Change of time!

Basic and Beyond time change!
The time has been changed for the basic and beyond it will now start at 11am with coffee in the kitchen at Hillsborough Village Centre and will run to 5pm, looking forward to seeing you all there, but make sure you book a place with Ann first! email amccullough1949@gmail.com

Felt that Name!

It was great to start back to our monthly meetings and see all the familiar and some new faces. Dorothy took the felt in and we made name badges, that hopefully everyone will wear each month so we can learn everyones names!

  After some great instruction from Dorothy we started to felt and make our very individual name badges!     

   Some newcomers to Feltmakers North having a good laugh, while making their name badges!

        Some of the very varied designs made during the morning, we are all looking forward to seeing them next month, when they are completed!
BASIC AND BEYOND
This is a wee reminder of the great opportunity that is available to all on October 13th, we are having an all day workshop on basic felting, we will be starting at the beginning on how to make a piece of felt using different native wools, some locally produced for us in Co Down. We will be showing you how to nuno felt using a light fabric and a layer of wool, then moving on to make a rope from wool and using a resist. This is a fun filled day, packed with information, there are a few tutors so the groups will be small, so everyone will get individual attention if required! Due to the generous support of the Lisburn Arts Advisory Committee we are able to offer this all day workshop at a mere £12 for members and £15 for non members, in the cost of the workshop all the materials necessary are supplied. so all you have to do is bring along your lunch and a few towels, couldnt be easier!! To apply for this workshop please email amccullough1949@gmail.com she will forward you an application form!
Our next felt in is the 20th October when we will be learning how to make cobweb felt, this is beautiful fine felt, using very little wool, it is very luxurious and cosy, so a great technique to learn before the winter temperatures drop!   We hope to see you at one of these sessions if not them both! Keep felting!
Fiona                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Everyone Welcome!

Our new programme starts on the Saturday 16th September, and we are looking forward to seeing new and familiar faces! We will be making name badges with Dorothy Dinsmore, this is a great chance to learn the basic technique of felt making, and yet make something that people will be able to identify you with!! We hope everyone will wear their felt names badges each month so we can all get to know each other names. Dont worry if you have never felted before we have starter kits made up which are available to buy, plus we have a good supply of some lovely colours of wool to tempt you!
In October we are offering a great day to learn felting and take it a bit further. This workshop is all day and is called the Basic and Beyond, we will start with making basic felt in different varieties of native wool. Later in the day we will make felt encorporating a few techniques, again all the materials necessary for this are included in the price of £ 12 for members and £15 for non members another great value workshop from Feltmakers North, all made possible by the generous support of Lisburn Arts Advisory Centre.
September's felt in will be well worth a visit as all the information will be available for the next three months, and if there are any questions you can always ask one of the committee! There will also be the opportunity to become a member and take advantage of the benefits of being a member, every felt in no charge, priority on workshops also workshops at a reduced rate. Plus some of the workshops the committee are planning are very exciting so Im sure you do not want to miss out!
I would like to thank you for logging on to our blog and I am very pleased to say we now have had over 10,000 hits which is great, some from USA, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, so hello to everyone and keep logging on!
Take care everyone and see you all soon.
Fiona Harvey

Summer Sensation

On saturday we were treated to a day packed with enjoyment, relaxation and learning! Liz Nicholls took the workshop, instructing us on how to make a light little neck scarf. To enable ths scarf to end up the correct shape the lay of the fibres is very important.

Below this photo illustrates the amount of shrinkage, as the final scarf sits on the original template.

                                                                
  The day went in quickly and we all learnt something new!                                                           

                                                                                 
Look at this beautiful piece of work, and this was Barbara's first workshop, we were delighted to see her as she had heard about us at the Creative stitch show!

Barbara Finlay laying out her layers very carefully using some of the great fibre blends we got from World of Wool, the colour combinations were great!

   Maria getting close to finishing her scarf!

    Some examples Liz brought for us to see, we had a choice of lengths which was a good idea. sorry my photos dont show the great colours in these scarves.
Remember to check out the workshop section as now the  application forms are available for the next few workshops, and the months between september and december we have lots of interesting topics covered,
Our next felt in is on September 15th at 10.15 and we have lots of starter kits for those of you who have not been before so all you need to bring is a towel and your enthusiasm, we will be delighted to see you.
Fiona Harvey                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Exciting Parcel!!

