Latest felts - finished!

 As the title of this blog post may suggest, here are the finished pieces with the addition of hand embroidered french knots to give a little more texture.  The photo above shows the first piece I did, which worked well, although I decided the second piece would need to have more depth of colour. When I laid the design out, the sea line (or horizon line, depending how it looks to you) was straight, but as always, the wool decided to exert its influence and gave me a wavy line instead.

The second piece has worked well too, and I feel the added depth of colour is very effective.  This piece is now winging its way to my Peace Felt receiver in Ohio, USA and I really hope she likes it.  The purple colour represents the sea lavender which was all across the marshes, interspersed with grasses.  The shiny areas at the front are made using silk thread and silk fibres.
I now need to create another piece, using the stronger colours, as an example piece so that I can remember how I made it, just in case anyone wants to commission one!

Latest Felt

I made two pieces of felt the other day, as I mentioned, and above they can be seen in their pre-felted state. I am going to add grasses and cow parsley in embroidery to the green one, which already has silk fibres, yarns and tweed fibres added to it. To enhance the sky colours in the other one, I am going to add stitching in satin and cotton thread. Now all I need to do is get on with it!

A Treat!

Recently, I treated myself to some Shetland wool in the gorgeous natural colours seen above, from 'World of Wool'. (http://www.worldofwool.co.uk) While browsing, I also bought the shades of blue merino with silk fibres added into the blend. No, I haven't decide what I shall use it for yet, but no doubt inspiration will come at some point.

I haven't used Shetland wool before, so it will be interesting to compare felting times with the Black Welsh cross Texel wool from my sister's sheep. Now, what shall I use this wool for...?

Dramatic sunset

I have been continuing to make new pieces as well as the hearts and stars. I made this piece as I was inspired by the amazing colours in a sunset. The blended colours are quite bold but sometimes this can give a really good effect. Adding yellow and white silk fibres to the top layer of merino gave an extra lustre to those areas. I was pleased with the end result, although the felt itself is very thick, even though I used less layers than I do usually. I have come to the conclusion that the layers themselves must have been thicker than usual.

The Big Project...

Another sky interpretation, but this time focusing on the cloud patterns. This was embellished with white silk fibres, recycled denim fibres and Wensleydale wool, which gave the curly effects of the clouds. Once felted, I added hand stitching using back stitch in a white satin thread to add emphasis to the curly patterns and to add extra interest to the composition.

I particularly like the wispy effects that the Merino and Wensleydale create which really convey the idea of clouds.