Felting and Fiber Studio

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is located in the former Rosamond Woolen Co. in Almonte, ON. Constructed in 1867

2024, Set up for 75th Anaversery exhibition at the ALmonteTextile Museum

October 16, 2024 Jan Comments 11 comments

Was it last week, that I showed you the Mer’s and their pets, wanting to go off to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum? Friday I had a quick medical procedure with a different anaesthetic (that worked better for after-affects!) and then the car needed a trip to her Doctor on Monday, for new back brakes but the timing was great since I was not really feeling up to driving. By Thursday, both the car and I were feeling much better. I also found out that the showpieces were going to Almonte that afternoon and volunteered to go up and take pictures to document the guild show set-up and then the Vernissage on Saturday. (as you probably have found out, it is easier to have someone else document the work and not have to stop and take pictures while you work!)

1.1) The museum, which was the old mill office and attached stone building

1.2) the other old stone mill building has been turned into expensive condos.

I have told you about the wonderful textile Museum, (3 Rosamond St E, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0). It is open Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 4pm, in case you are dropping by. Almonte was a Mill town, the Mississippi River runs through it with useful drops in height, which makes it perfect for the proliferation of mills. This was a textile complex, (there is an old flower mill on another part of the river). In the picture above, you can see the Old mill building on the Left. It has been turned into expensive condos, with either a fabulous view of the river or the parking lot and the old mill office, which is now the museum.

Our original exhibition organizer had a sudden change in workload, now expected to do 3 people’s work, for the pay of 1 and had to back out of his Guild work. Liane took over late in the process and quickly pulled together a small team to help with the remaining prep work and the installation. Unfortunately, one of her installation team had a major family health problem and was unavailable. So I went from Photographer to part of the installation team, and photographer. I hope you will find I still took enough photos to document the show!

There were 3 components to the show, the history section was the 75th-anniversary slide show I had made for our anniversary party (921 jpegs) running in a loop. Work from guild members and some of our members who were pushing the boundaries in their fibre arts. There are examples of Weaving, Spinning, Felting and Basketry, all of which needed to be transported to the museum, and then grouped together for display.

1.3) the sign for our exhibition “Remembering/Reimagining: Celebrating 75 Years of the Ottawa Valley Weavers’ and Spinners’ Guild”

On Thursday afternoon, set up day 1;

Pieces were brought to the museum and unpacked. At that point, Liane organised what was going were and we started to hang the show. We had an amazing assistant from the Museum helping pull display equipment and assisting us. I have a background in picture framing and installation and have also helped with art shows at University, so this was not totally new to me. Unfortunately, Lug and Hall are not my best abilities, so I switched back to Photo documentation while the work came in.

2.1) the back hall where the work was coming in, before being moved to the exhibition space.

2.2) Kieran carries in a well wrapped piece to the display space.

2.3) Liane unwrapping pieces and making notes

2.4) the Guild Tapestry project has arrived!

2.5) this is not really a “Vanna White” moment, it is to document the packaging of each piece.

To make sure everything got back into the correct packaging, I tried to get a shot of each item, as it was unpacked.

The next was organizing the exhibition into groupings for the panels. As things emerged from their packing Liane told us where they were going. Thus the show started to take shape. We kept sending our fabulous museum worker, Maybe (whose name I misheard and kept referring to as Mavie, Sorry!!!) off to find plinths, easels, hanging bars……

While the others were grouping pieces and draping display manikins, I got to work with a needle and some fishing line and prepared the Mers for their big day.

2.6) grouping pieces to hang together.

Ann’s Helmet is having trouble staying on its stand. After years of going out to Demos, the hole in the foam heads’ “neck” has increased in size and now self-decapitates at unexpected moments. I asked Ann for repair suggestions and she calmly said to “just add a nail or two”. We added 2 nails to the base and no more headless stump problems!!! You will see the fixed version in a few pictures. The Styrofoam head also was losing some of its grey finish so I added 2 pairs of black knee-high nylons over it and it fixed the uneven colour perfectly.

