Annie

I have discovered that I like making table mats!  They are easy to make, don’t require a mount or framing, and the design can be as simple as a plain colour, a pattern or repeated motif and no composition required.  That means they have a good chance of being completed.

Autumn is my favourite season – the temperature cools, the air is crisp (well sometimes, when it’s not pouring with rain! But I love the rain too so that’s OK!), the leaves are glorious colours, it just feels lower pressure all round than summer to me and has the feeling of “cosy”, and felted housewares can add a layer to that cosy feeling!

So this project was born of table mats and autumn leaves.  The leaves were made first and shown in our last blog post (blog post) so this post is to show the finished thing.  I say finished….but some of the bright yellow fibres didn’t felt as well as I would like so I might add some needle felting or stitching, not sure yet.  I think the dyeing process of the bright yellow may have over processed the fibres in some way as they remained a little fluffy but the rest of the yellows felted perfectly well.

Here are a few photos of the making, it was quite simple, a circle of yellow that I pre-felted before adding the leaves, that I later trimmed around the shape of the leaves after it had felted a bit.

I am really pleased with it.  Originally those leaves were just my samples and I was going to make the real leaves after, but then I decided I liked them just as they were.

I managed one other small autumn project of two lavender bags, although they took weeks – I started the project and then there it sat staring at me for 4 weeks, because I thought I had messed it up.

I haven’t done patchwork before that I can remember, and after I had sewed the first squares together it didn’t look right, so I gave up.  But then…..I looked at it again and realised it was just a seam allowance that was making the design look misplaced.  So I picked it up and had another go and sure enough they turned out OK.  I am very pleased with them.  The smell is divine too!  My neighbour had given me a huge lot of lavender.  Some of it stayed on the stems as decorative bunches  …

… and the rest I stripped from the stems and put it in jars that I leave open and shake to release the scent. But I daren’t waste it so I wanted a little project.   I don’t like many smells, but I do love real lavender.

Lyn

I used some scrap fuzzy yarns to knit Sarah Snowman – a hanging tree decoration.  She’s 18cms (5”) tall, plus the hanging cord.  Of course there had to be felt in there somewhere so the nose was fashioned from Bergschaf wool then needle felted into the knitted, stuffed face.  Her arms are twisted floral wire and the gift she is carrying is made from fancy ribbons.

She is waving hello to you all with her free hand 😊