Wonderful Workshop!

Oh what a day we had! Everyone was supposed to make hats with the exception of Barb who I was going to help make a flat resist bag. As it turned out, folks changed their minds and the whole day turned into an open workshop. It was wonderful, everyone learning from everyone.

Barb knew that she wanted to do the flat resist bag and wanted to learn adding pockets. She put one large pocket on the inside with two smaller pockets on the out side of the bag. Since Barb is an accomplished felter, I wanted to push her a bit farther and had her use the synthetic organza over the flap and on the outside pocketed areas. The results were absolutely spectacular! The felt was strong, the organza puckered beautifully and I even had a beaded dangle that matched the colorways perfectly, which of course, I gifted her immediately. It just so worked! Nice Job Barb!

Allison and Susan were going to make hats, but at the last minute, changed their minds. (It's so good to be a girl!) Allison made the black bag with the pink surface design. She used 6 very thin layers, needle felted them, then did the wet felting. For a first timer, the results were amazing! She has a strong sense of herself, color choices and design were well executed. She plans on adding some beading and a snap closure. she also put a pocket on the inside.

Susan blended two different types of merino wool, one fine, one medium, and her results were slightly different. While the wools felted well together, it did not have the smoothness that I think we had both hoped for. She is going to add more texture and color to her blue and brown bag and do some sewing on it and then send me a photo of it completed. She has a very strong new knowledge of what she did well and what she can improve on. If her passion for felting is an indicator of things to come, she is going to be a very good felt maker!

Jen has made felt before using the needle felt forms, so we decided that using the new larger form for her would be a good choice. It would give her the opportunity the make folds, turns and curves, and a larger area for surface design. Her results were truly wonderful. Great smooth felt, lovely design, well planned and made her very happy, though very tired too, I'm afraid.

My wonderful husband made a tasty lunch for us, spinach and spring mix salad with mandarin oranges, cucumbers, walnuts, and chicken breast served with toasted sesame Asian dressing, served up with a large glass of apple juice. I think it was a hit. It was for me and I have so much respect for a man who treats his home guests so well. I am married to a PRINCE!

I hope everyone got some good and well deserved rest after their day of really hard work. Nice job gals. I'm proud of each of you!

Now off to clean up the remains of the dining room that I was too tired to do last night.

Happy New Year Everyone!
Shalom and Joy,
Suzanne