2.7) Maybe and Liane take a moment’s break (I brought chocolate cookies and rice crackers)

While the others were grouping pieces and draping display manikins, I got to work with a needle and some fishing line and prepared the Mers for their big day.

2.8) the Mer’s are ready to go for a swim around the museum.

While Mr Mer is perfectly capable of holding his quatrefoil, (triad with one more sharp part added) but it might be better if he didn’t go hunting Museum visitors so I switched to his tennis ball and racket. Maybe he can get Mrs. Mer to play with him.

2.91) oh no the museum will be closing shortly, so we will be back tomorrow to continue working.

Oh no, the museum will be closing shortly and we will have to continue on day 2.

End of Day 1 and time to head back to Ottawa, I hope the traffic will be better! Let’s enjoy the fall colour before we head home.

2.92) Fall colours by the Museum

When I got home on Thursday night I did a quick bit of layout to give Liane signage for the Group Guild tapestry project, which I showed you in an earlier blog post(https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2024/07/04/ovwsg-75th-anniversary-party-and-tapestry-project/). I got all the info to fit on a legal size page! It’s interesting to see what we each started with as an image and then how we interpreted it.

3.1) the list of artists, their image, square number and the technique they used.

3.2) the Guild Tapestry project. Liane has added the cool brass plaque

Friday, Day 2,

ok, I know it’s the Thanksgiving long weekend but this is the second day of horrible traffic and really bad driving, is there a problem with the moon I don’t know about? Yesterday a little odd lady in a small car crept onto the highway and got up to the frightening fast speed of 60 kilometers per hour in a 100 zone. Today it was cars weaving and random unsignaled lane changes and sudden decelerations for no apparent reason. (Alright, I’ve ranted and feel better, let’s get back to the show!)

4.1) This is the back door to the Mill office/ Museum, it has a ramp which is easier than the front steps if you have a walker.

Maybe and I started work on hanging things including the Mer’s. I switched out Mr. Mer’s Quodradent (it could impale someone) for his tennis racket and a tiny dry-felted tennis ball.

4.2) getting this panel of scarves hung required more ladder work and the big level.

4.3) The Mer family and pets are having fun swimming around above the show.

We added more blankets to the coverlet stand and slowly worked our way around the space putting things up. while Maybe was called away I tried to use the short ladder to hang one of the panels. I heard about that as a bad idea later that evening while I tried to fall asleep. (Sorry, no shot of me up the ladder!) I do have good ladder shots of both Maybe and Liane though.

4.4) Hanging on a long woven tapestry of Iceland required a much taller ladder

4.5) Liane hanging the elephant weaving

4.6) Elephants, copper and parliament with the edge of one of the coverlets on the right. There are cookies

4.7) Oh no the Museum is closing, but we can stay a bit longer!

4.8) just a bit more to do but it’s looking good!

OH no is already time to leave? No, today there is work going on downstairs on the other exhibition, so we will be locked in but can stay until about 6 pm. We had most of the exhibition placed. A couple more to put up then signage and the slide show but that will be for tomorrow before the Vernissage starts!

Saturday, Day 3!

More slow traffic today, you would think it’s a long weekend, oh yes it is a long weekend! The big day is finally here, the last pieces must go up, so let’s get back to work (then we can party!!) Liane and Maybe have been busy and have more up by the time we got through the oddly heavy traffic!

5.1)almost ready, that blanket needs a bit of straitening but this end of the exhibit is looking good!

5.2) the nuno felted shawl just got straitened we have to get the ladder away and put that pile of packing stuff away for later.

5.3)Maybe got the Slide show going

There is still the signage to add to the wall but Liane will be focusing on that, while I try to do the documentary photography. Liane moved the packing material out and Glenn gave the space a final sweep and we were ready for people!!

5.4) getting ready to put up the signage for the pieces.

We do not have a T-square or sharp exacto so all the info is going by the Exhibit sign and it will be a bit more interactive.

