What makes felt so fascinating, so fabulous, so addictive?

I've been thinking a good bit about my love affair with felt, nearly a 10 year passion and journey. As I am looking forward, and knowing full well, that I'll no longer be able to spend the amount of time with the beloved wool as I have in the past.

About 7pm last night I decided I wanted to make a felt hat. Hadn't made one in a long while so decided to do it. Dishes were done, the house was quiet, it would be good to get my hands back on the wool. I selected the resist, the fibers, the colors, the surface stuffs and poured a small glass of wine. So began the hat making of last night. (Wine is not the usual part of it for me...it just was last night.)

All the while, I kept thinking about going back to nursing, being away from home 8-10 hours a day, having to give up the fiber art shows, and the loss of personal independence. After running my own business for 10 years, going to work for someone else might be a difficult transition. But things are what they are. I live in Michigan. Our economy is awful. I have skills that can bring in much more money that fiber art (nearly anything would do that!)


What about the fiber am I going to miss the most?
I think it comes to this; I am going to miss the continual fascination of being a part of creating felt, watching the fibers come together, the fluidity of the fibers melting into each other, forming structure, taking form, transforming from individual fibers into single fabric. It is just such fabulous stuff, it's just so fascinating to feel it happen. I will miss the daily dose of making felt. Felt is my addiction, and I am not ashamed.

There is also the loss of personal goals. I have long wanted to be a really good felt maker. That takes time and practice, successes and failures, experimentation, understanding, tactile knowledge, something almost visceral. There are too many ideas in my head that I wanted to get out on felt. Making felt is what I want to do the rest of my life. These are goals I have to release.

I've been in denial, experienced anger, tried to bargain, certainly experienced depression, and at long last, have come to some level of acceptance that life is going to change. I can either whine and complain about it or get on board for the changes that God has provided for me.

It will be several months before all of these changes come about, so for now, I am going to enjoy the incredible, fascinating, fabulous gift and challenge that we call Felt!

Fascinating Felt, Felt Fabulous Workshop Date Set

These are just some hanks of the yarns I spin while Jim and I watch TV at night. Though I'd love to, I can't be felting all the time. These will go off to a local shop.

Since I closed the shop some years ago, it's been very difficult for me to teach more than one or two people at a time, and usually at my dining room table, surrounded by a house that needs to be cleaned, desperately! However, I have 5 women who have asked me to teach them at one time, so I had to search for a place to do a workshop. I've found the perfect place and a wonderful group of folks to work with. I am opening the class room up to additional students, so if you are interested, please do contact me and pre-register for the workshop.

*Felt Fabulous Making Workshop*

Pre-registration is required

First Come, First In


What: Flat resist one of a kind hat or a multi-resist felt bag-students choice


Where : Otsego Area Historic Museum, 218 N. Farmer Street in Otsego, MI

air conditioned! Large work area


When: August 7th , 2010, from 9am-5pm


Cost of class: $65.00


I will supply everything you need to make your project.


Students need to bring:

2 large bath towels

Apron if desired

Calculator, design ideas, black magic marker, sharp scissors

Something to drink—especially water

Sack Lunch and snack

Wear clothes that can get wet, be very comfortable in your clothing choices.

If you have any questions, please call Suzanne at 269-685-6189 or on cell 269-330-0115

Construction Zone

Seems as though I'll be making pods for a good bit. Have orders for them and am enjoying the randomness of designing in my head!

This one is very much like the first in shape and design. I am planning others that will be more abstract in shape. I'm tempted to hang is outdoors, but knowing how fast the birds moved in last time, I'll not chance it. I am however very, and pleasantly surprised at how natural they look hanging from a tree limb. It doesn't look showy nor peculiar, simply interesting. I can imagine a whole backyard filled with lots of different color, shaped and designed pods, filled with feathered friends from many places. It would be nice to become "their summer home" stop.

The fact that these are like wombs to me and that there is life in them...it's good enough.
Much Peace to you,
Suzanne

New Kids In Town Loving Felt Too!

On a whim, I decided to hang the felt pod outside of my office window Sunday late afternoon. After my walk this morning, I was delighted to find a pair purple finches moving in! They are busy bring nesting materials into the pod and singing orders to each other. Some of the sticks that they brought to put in don't exactly fit, so there is a small pile of sticks gathering under the pod. Pictured here is the squirrel that I thought would move in, but the finches got there first. Their noise is like music! I cannot even begin to express the absolute joy I am experiencing knowing that these beautiful new friends have moved into the pod I made. I am nearly giddy with delight and reminded that simple joys are surrounding me everyday.