This fabulous parcel arrived on my door step last week, it is full of wool for the next couple of workshops, and this is just one of the parcels of wool we have recieved recently! So we have been getting organised for all the felt ins and workshops coming up from September onwards.So check out our workshop section of the blog to keep up to date with our plans, as you would hate to miss something! 

                                                                            

A Ray of Sunshine

  Close up of a gerbera, what inspirational colours                                                                      

Hello to everyone! Saying the weather is so awful here I thought I would send you a little ray of sunshine and let you know a few things about our up and coming programme of felting events!!

First of all I am delighted to say that the lucky participants for the Charity van der Meer workshop in November, have been notified and we have a waiting list in case someone is unable to attend. We were delighted with the response to the residential week end, which is an amazing bargain due to the generous grant from the Arts Council and the lottery fund!   We are now in the planning stages for another international tutor for next years residentail workshop!

                  One of Charity's fabulous dresses.                                                         
In September we will have a fun day learning to make felt name badges, which we intend for people to wear each month so we can learn everyone's name. We are hoping some new people to felting that we met at The Knit and Stitch show will come along. This is an ideal felt in for beginners and improvers. We will have felting kits available to buy so you dont need to worry about what to bring with you. The felt in will be taken by Dorothy Dinsmore and be at the usual time of 10.15 till 12.30pm, and of course will include coffee.

 Liz Nicholls will be introducing us to cobweb felt during our October felt in on October 20th, this is an extremely fine felt that is nearly transparent but absolutely gorgeous. Freda Magill will also be at our October meeting which will enable you to purchase some of her wensleydale wool and locks, which are terrific. Freda raises the sheep herself and shears them and then dyes the wool, she is a very knowledgeable lady!                                          

  One day old Wensleydale Lamb. 
                                                                  
In October in addition to our felt in, we are having an all day workshop called "Basic and Beyond" we hope a lot of people will come to this, as it is just what it says. It is basic felt making using different types of wool which shrink and felt in different ways, and then taking it that step forward, learning new techniques. Most of the committee has taken a similar workshop at the beginning of their felting and found that it inspired them, also teaching them alternative ways to felt. There will be several tutors so everyone will be in small groups, enabling the tutors to give one to one attention. This workshop will be on 13th October in Hillsborough village centre, applications form will be available at the beginning of August!

                                                                               

The programme will be updated on workshop page and more details of November and December, will follow next month! The weather isnt very good outside but its great weather for felting, so keep felting we look forward to seeing all your creations at the show and tell in September. You can always email us at feltmakersnorth@gmail.com.
Fiona Harvey.

Feltmakers North 2nd AGM

Although we have been going less than two years, the time for our second AGM came round. The Committee of Feltmakers North decided as a thank you to our members, that we would organise a complimentary talk and workshop for when the business had been completed. It was a real treat as the tutor was Elizabeth Bonnar!! This meant that the members who attended were able to learn about the uses of silk in felting, when Elizabeth gave us a very interesting talk. After lunch, the members were able to try out new nuno techniques using a variety of materials.

                                          Elizabeth showing us the different forms of Silk.                                   

                                     Denise and Colette discussing which technique to try!

It was great to see such a variety of colours and techniques, the whole day inspired us all.

One member wrote to me afterwards saying:
What a wonderful follow to our AGM! It is going to be  a hard act to follow. We had the wonderful Elizabeth Bonnar giving us the benefit of her considerable knowledge of silk followed by a workshop on nuno felt. There was no charge for the workshop and a nominal charge for a bag of silk samples and enough merino to make a square silk scarf. Thank you very much to the organisers
Dorothy Dinsmore.

It was great to get this email, and I would like to thank the committee for all their hard work and long hours they put in to make everything run so smoothly and for us to have advanced so far in such a short period of time!!
The details of our forth coming programme were released at the AGM, which include an exciting international felter Charity van der Meer coming for our first residential week end! We are also running a lovely day workshop on the 11th August a light little scarf using a resist, so check out the workshop section for all the details.
Please if you have any comments on our blog leave them in the comment box below!
Fiona Harvey