5.5) the signs are up and we just have to clear the table away

5.6) Glenn gives the exhibit a quick sweep

The folding table is about to disappear and we will be ready for the show to start! You have seen the set-up. So, please remember to get a glass of Red or white wine and a few nibblies and join me next week where I will give you a privet tour, and show you the pieces, particularly the felting. Then finally, I will show you a few shots of the Vinasage.

Have fun and keep Felting!

Shepherdess and Sheep

October 14, 2024 Shepherdessann Comments 11 comments

I spent some time working on the flock of sheep. Maybe not the most elegant sheep transport and sounds a bit like a horror show when you say a bag of sheep and sheep parts but it’s a bit of a production line when working on a flock of them.

As you can see I was being supervised in my Dr Franinstien endeavours. In this picture, she is wearing her first shirt and coat. You can see the sleeves are too big around and I didn’t like the way the hood worked on this one.

Last time I had finished the clothing, or so I thought. I ended up doing the shirt 4 times to get it the way I wanted it. The third one would have worked but I cut the neck hole too big.

I did get them finished and she had a dress fitting. I added a blanket stitch to the neckline and a blue star to her dress. I think this kind of dress is called a pinafore. You can see some of her flock in the background.

I took her to the Almont Fiberfest that Jan told you about and she supervised while I got her sheep some wool. This is the opposite of the way sheep, wool and shepherdesses usually work.

And another unshearing.

Next post there will be hair, a new coat and more colourful sheep. And a picture of them on display at the museum.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian followers. I hope you had a great Turkey Day!

Green nuno felted background with appliqued flower and stitched blue flowers added.

Indian Paintbrush Continues

October 12, 2024 ruthlane Comments 13 comments

I have been slowly working on my Indian Paintbrush artwork. Since the last time I showed you, I have painted the stems and added some blue flowers in the background.

Here it is after I painted the stems and leaves. I didn’t add any further color to the flowers themselves as I thought I might do. Once I was finished, I decided I should have left the bottom stems alone so they blended better into the background. I could add more paint on top but so far I have just left them as they are.

Here’s a closer view of the stems. Next up was to decide if I needed to add anything else. I decided to enhance the blue areas with some hand stitching. I found a hand dyed greyed down blue that was multi valued.

So I used fly stitch and the thread was a thin cotton slightly bigger than one strand of floss. It’s actually hard to see in this photo but you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Here’s a closer view of the blue stitching. So what’s next? I’m not sure. I have been looking at the piece now for several weeks hanging up in my studio. Does it need more? If so what? I still haven’t decided. What do you think?

On another note, I finally saw the Northern Lights here in Kalispell, Montana. I never realized that you need to look through the camera’s lense to actually see the lights very well. Paula took the photo above and I took the one below. Do you see the constellation?

The third corner. Autumn

October 10, 2024 mariees26 Comments 16 comments

Autumn has arrived. Time for celebrating harvests, and gathering the fruits of the hedgerow. There are many apples, plums, damsons, bullace, greengages, and pear trees all laden with fruit, a little dexterity is needed to get a tasty snack, or to collect for pies, crumbles and jams. Many a blackberry has been collected and eaten, or frozen, made into jam, or used to make a tasty liqueur by soaking in vodka, or whiskey along with a little sugar, and left to mature in readiness for adding to a glass or two of bubbly at Christmas. Yum. Not the whiskey obviously! Not forgetting the profusion of hazelnuts, walnuts and glorious conkers, and sweet chestnuts that are such a treat to find.

Each year from early August, I go searching for some hop vines that may have escaped from cultivation, and moved into the hedgerow at some point. I am not sure if there is an actual wild hop though. From mid August to early September I am on the lookout for the tell tale leaf shape and colour, and lime green shade of the hop flower, as the vine clambers over nearby trees and shrubs, and hoping that I can remember the spot that I collected them from the previous year.

So, for the third corner of my blanket I have decided to needle felt an impression of a small portion of the hop vine that I collected early September.

I love finding these vines. I use the dried hops along with some lavender to make little pillows to slip inside a larger pillow to encourage a restful sleep. I also hang a hop vine in my kitchen, such a lovely decorative addition, and I change it each year.

