙁

Curt and Dennis at the lake house wearing wool dreads

And don’t the men rock the dreads? Curt and Dennis at the Lake Cumberland cabin.

Snooz and Mac presenting guitar plaque for first ever Treble in the Trees session.

Snooz and Mac presenting the signed guitar to hang on the dining hall with the first session of Treble in the Trees. Here’s a link to their performance:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1234964726359457

And a link to the drama performance:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1002727975461627

If you want to see more photos of what’s happening at camp, you can view them here. You’ll have to scroll down to the first week photos (June 7-12) to see our session.

https://www.facebook.com/CampJudyLayne

Kat, the wonderful camp cook, holding her Cinnamon Roll of Excellence award.

Here is an award that we made for Kat, the camp cook. She works so hard to provide meals for all the campers, volunteers and staff. Billie was the cook for many years during the time I was a camper and staff member.

Moth on concrete floor at Camp Judy Layne

And to show that I was still paying attention to the beauty of nature, here’s a moth I photographed while we were setting up the music performance.

SCAMP tshirts for the OG's at Camp Judy Layne

A good time was had by all but we were a bit worn out. Here’s our new shirts for this year. Hopefully, I will be able to go back next summer!

 

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