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Pandagirl’s Year End Round Up 2017

Pandagirl’s Year End Round Up 2017

Comments 16 comments

I’m always amazed at what I accomplished at the end of year. This year I took a few classes in order to expand my creativity in addition to experimenting on  my own. I also tried to use up more materials and finish some UFOs.

Here is a bedside case for odds and ends made with some merino inside and unknown fiber batt with silk embellishment.

Experimenting with different types of yarn to make a table runner.

Our First Quarter Challenge – Fauvism.

Weaving then felting.

A Valentine gift for granddaughter Lisa.

 

Teri Berry’s Snail hat class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finishing and hanging an eco print.                                                  Crochet around wire bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Framing the felted weaving.

I did a lot of experimenting with crochet stitches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practicing for Ruth’s Free Motion Embroidery class.

Crochet hats for my granddaughter and her new premature brother Ken.

A dimensional potholder.

Learning more crochet stitches.

Making a crochet hook case from a crochet sample.

A bowl for the Second quarter Challenge – Celtic

Using yarn on a resist for a vase cover.

Adding dimension to the hummingbird/tiger lily picture.

Crocheting scrubbies.

Felt and crochet earrings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crochet beaded bowl with stiffener.

A Pumpkin for Ken.

The Third Quarter Challenge – Edo Period; felt and hand embroidery Sakura.

Ribbon embroidery and framing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing with thickened dye for Ruth’s class on felt.

 

Finishing  a case from UFO pile and FME Butterfly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maneki-Neko for Third Quarter Challenge Edo Period.

Framing the Rooster.

More stencil play with acrylic and thickened dye.

The Fourth Quarter Challenge — Suprematist

Penguin’s Poinsettia Holiday card.

A couple of scarves for my daughter in laws parents in Japan where it’s as cold as Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to let everyone know I am taking a leave of absence to focus on my health and family.  I will be around just not posting weekly.  We have a lot of talented artists that will be filling in starting with Tracey Thompson next week.

I want to thank everyone for helping out to give me this time.   If you or someone you know has something to share — it doesn’t have to be felt but anything fiber related including paper, please contact me or one of the other moderators on the forum and we’ll get you on the schedule.

I hope everyone has a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!  Happy Creating in 2018!

Pandagirl’s Year in Review 2016

Pandagirl’s Year in Review 2016

Comments 17 comments

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and are ready for the New Year.

It’s almost the end of 2016 and looking back on the things I’ve done, there seems to be a few themes.

I did a lot of natural dyeing.  Avocado skins, pits and the combo.

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Cochineal

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Alkanet/Logwood20160701_154915

logwood iron top wo bottom

Osagealkanet with iron

Madder

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Cutch, Rhubarb and Indigo

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Eco printing

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Resists

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Under the sea theme20160429_160634a_edited-1 20160526_155222

2nd Quarter challenge working with scraps – the former credit card case turned into an ear bud case.

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Then the cityscape with scraps.

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A scarflette with locks

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Ginkgo stitching

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Crochet piece felted and embellished with stitching

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Felting wit my grandsons

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Silk scraps into a free motion stitched vase

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3rd Quarter challenge adding dimension from Kristy Kun’s class

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Ruth’s Paper Lamination class

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Teri’s hat class

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Mini weaving wall hanging

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More work with scraps for a sewing machine case

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4th Quarter Challenge with embellishments for a coupon case.

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And blue booties for a shower

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Of course, there were also plenty of samples during the year including using the needle felting machine to felt some unfeltable fabrics.

A big thank you to Cathy Wycliff for her post on weaving and felting; my sister Carol Olson for sharing her new sheep with us;  Nada for sharing her workshop experience in Slovenia; Zara for her posts on Felting on a Trampoline and her Yak, Mongolian, Churro and Zwartables samples; Leonor for her soap tutorial and Terri Simon on sharing her projects from Kristy Kun’s class.

It was a great year for me in terms of learning new things and doing some recycling.  How was your 2016 year of fibers?

Happy New Year and Happy Felting in 2017!

 

 

 

Pandagirl’s Year in Review 2015

Pandagirl’s Year in Review 2015

Comments 26 comments

I really challenged myself the beginning of 2015. I was determined to try free motion embroidery and used Rosiepinks (Lyn’s) instructions for making a round bowl. It turned out nice, but it was a little tense going round and round.