Hop growing is plentiful in Herefordshire where I live, and also in Kent, but alas they are not as widely grown as in years gone by – but I am hoping that I am mistaken in this belief. It is lovely driving along and spotting a field with the hops stretching up the tall poles and wires. I’m not sure where else in the UK they are grown other than already mentioned, but with so many craft beer makers in this country the growing of hops is unlikely to die out any time soon.

I have needle felted my hops and used some yarn to illustrate the vine. A photo shows the size of the vine I am using. I have removed all the leaves – as I usually do – but some are present for size.

I have machine stitched over the ‘hops’ to secure, and also added stitching to the vine. The hop flowers are a lovely shade of green, with a touch of yellow when fresh, and gradually the colour fades as the flowers dry.

I have stitched the leaves using my machine too, and I have left them bare, so to speak. I was planning on adding some colour to the leaves, but I think they look better without.

One frog and one toad, both hand knit, sat on a desk. One is wearing a turtleneck jumper and the other one dungarees and a shawl

When knitting is tiny

October 8, 2024 Leonor Comments 23 comments

Does your crafting mojo wane and wax like the phases of the moon? Mine does. I have a fairly narrow set of interests but it’s up to the Gods of Craft when I work on one of them.

After my knitting took a back seat for a few weeks, I started feeling the need to get the needles and yarn out and create something cute and tiny. I didn’t feel ready to tackle a bit knitting project, my brain was asking for a quick reward. Enter a frog and a toad!

If you are familiar with India Rose Crawford on Instagram, you’ll know her cute frogs poised in adorable miniature cosy scenes. If you’ve never heard of her, I highly encourage you to have a look, her attention to detail is fantastic.

I bought a knitting kit featuring India Rose’s frog pattern (jumper included) and when the time was right I begun working on it. My first attempt didn’t quite go to plan, as I mistakenly placed the eyes on his bottom… poor thing ended up looking much more like an axolotl than a frog.

Axolotl — A real axolotl. Photo by National Geographic

A knitted from resembling an axolotl — My “frog” with eyes on his bum, poor thing…

The knitting gods were mocking me but I persisted! A couple of days later I had a new cute amphibian with a wired armature.

Knitting an i-cord around wire isn’t easy, let me tell you. It’s fiddly work but the end result is super worth it. And yes, the background for the photo above is my pyjama bottoms – evening knitting works best in cosy loungewear.

The gods played tricks on me once again as I didn’t have enough yarn to finish the mini jumper, so I frogged it (if you’re not familiar, “frogging” refers to when you remove a project from the needles and undo the stitches, the resulting “rip-it” motion being similar to the word “ribbit.” Fitting for this post, no?) After adding some blue stripes this dapper gentleman was ready to stay cosy.

I seem to enjoy making things in pairs, as soon as I was done with the frog I decided it needed a friend and Toad was born. I even bought a tiny dungarees pattern for added whimsy. The front pocket was my own creation.

And there you have it, two quick dopamine-inducing knitting projects that eventually led me to a human-sized jumper a few days later. I’ll have to frog that project too, but that’s a subject for another day.

And, finally, here is an image of what India Rose Crawford does with her knitted frogs. Amazing, isn’t it?

Maybe I’ve inspired you to knit something tiny. If you do, let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading.

The Mer’s Preparing for the 75th Anniversary Exhibition Part 2

October 6, 2024 Jan Comments 13 comments

In my last post, I showed you Mr. Mers’ new fishy northern pike spots (in silk!) and his son’s fancy new hair, eyes and jewellery. now let’s look at Mrs. Mer.

Mrs. Mer

I have been questing for the perfect Red for her Kohaku Butterfly Koi body. Koi-red comes in a range of red-nesses from an orange-red to a deep intense red and in various intensities of those reds. I had found a small project bag of reds in various fibre types and preparations. I had picked up a very promising red with silk top and locks to match but it had too much pink in nature light, I had another set that had too much yellowness to the red, making for more of an orange colour. The locks I found to go with it were fabulous and if I do a mermaid that is part goldfish it would be perfect.