I know I have to hit the books and get back to studying! Exam day is coming up soon. Last week was a lost week. Our daughter Dianna fell down a flight of stairs and broke her ankle in three spot. I had to take her to Mackinaw Island where she was scheduled to speak on Tuesday, returned Wednesday, doctor visit on Thursday, and her surgery is scheduled for this week. Seems I am getting some close up and personal nursing in before the exam!

I've been making spinning/felting batts, doing a bit of spinning, and planning my next felt projects. Most of these will have to wait until the exam is over, however, even the planning of them is mental delight. If you are interested in some of the batts that I've made, my friend Carolyn is selling them in her Etsy shop. You can see them at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFlyingEwe?section_id=5099586 They are wonderful to spin, and pretty nice for felting as well. I use commercial and hand dyed merino, silks, angora, kid mohair in nearly all of them. Here is a picture of one of the batts, part felted, part spun.

Off to enjoy the day. I hope you find blessings in yours!

Shalom,
Suzanne

Mandolin Pod

It's been a bit since I've spent any time here, and it is likely to be a good bit more before I get back here. I am getting ready for the upcoming show season, teaching, and studying for the state boards every moment I can. I've missed blogging and sharing, but somethings got to give and it is my time with you all right now.

The mandolin pod is made out of hand dyed Lincoln/Teeswater cross with a silk cap overlay and seed beading at the orifice. I made it so that it could be hung from a tree with a loop handle. If I were a squirrel, I think I'd like to live in this pod. It would be soft, quiet, comfortable. Not being a squirrel, I can only imagine that it might be kind of nice in there...almost womb like.

so far...

I've been away to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. on the last day of the show, Susan McFarland had a lamb, who found himself a nice corner to take a nap in. It was in the loom that we had under a table. How precious he looks taking a sleep in the midst of the clamor of a fiber festival.

The other photos here seem to be unrelated to a fiber event, and perhaps they are. My friend Donna and I drove back and took some side trips on the way home. One was to a cover bridge, it was a short distance off the the plotted path.

The other side trip that we took was planned. We wanted to stop at the Flight 93 Memorial. We'd seen the signs for it the year before and made it a point of destination on our drive home. It was about 8 miles off of the Lincoln Hwy, Hwy 30. I was unprepared for my reaction once we got there. I could not stop weeping, nor could Donna. We could not even speak. I took a ton of photos to be able to share with my husband, but only a few are here. The gal who was there in the information booth said that they get 5000 + visitors a week, still.


The wall with the shirts, flags, hats, etc has to be cleared once a month from the things that people leave there. They are all being archived, number, preserved, and will go into the memorial once it is completed. There was much construction going on all around us, still there was an incredible, audible symphony of silent tears. I cannot help but wonder what I would have chosen were I a passenger on Flight 93.

They chose us...They chose us.

Upcoming classes and pretty little things

A bit back, I was asked to be part of The Rose Gazebo art shop on Mackinaw Island. I think she is going to have about 50+ artist there, including my dear friend, Dawn Edwards of Felt So Right. (see side bar for her website) Jodie, the gal who is opening the shop, has asked me to supply her with many things...most of which I'll be lucky to get done! We talked a good deal about price points and how she needed to have some of the smaller items that walk out of the door easily. I decided to dye up a bunch of merino silk in some wonderful water colors (she is opening the shop on an island after all) and made up 50 felted soaps for her. I hope these soaps will grow feet and will walk out the door for her. She also wants 30 pin cushions, 30 bags and 30 nuno wraps! ...all by the end of the month, YIKES! I am confident that I'll be working into the wee hours of the morning trying to accomplish all that she wants for her shop, plus get ready for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival at the end of the month.

The teaching schedule is filling fast this year. I am so pleased to be introducing or furthering felting for so many. I will be teaching at Barb Marr's in Allegan, MI this next weekend for a group coming up from Chicago, have 5 women for a class in July at my home, Michigan Fiber Festival, two classes at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, and will likely hold another class in October.

I've also been asked to teach at our local library, children and adults next month. It is always great fun to be with the children. They are not programed to think a certain way, thus they listen to their hearts and beauty is created. They are my favorites to show how to felt, then stand back and let them discover what their hands can do. Children are amazing! If you are interested in taking a class from me, please feel free to contact me. I do teach privately if that is what you need.