2014-10-28 12.12

My fan has to be the hardest felt project I’ve done so far.  Getting and keeping all those fan blades in place was maddening.

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Then I began work on making batts and bootie favors for my daughter in law Mari’s baby shower. 60 of them!

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I attempted a felted box.

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A clutch/makeup bag for a new Grandma.

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I gave my drum carder a workout blending colors and making a color wheel for the 1st Quarter Color Challenge.

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Still in baby mode, I felted over a wire baby buggy.

side 2

Cathy and I received our first order from WOW, so the sample making began using wools I hadn’t used before.

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A wine bottle cozy.

back finish

Going back to my roots, I made denim paper, then felted it, and later made a glass case.2015-04-22 15.55.27

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Stepping  out of my comfort zone, I started using neutral colors and some wildly bold combos.

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Some wooly fun with my Grandson Luke.

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For a short period, Cathy and had a fish off.

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For the 3rd Quarter Challenge I used a color generator, dyed, carded some batts using those colors, then made in Ipad cover.

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My sister invited me to her quilt group for a Trunk Show.

rooster

To keep my earrings organized while I travel I made a jewelry roll.

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I tried getting my work space organized.

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Cathy and I attended the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival.

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Dyeing for special projects.  Some yet to be seen.

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A nuno wall hanging for my daughter in law Lia.PART951442274018055950914151919

A challenge in combining techniques to make an elephant pic for my Sister.

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The 4th Quarter Challenge – monochrome panda with dimension.

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Odds and ends.

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Making ornaments with my Grandsons.

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I had a lot of help this year and want to thank Cathy Wycliff for posting about making arm warmers, learning to make batts, her artist residency in Breckenridge CO, dyeing with natural plants, and Bengala dyes; Zara Tuulikki Rooke for showing us her process for making batts from raw fleece, shearing sheep, lambing in Sweden,  making a rug from raw fleece and sampling different Swedish wool breeds; Leonor Calaca for giving us a virtual tour of the Knitting and Stitching Show in London; Carol Gascoigne (Craftywoman) for submitting her 3rd Quarter Challenge; Lyn (Rosiepink) for her 3rd Quarter Challenge submission; Mary Stori for her advice on beading; and Jill Chadek for sharing her journey to becoming a felt artist.

Happy New Year!  On to new felting journeys for 2016!

 

 

 

Trunk Show

Trunk Show

Comments 20 comments

My sister Lorraine is a quilter and has been involved with the Seams Like Fun Quilt Group for more than ten  years. She recently asked me to do a “trunk show” for the group.

The meetings are held at the Quilt Merchant in Winfield.  When we arrived there was a rectangle of tables.  Rather than rearrange the tables and group, we arranged a round about to let everyone have a chance to look at the pieces I brought as they were passed around.  Peggy Benzin introduced me and so the show and tell started.

I wanted to share a variety of pieces to show the versatility of felt.  First, I explained what felting was and how it’s achieved.

I brought about 35 items, a sample of most everything I’ve done. Many items have been given as gifts so they weren’t available.  The ladies were very gracious and asked a lot of questions.  I tried to give them an overview of each piece and the process and the differences in creating them.  Most of you have seen all of these so this is Marilyn’s felting journey in review for you.

My sister is next to me and is hiding behind the pieces as she showed and passed them. These were last year’s studio challenges.  The quilt group also has challenges.

Monet 2

Monet Pollack Painting with wool.

apopkaroostermoyThree dimensional big and small.

vase wine bottle pod grapes bootiefish - CopyThe ladies really enjoyed the fish.

Nuno felting.

teal gold scarf

Class project at The Fold.

placematChallenges and a variety of embellishments.

handbag

2014-10-31 14.00denim 2 book cover glass case inclusions

ipad

I enjoyed sharing my work and think I enlightened quilters to the wonders of felt.

Thank you Seams Like Fun Quilt Group for giving me the opportunity to share my felting journey! A special thanks to Peggy for taking the photos and sending them to me. And, of course, to my sister for inviting me.

group

Pandagirl’s Year in Review

Pandagirl’s Year in Review

Comments 25 comments

I know I’m late to the party, but I’ve been traveling and have several family affairs looming that need my attention.

I started out in 2014 as a forum member and then in March I was a Global Moderator!  This past year has brought many challenges and delightful learning and wonderful outcomes in terms of felting.