Mrs. Mer perused my offerings and we both agreed on the deep red bat from Alpaca Tracks T(h)read Lightly and the lustrous long locks from Monica at Olive Sparrow. So dark red it is!

3.1 Alpaca tracks small bats of red wool

Odd I was sure I had a shot of Monika’s locks, let me look a bit more…oh I have a shot from the Olive Sparrow booth at the Almonte Fiberfest on Sept 7-8th. The bat and locks go together perfectly!!

3.2 The top row way to the left is right red Mer hair I was looking for. The are lots of different colours of locks in 2 lengths.

Ok, I have the colour of fibres I was looking for! Next where to put the fiber. Great more fun research!! (really, I do enjoy the quest. research is fun!!!)

After a lot of previous browsing about koi and butterfly koi, I decided on Kohaku (the white fish with red spots) if you are curious you can check out a brief overview here. https://nextdaykoi.com/koi-fish-facts/many-faces-kohaku/

After looking over the options of head and body patterns, and reading up on scale types, we decided that Yondan or Godan would likely be best. If you count the red hair as a spot she would be a Godan pattern but if the hair is not counted as a spot she has the Yondan pattern. Since go is 5 in Japaneses, I bet you can guess how many spots a Yondan koi has! (4)

3.3 this is a helpful chart showing Kohaku (red and white Koi)

I found the batt of “Canadian Wool” was an interesting springy, crimpy wool, not coarse but not as soft as merino or even corriedale. It is not a long staple and it needle felted wonderfully. I think it was the T38-333 I was using to add the red wool. (if you were curious about the needle used)

When I had started to block in the fishy parts of Mrs. Mer, Ann suggested it looked like the fish was eating her. I kept that in mind as I started to work on the spots making sure the red spot at her waist/hips were integrated with both her human and fish parts. Thinking of non-fishy parts I finally got around to adding her ears.

The long locks were the perfect colour and a lovely long wavy length. I found a small hair clip so she could wear her hair partly up.

3.4 Side view of Mrs Mer admiring her new hair in a side view.

3.5 Mrs. Mer Back view

3.6 close up of Mrs. Mer admiring her new hair

I sent Ann a picture to get her suggestions.

Ann said, “Needs Eyebrows.”

Hummmm, ok, I can do that.

3.7 close up showing new eyebrows and her new necklace

I think both Mrs. Mer and Ann should like that! Did you notice her shell necklace? Those are very tiny stone beads (one strand of Red Agate, 2mm)

I got new project bags so Mr and Mrs Mer would not get over excited and mess up their hair! (I will have to consider a non-see-through project bag if I find them cuddling again!!!) I added Shark-boy and the Mer pets, Sharkette and Miss Manta, to another project bag. I printed out a copy of their entrance forms, for each of them, ready for pick up for the Almonte show.

Item #2 Ice Dragon

I had asked Glenn what else I should send, and he suggested either the Ice Dragon or chickadee I had made for him. I went with Ice Dragon since I would need the chickadee for a workshop in December.

4.1 Ice Dragon, ¾ view

4.2 Ice Dragon, Back view

4.3 Ice Dragon, which I had made for Glenn ¾ view from the back

Item #3 Maureen’s Vacation

My third submission is Maureen’s Vacation which you saw earlier too. If you would like to get more information on this one look back to Summer 2024.

I chose it because it shows one of the guild members enjoying spinning outdoors. it seemed to make sense to include it in a show about the guild and its members!

5 Landscape of Maureen’s vacation

I packed everything up, Glenn lugged it all out to the car, and off we went to the guild social on Monday. Ann got to check out the Mers and their new hair and spots!

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6.1-6.3 Ann Inspects the Mer’s at the studio

6.4 some of the items ready to go to the Almonte Textile Museum

There were quite a few pieces ready to go to the Almonte show, waiting on the table for pickup. The organizing team will get them after the social. I am sure we will let you know when the show is up and ready for viewing!