We are anticipating a very large group here for dinner tomorrow at our Sabbath Group. I think there may be 20 people. I better get "the studio" turned back into a dining room as soon as I can.

Have a blessed weekend and remember to rest. It refreshes your soul.
Shalom
Suzanne

Sometimes, it's all about the color

This is an extraordinarily long wrap with only 5 felted flowers on it. It really is all about the color, lilac on violet with a touch of fuchsia. This is one of the wraps I've been working on. I adore the color...though I am not so sure it looks so wonderful with a gray t-shirt and black jeans. Sorry, I was the only model available. Just cannot convince the wonderful Jim to get in front of the camera to model for me. This color would really work on him! I think I am going to add some small bead work to the center of each of the flowers, just to bling it up a bit. Still, I think the color is a stand alone color. Is it too long? I hope not.

Trying to Keep it Simple

Ah yes, another bag....and that may be it for a bit on the bag making. Have huge orders to fill for nuno/laminate felts, vessels, felted soaps, bags, and hats. I've been working on the nuno felts for the past few days and will try to get a photo up at the end of the week to show the weeks work. Since there is much to be done, I'll not be posting much this week.

Have joy in your days, peace in your sleep.
Shalom, Suzanne

PS:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/avivaschwarz
This gal has some really lovely things, no blog, but I did want to share her shop.

With No Particular Place to Go

For the past several months I've been working on this piece very sporadically. I think it is because I've no particular place to go with it. It is just a piece that I am working on that may or may not be functional. I simply have no end goal in mind.

It is hand dyed silk gauze, measures about 40 inches wide and about 96 inches long. After I dyed it, I thought I would just put wisps of wool, in many colors all over the piece, in my usual random fashion. These photos are not showing the finished product, just what I've accomplished (as pitiful as it is!) so far. The first photo shows the wool colors I've used, the second and third show the reverse side. There is something very sensual about piece to me. I something think it would be a great shawl, or an over dress with a black slip under it, or....help me out. Got ideas? I'm wide open to anything right now, so if you have an idea, please share.

I'll be working on this today as I can do it in small bits. My gall bladder is killing me and I am doing to a cleanse/purge. Need to keep it simple today.

Shalom,
Suzanne












Suzanne's late entry: It turned into a wrap! Who knew? I did finish applying the fibers to the silk, slowly, small area at a time. I wanted to keep the look very random both in color and texture. After is was well felted together into the silk, I rinsed completely and placed it in my dryer on "air only" for about 20 minutes to further bind it together and give it deeper, more complex texture. I love it!

Two Days in the Bag

This is a bag that I am uncertain about, love the color, love the handles, took two days to make it. I used a resist that was too large for the shrinkage that I should have figured into the bag. I think it is the shape that is throwing me off a bit on the bag, there is something about the asymmetrical and the symmetrical that is not working for me. I think the flap needs to be longer, the do-dad shortened. But I learned a lot making this bag. This wool was from an older sheep, and was full of spinning oil. It made the felting process much longer than it needed to be and the rinsing long. It did take the dye very well though. I used Jacquard Dyes in the crock pot. It was a combination of Aztec Gold and Burnt Orange. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the bag. I just wish I like it more than I do.

I am taking the next few days to work in the flower beds, getting them cleaned out of old leaves, removing the myrtle that has over grown every where, just enjoying the wonderful weather that we are having here in southwest Michigan. It has been wonderful

A Long Time Ago, In A Place far Away ...

A long time ago, in a place far (well actually only three hours away) lived a much younger girl than I am, who had an eight acre hobby farm , where she raise milking goats, her favorite was named Peggy, rabbits, chicken and geese. The girl was supremely happy milking goats, feeding chicken and geese and rabbits. Each Spring, that girl would order the chicken catalog. When it arrived, she would sit down at her kitchen table with a full cup of coffee and begin the joyous task of selecting baby chicks. Now, this was no easy task, to be sure. Several cups of coffee might be needed before the final selection was made. This girl ordered only two chicken from about 50 different birds of the hundreds of breeds available in the catalog. Within two weeks after the selection was completed, 100 baby chicks, Sweet Peeps, as her daughter called them, arrived. All of them looking exactly alike, yellow puffs of peeps. They were looked after with loving eyes, a warming lamp, feed, grit, water and lots of snuggles. Slowly, the peeps grew into young chicks and were moved from the garage to the small barn. There they learned many new things, like bugs are fun to eat! Now, all of the chicks began to look very different from each other, different coloring, different feathering, different sizes, different temperaments...and they all lived very happily together.............. until the boy chickens decided to be cocky and attack the much loved daughter because she was wearing a bright pink jacket. Then, that very day, all of the boys all became food for the mother and daughter ...who indeed, did live happily ever after. (...even after another boy named Jim showed up to court the mother, who she loved very much, married and moved away from her much loved farm, but, that's another story.)
************************************************************************************
These photos are not of that much loved farm. These photos are of Christee's farm where I picked up lamb for the freezer. I got to feed the lambs that required bottle feeding, shovel some manure , smell the barn, hang with Christee. The beautiful rooster prompted the hobby farm reminiscence . He was not cocky and did not attack anyone. I like him a lot!

