A new departure...

The above piece is an experiment using circles of already felted wool applied to the top surface of a separate piece then the whole thing is felted together. The natural colours come from the wool from my sister's sheep - (Texel cross Black Welsh) - and they do give some lovely shades. The wool takes a lot longer to card as I have to remove any bits of grasses and twigs as I go along. It also takes about 45 mins to felt, whereas Merino only takes 20 mins or so. It does feels wonderful when it is felted. I like the way that the felt decides how it will look in the end; the circles have moved slightly during the felting process, but this just proves it is hand crafted. I am very pleased with the end result and I think I shall make lots more of these - they would also work well using the Merino too.
The inspiration for this piece came from large circular straw and hay bales I saw last summer, but, of course, circles are everywhere.

Repeating pattern 2

This is the next stage to my repeating pattern where I repeated it four times to create a more complex image. I really like the shapes within the pattern and the way it has become more abstract. It has a feel of Art Nouveau with the flowing lines.

I have decided that I need to make at least one felt piece a week, which shouldn't be too onerous, and if I can make more, that's a bonus. I was making four pieces a day last summer so I can do it when I put my mind to it. I may try another craft fair this Spring/Summer, so need to make some more stock. I am also thinking about an exhibition in the future - maybe in a year or so, and at the moment, I don't have enough to fill one wall, let alone a whole gallery space!

Repeating pattern

Above is a completely new repeating pattern that I created using a segment from a photo I took of some grasses and with a little added Photoshop magic! It is something I learnt to do on my art course and once I'd created the patterns, I translated them into textiles. I really enjoyed creating a brand new pattern and the finished result is always interesting. It makes me look at objects in a different way. The above was a practise to make sure that I hadn't forgotten how to do it.
The original photo is one I would like to use for a new felt piece...

Finished!

Here is the stone wall piece finally completed! Although this is the fourth stone wall I have made, each one is different - this originality is one of the reasons I enjoy working with felt so much.

The embroidery really does bring the individual stones into focus. I hope the customer is pleased with this piece, which she is going to frame herself.