Now on to moose bags again! I have one more partly 3D moose bag underway and am starting a more 2D version of the picture too. I will keep you updated on these as they progress (I hope you are not getting bored with variations on a moose!!) (I am trying to inspire more Moose augmentation!!)

Until the next time we chat, Have fun and keep felting!

Some More Happy Felt Slipper Makers.

October 4, 2024 Shepherdessann Comments 12 comments

A couple of Sundays ago I had a Slipper Workshop. I had 4 ladies that had not felted before. There were no crazy toes in this group.

As usual, I was too busy talking to take all the pictures I should. So we start with everyone finishing the wool layout for their slippers. I have them do both sides dry, and then put them together. 2 were doing a reg slipper and 2 the ear template. You can see them on the front 2 tables.

After they had everything together and wet they added some embellishments.

Then there was rubbing(no picture). I am definitely too busy talking during that, to help distract them so it doesn’t seem so long. And then rolling, Usually by this time I have them all chatting.

Then it’s time to cut them open and see how they look. The faces say these don’t look right, it’s never going to work, and they will never shrink enough to fit. We change how they are folded

And then …..Oh no, not more rolling

once they have mostly shrunk it’s time to make them fit, just the way they want them to. Some like them a little big, some like them to fit like a glove. the glove people have to do some fulling on their own personal slipper blocks, better known as their feet.

I managed to make a short video of one of the ladies fulling her slippers on her feet. Not only that, I uploaded it to YouTube and managed to embed it here. Thank you Leonor for the help on that front. At least I think it was Leonor, I can’t find the email anymore. Edit: It turns out it was Terry that helped me, Sorry Terry. Thank you for the help.

And lastly, 2 ladies shared their finished slippers.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and be happy with their slippers, You can’t ask for better than that.

Wiltshire Landscape showing fields, road, signpost and van

2024 Fourth Quarter Challenge

October 2, 2024 rosiepink Comments 7 comments

The final challenge of this year is to make something in the style of, or inspired by, Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) who was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver.

The Tate Gallery wrote of his paintings as being ‘off-kilter with modernist sensibility and clarity’.

(All images shown are in the public domain).

Wiltshire Landscape (1937)

Tea at Furlongs (1939)

Interior at Furlongs (1939)

Train Going over a Bridge at Night (1935)

Beachy Head (1939)

Windmill (1934)

There are many images on the internet of Eric Ravilious’ work so please explore this talented and interesting artist, and perhaps find the inspiration to make your challenge piece.

Testing the BBQ tools on the fabric roll.

Making a BBQ Tool Roll

September 30, 2024 ruthlane Comments 12 comments

Dennis and I are the “proud” owners of a new trailer. So I have been working on putting all the trailer stuff back into the new storage areas. There is minimal kitchen type storage in this new trailer so I have had to rearrange where things belong. We have a set of BBQ tools that stay with the trailer and they are pretty big and bulky. So I needed a storage solution that will work for the under floor storage areas. (The small white door under the front window in the photo above is such a storage area.) It gets kind of dirty under there so I needed something to keep the tools in one place and clean. Here is a photo of one that is much fancier but you can see what I mean.

This is the type of project where I don’t want to spend any money and I know that there must be something in my stash that will work. I thought it would be quilted to give it some strength so I needed larger pieces of fabric and some batting. I found this printed cotton fabric and I had enough for the 30″ x 30″ size I needed. But no quilt batting. I did have some black felt so I thought I could use that for the cushioning instead of batting. I am not a quilter or a seamstress so I was heading into a bit of unfamiliar territory but how hard could it be?

So I put two pieces of printed fabric with print sides together and added a piece of felt to one side. I was going to do this “pillow case” style so that I didn’t have to bind the edges or do anything else too complex. I was given a new to me Bernina sewing machine (Thanks Christina) as my trusty Pfaff died and could not be repaired. (Insert some swearing here.) The Bernina has a walking foot which I have never used before. But I thought this would be the project for it as it is supposed to keep the layers from shifting as I sewed it together. I am sure that I should have basted this all together but I just pinned the layers together. Then I stitched around the edges leaving one area not stitched so I could turn the entire thing right side out.

