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Jan’s 3rd Quarter 2017 Challenge Part 3

Jan’s 3rd Quarter 2017 Challenge Part 3

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Now the final installment of Jan’s 3rd quarter challenge.

Part 3 finishing

I had been working on pieces of the waves while waiting for my mom at various doctor appointments. So I was able to try out the parasol to see if the concept would work. I was pleased but most of the crowd looked confused.

The demo display of felting included Miaka’s Cat Cave Coelacanth fish and the sheep head I had made at a workshop with Wendo (a local felter who felts very quickly) everyone seemed very interested in the little balls of wool top. I think it was the bright colours.

I continued refining the colour on the octopus and adding more sections of wave pieces at the weekly Monday social at the guild. I also showed off the progress at Show and tell during the guild meeting.

It was getting close to Christmas and I knew I would have 2 days to finish the polar bear I was also working on and come to a decision about the boats and fishermen. I did decide to add the fishing boats but let the octopus play with…Er, “rescuing” them. I made the 3 long skinny canoe like boats underneath there is a keel and you may be able to see the upturned prow. Other than shape and general colour I did not do as much detail with them. I was pleased overall with the final look.

So let’s review the original inspiration and what has happened to it!

Into the box to be wrapped as my nieces Christmas present. She is good at swimming and likes the water so I hoped she might enjoy the octopus.


I hope you have enjoyed reading about how I finally got the 3rd quarter challenge finished if just a bit late. But I hope it was worth the wait. I do have a polar bear that I could show you if you are not too overwhelmed with pictures! Maybe I should save that in case Ann ever asked me to write you a note again!
All for now, Jan.

I hope you all enjoyed Jan’s story. I will share her other posts later in the winter.

Pandagirl’s 2017 3rd Quarter Challenge Part 2

Pandagirl’s 2017 3rd Quarter Challenge Part 2

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This challenge became more of a challenge than I expected.  If you  missed part 1,  you can see it here:  https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2017/09/01/pandagirls-2017-3rd-quarter-challenge-part-1/

I had intended to use a combination of free motion and hand embroidery to add details  to finish it.  However, when I tried to use the sewing machine the felt was too thick and the stitches were just buried and I couldn’t control the machine.  So, after an hour or more ripping out teeny stitches, I started the hand embroidery.

Embroidery is not my strong suit. My goal was to give an impression of ruffled petals and a hint of stamens.  After looking at pictures of Sakura, I decided to keep it simple.

I made stars in the center of flowers with a knot in the middle on some.  I didn’t want them to all look alike.  Here I was getting started.

 

At first I tried using the stem stitch for the flower petal, but that proved to be hard to do in the felt and it really didn’t give it a ruffled look.  so, I settled on a satin stitch. I varied the tightness depending on how close or far away it was.   Then added some stem and back stitches to show differences.

Here are some closeups.

Another goal was to keep it subtle as if it was a 17th century scroll or painting that had faded over time.  I originally had wanted to give it a scroll texture, but I had purposely didn’t felt it hard and it was thick so that wasn’t going to work.  Best laid plans, right?

I also varied the color of the floss sometimes using white, pink or a strand of each to vary the depth.  I also didn’t want all the flowers to look the same. I loved the dimension, colors and texture of the merino/silk scraps I used for the branches.

After I finished and wove in the threads, I steamed it to try to get the lumps out. I tried.

I know everyone had a an idea of how to position it.  I liked Leonor’s idea to change it up occasionally so the same pictures looks different. Thanks Leonor!

Have you finished your challenge piece yet?

 

 

 

 

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