A Weekend of Felting in Quebec
Our guest artist/author is Cathy Wycliff sharing her experience of
felting at Meech Lake, Quebec, with Fiona Duthie, October 3-5, 2014.
When I heard about the opportunity to felt with Fiona amidst the Fall splendor of Quebec province, I did not hesitate to sign up for this class! There were eight female students and Fiona, and the weekend was informative, fun and felt-a-licious! Not too many photos taken, and no long walks as previously imagined, simply because we were too busy felting.
The country cottage where we stayed was just outside of the Galatin National Forest, a beautiful area just twenty minutes from Ottawa. In the first photo, you may see a small boathouse in the background, which was just by the side of Meech Lake. It was a bit chilly for a swim, and besides, we were too busy felting!
I took a minute the first afternoon to shoot these photos, and I was playing around with capturing the hanging bird chimes on top of the tree.
A quick photo of the planter, and then onto felting.
We learned how to make two different projects: a nuno tunic (choice of white or black) and a lampshade (varied sizes and wool choices).
The lampshade is not totally finished. It needs to be ironed and steamed, then a final shaping. It was made to be a pendulum light, hanging from the ceiling. For blog purposes only, the lampshade is sitting atop one of the posters on my 4-poster bed.
With 8 different women felting, you would think there would be some uniformity in what we chose to make, but I can tell you that each project was different, and each was amazingly beautiful and well-crafted. There were white tunics and black tunics, tall lampshades and wide lampshades. Embellishments were as varied as the attendees.
Most of our meals were at the cottage and we all pitched in to make it work. Some cooked, some loaded dishes and others provided scintillating conversation over mugs of coffee and tea (and at times, glasses of wine). One lovely lady who did not stay at the cottage brought fresh croissants and scones one morning. We and several local ladies celebrated Felt United on Oct. 4th at the cottage by making a very large piece of “Peace” felt.
On the last eve, some of us took Fiona out to dinner at a marvelous nearby fish restaurant. If you ever have an opportunity to take a class from Fiona Duthie, I highly recommend her–not only as an instructor par excellence–but as a wonderful human being.