Here it is after stitching.

Then I took the pinking shears and trimmer around the seam edges so there would be less bulk at the edges.

Here it is after turning it right side out. You can see the area of the seam that was left open on the right hand side. Suddenly I realized that I needed something to keep the roll tied up after the tools were inside. I was hoping to find some elastic to use but I had none. So instead I decided to make straps with the same brown and black fabric.

Inside out printed black and brown fabric pinned together to make straps.

Stitched strap with edges cut with pinking shears before turning right side out.

I tore off some strips of fabric, pinned them together lengthwise and then stitched them together. Once I have turned them right side out, I decided that they were too wide. So I folded them in half lengthwise, ironed them and then stitched some more to make the straps more narrow and also sturdier.

Here is the piece that has been folded up from the bottom to make the pockets for the BBQ tools. They seem like they will fit nicely.

Then it was time to attach the straps and sew up the remaining hole in the “pillow case”. The next step was to “quilt” the three layers together. Back to the walking foot on the Bernina. I got two lines of quilting done, I’m just doing straight lines, nothing fancy and I was out of time. These projects that seem like they should take an afternoon always seem to take longer than I think. I will have to show you the rest of the project in a future post.

Registration for Helene’s Hanging Felted Spiral online class opens today. Click here to register. This is a great class to learn about creating a complex sculpture from felt. The results are fantastic and you can see other students work here. I hope you will join Helene for this October session of Hanging Felted Spiral.

Our 2024 textile display – a true fellowship

September 28, 2024 Antje Comments 12 comments

Every year on August Bank Holiday, our two villages (they are historically combined – one has the castle and the other the church!) have a show in the larger ‘castle’ village. It is a popular event locally, drawing in folk from the wider surrounding area. The event encompasses fun activities on the village green such as dancing, music and children’s sports etc. Then there is the fiercely competitive village produce show (including art) – thankfully, we haven’t as yet, had any Agatha Christie adventures needing Miss Marple or the services of the Murder Mystery Club! All of this is combined with the very active local history group presenting their annual research and finally (the subject of this post) our textile group’s display of our year’s work.

Both the history and textile displays are set up in out-building workshops that belong to our patient, long suffering, textile ‘leader’. Each year she packs up her entire stock to provide shelves and tables for our pieces. I am in awe of her efforts as there is no way I could do likewise….firstly I have too much in my various stashes, secondly I’d have no where to transfer it and lastly if I did move it….I’d never find anything again. I’m sure I can see so many of you nodding to this….😂 All that said, it could potentially provide me with an annual clean-up and the finding of hidden long lost treasures!!! 😜

Tables and shelves filled with display work — The display all set up in our ‘leader’s’ textile workshop. I’m envious of her space!

Our textile group membership (35 members) is small by comparison to many other groups, but our ‘leader’ organises a varied programme of about 8 workshops each year to include all aspects of textile artwork, which we enjoy, with get-togethers, to keep our fingers and minds busy. Sadly we can’t all get on each workshop….I think we’d be too much for even the strongest tutor to take on! Thus far, there haven’t been any pistols at dawn….but we have an exciting, particularly for me, programme coming up….need I start cleaning the gun barrel???!!!

Among our members we have the usual mix of – extremely talented, pin-point perfect, very diverse, quietly challenging and the beautifully colourful. Over the years we have grown used to each other and can often spot a particular member’s work at 50 paces.

Our 23-24 programme for display included –

Nature inspired fabric collage – Suzette Smart
Paint and stitch landscapes – Fran Brammer
Batik – Rachel Forrest
Dyeing – Sarah Lowe
Make a mouse – Kathryn Ashcroft
3d landscape wrap – Emily Notman
Eco dyeing and batik – Jane Charles
Material possibilities – Shelley Rhodes

close-up of nature inspired piece — There is so much to see by investigating all the intricate details.