Have a wonderful day!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Finishing Touches + Touching the Future

Ms. Allison came over the play Thursday and we had great fun making felt together. She took one of the batts shown below in a previous post, and created a wonderful, light and airy felt. It turned out so nice. The white on it is from silk roving that was carded into the top layer of the batt. She is uncertain of what she'll make of the felt, but I for one, am sure that it will be wonderful.

After the felt making, we both work on some of the beading that we wanted to complete on several bags. I didn't get a photo of the one Allison was working on, but I did of mine. Allison's was all neatly planned out, well executed, mine a bit more random, of course. All in all, a great day in the adventures of felt making!

(Allison's beaded bag-late photo entry)





My sweet friend Suzanne Morgan, http://www.learnedlately.blogspot.com/ sent me an email about a blog post concerning blog posts. The writer spoke much about sharing 100%, not to hold back, to give details, hints, helps, etc. This is just such wonderful advise, and speaks so much to what my heart feels more and more these days. I recall early in my felting that I didn't want people to "copy" my work, but with some maturity, I soon realized that no one can copy someone else. If I teach a class of 10 people how to make a hat, and all of them will turn out different from each other. It is the technique that we teach, not how to create their own piece. That will come from within each individual person. As a teacher, to me, it is important to guide a person to successful understanding of what they are learning, to encourage them, assist them and encourage play, experimentation within the project. I so hope that I do that when I am teaching.

As a blogger, I think I fall sorely short in the giving it all away. I'm asking you to help me in that effort. Ask questions, leave comments, and I will do my very best to answer thoroughly, honestly, and to give my best advise. It is one of the best ways to touch the future of felt making. We all build on the expertise of someone else, the lessons we've learned through our own failures and success's. There is nothing new under the sun, it is only new to us when we first learn it. We set it free when we share it, teach it, explore it, love it, and watch it grow.

Off to explore!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Happy St. Pat's! and a bit of Irish Cheer!

Over the past few days I've continued to cleaning, but have also managed to sneak off to get some felting done. One of the batts that I created had some magnificent greens and green blues in it. It was made with hand dyed and commercially dyed merino, tencel, angora, and metallic fibers. I loved the color ways and decided to spread the batt very thin, and make it into a prefelt. It turned out soooo nice. Last night, I cut out the leaf pattern, then needle felted them into another large white merino prefelt. I did a variation on the layout, some of the leaves were left with the back up and others were left face up, hoping to achieve some interest in the piece. With a bit o'Luck, I'll make the time to wet felt this wrap today. I've also took one of the leaves, wet felted it down completely, and am going to bead it so that it can be used as a pin to hold the wrap in place. I so hope this turns out as I've planned. While cleaning, I found this spectacular hand spun yarn with beads and sequence in it. I've added it to the scarf for further texture and a happy garden effect.

Now, while I am not 100% Irish, the percent that is, loves this day. The music, the jokes, the blessings, the memories of my grandmothers and the lilt in the collective voices.
May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!

Wonderful batts

As promised, I cleaned a LOT this past week and am so proud that I got so much done. Still feel like there are miles to go before I sleep, but have made progress. Yeah me!

Felt making? Did get one bag done this week. It has glass stones in the felt. I love the texture and the added weight to it. I'm awfully fond of the nutmeg color that I achieved in the dye pot. Very nice, warm color

I did up some wonderful batts this morning. They are made of mostly merino, some angora, a bit of mohair, lots of merino silk and some sparkles and twinkles too, just for fun. Got to get them all labeled and priced for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
Gotta go back to work for now.
Shalom and hugs and thanks for popping onto the blog,
Suzanne