My year started with experiments in dyeing.

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I shared my venture into encaustics.

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Tried my hand at painting with wool.

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Experimented with different wools.

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Participated in the quarterly challenges.

Jackson Pollock - Marilyn

Stewart Stephenson - Marilyn
Stewart Stephenson – Marilyn

 

Monet 2 after felting
Monet 3rd quarter

 

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Land Art 4th Quarter

 

Tried framing methods.

burlap 2

I broke down to drum carder envy and began my foray into making batts.  Woo hoo!

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Cathy and I tried indigo dyeing.

silk and thick n thinMy marketing blogs…

addiction biz cards wool side

 

 

 

 

 

I know it’s been awhile, but its more fun felting than marketing…  Sorry.

 

I taught a felting  class.

Toni
Toni and her placemat

 

There was a period of obsession with pods and vessels.

After rinsing

I ventured into free motion stitching.

moy layout

Then I experimented with embellishments and making a book cover.

finished front

Designing and making a handbag was a huge accomplishment for me.

hanging

I  experimented with 3D felting – grapes and flowers.

finished 2

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I learned a lot of new techniques in Fiona Duthie’s class.

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It was a busy year visiting farms, mills and fairs.

susan democarder back

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made scarves including a cobweb scarf.

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A big project was a 3D free motion stitched bowl, oh my!

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Felting a rooster, I learned to combine wet and needle felting.

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Our holiday exchange was an experiment of combining beading and felting.

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All in all, it’s been a very productive and inspiring year felting. Of course, there were many more projects that were completed.  It has been a wonderful year.  I want to thank all of you for teaching, inspiring me and encouraging me to do and try more.  Thank you!  A special thanks to my fellow moderators and Luvswool (Cathy),  Leonor at Felt Buddies and Nada for pitching in and contributing to the blog.  It’s been a terrific, fun journey.  I can’t wait to see what 2015 brings and what I learn and try!

 

 

Welcome to the Felting and Fiber Studio!

Welcome to the Felting and Fiber Studio!

Comments 21 comments

Hello and welcome to the Felting and Fiber Studio. This site is the collaborative effort of four fiber artists from different corners of the world. My name is Ruth and I’m from the US, Ann is from Canada, Karen from Australia and Zed from the UK. We all enjoy felting and working with fiber. Our aim is to share our knowledge and love of felting with you and we’re eager to begin this new venture.

Nuno Felted Shawl by Ann

We have some very exciting plans for this site including studio challenges, tutorial based challenges with prizes, felting tips, and tutorials on a variety of fiber art topics. We love seeing what everyone else is up to in the felting world so we’ve started a Flickr group. You are more than welcome to join in and post photos of the various challenges that you take part in along with your other fiber art projects. Just click on the link and click on ‘Join This Group’.

A Mixed Media Piece in Progress by Karen

Please check out the various pages as we have lots of information about fiber and felting already available. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We may use your questions in our posts if the topic is one that is frequently asked.  There are a few tutorials already posted and we’ll be adding more as we go along, so please check back often. (To make it even easier, you can follow our blog by clicking on the follow button on the sidebar.) If you have a request for a specific tutorial, please let us know and we’ll do our best to organize one. We will be posting on a variety of topics including felting, book and product reviews, guest artist features, fiber samples, the business end of selling fiber art, sheep farming facts and what we’re up to in our own studios.

Wet Felted Book Cover by Zed

Once a quarter, the four of us will be challenging each other with a theme for the next three months. These studio challenges will hopefully push us out of our comfort zone a little and encourage us to try different approaches to our felting and fiber art. Throughout that quarter, we’ll be posting periodically about the studio challenge. Please feel free to join in and challenge yourself as well. Post all the photos from the studio challenges in to the Flickr group. Please make sure to label the photos with the name of the challenge.

Silk Scarf by Ruth

In the next few posts, we’ll be introducing ourselves and answering a few questions about our favorite techniques, tools and fibers. We’ll also be posting the current studio challenge soon. You are more than welcome to leave a comment and introduce yourself. We are only able to reply to comments if your email is attached. We have lots of other exciting plans for being more interactive but we’ll let you know about those as they become more developed. We hope you really enjoy our new site and finds lots of information and inspiration. Please don’t forget to join our Flickr group and Thank you so much for stopping by!

Ruth

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