As a collective we each submit (those who want to) at least 3 finished works to create the display of our activities throughout the year. We ask for a nominal 50p, or donation, entrance from visitors which combined with other activities during the year raises significant funds (usually several hundred pounds) for that year’s chosen charity.

tables set for seeling fabric and haberdashery items — Tables set up selling haberdashery items and fabrics is another way we raise funds for charity.

close-up of hot wax birds and flowers — Fabric, wire and wax – definitely a less painful use for hot wax!

These photos shown here are just a glimpse into our collection of work. Sadly, I am unable to show all the displayed work, or the exquisite detail in, and wonderful colour of, so many of the pieces.

Workshops vary to suit all tastes, some are more prescriptive, others allow more creative freedom.

various created mice — Surely nobody could resist these sophisticated mice if they were to run around.

display of the groups challenge work — Our annual Mission Impossible – your challenge should you wish to accept it!

This year we had to choose a geometric shape and use it in a different way in separate individual, paper or fabric, 3” squares. To be presented in any format – book, hanging, tags etc.

material possibilities showcased — ’Material Possibilities’ – allowed us all to have fun with paint, pens, paper, cardboard, fabric, scratching, punching, burning, tearing, stitch, and so much more.

collection of fabric landscapes — An alternative way to create landscapes in textiles.

close-up of a fabric mouse complete with cheese and grapes — Yours truly’s contribution to this year’s display – definitely not a sophisticated mouse.

close-up of cheese eating mouse in his wine label decorated box — I was asked if the cheese was also real like the grapes! (the photo doesn’t do justice to the colours). Believe me, I did have to beg a few extra bottles, honest – sadly they were empty!

collection of framed fabric and paper works all of same colour palette — You could say my preferred colour palette has come to the fore this year.

As I reuse frames where possible and have a friendly framer who will cut the mounts for me, I accepted the 2024 challenge but instead of 3″ squares I used 3cm squares, with circles (centre) – all to fit my intended re-sprayed deep frame. Well, I did mention our membership included the ‘quietly challenging’ – I always listen and always follow newly learned skills….i simply adjust it in a way that both engages and makes me happy with my end piece!

I also produced 2 very different fabric/paper pieces for the Material Possibilities – on the right it is more in line with Shelley Rhodes our tutor whilst on the left I took inspiration from textile artist Helen Terry.

triptych of fabric collages on a shelf — Finally, I’m sneaking these in.

In my last post, I received several requests to show which order my triptych pieces were displayed on the shelf (the walls and frames are white despite the photo!). I don’t have much space, so they share a shelf with other work. Ideally, given more wall room, I would put each in a much larger frame with a wide border around….to do this now, I would definitely need sky hooks!

My hope in showing our 2024 textile display is to encourage anyone thinking about joining a textile group to do so. If you don’t have one, then perhaps set one up. There is so much to be gained – shared experiences, learning new skills, feedback on ideas, new ways of looking at things, having fun with permission to experiment, and so much more….but….most importantly….fellowship.

Felting and Fiber Studio

An International Collective of Felt and Fiber Artists

2024, Set up for 75th Anaversery exhibition at the ALmonteTextile Museum

October 16, 2024 Jan Comments 11 comments

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Shepherdess and Sheep

October 14, 2024 Shepherdessann Comments 11 comments

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Indian Paintbrush Continues

October 12, 2024 ruthlane Comments 13 comments

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The third corner. Autumn

October 10, 2024 mariees26 Comments 16 comments

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When knitting is tiny

October 8, 2024 Leonor Comments 23 comments

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The Mer’s Preparing for the 75th Anniversary Exhibition Part 2

October 6, 2024 Jan Comments 13 comments

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Some More Happy Felt Slipper Makers.

October 4, 2024 Shepherdessann Comments 12 comments

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2024 Fourth Quarter Challenge

October 2, 2024 rosiepink Comments 7 comments

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Making a BBQ Tool Roll

September 30, 2024 ruthlane Comments 12 comments

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Our 2024 textile display – a true fellowship

September 28, 2024 Antje Comments 12 comments

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