Lots of Biz!!

Gabi McGrath hungarian felting using traditional patterns and colours.

Another lovely workshop took place on Saturday 5th November, this time by Hungarian born Gabi Mc Grath. To commence we were given a brief insight into felting in Turkmenistan, how it is used for rug making and actual houses for the tribes. We looked at traditional designs and patterns and had fun trying to copy and personalise our own design for the small rug we were about to make. We mostly used the curly motif depicting the horns of the ram. We used hungarian wool and under Gabi's supervision transferred our designs outlining the pattern with thin strands of wool-then filling in using chunky pieces.

                                            Liz transferring her pattern onto a piece of fine cotton.

We incorporated several traditions in our rugs- the use of small bit of camel wool for luck! When applying water to the wool we used a type of fanned fork of branches to sprinkle, this was also a type of good luck!
                                            Below Gabi, demonstrating the edge stage.

An interesting method of rolling took place-all our rugs were placed side by side and rolled up inside one large woven mat. this was tied up, then rolled between pairs of people, so easing the workload.

We had a lovely "taster" into felting from another country, as well as ending up with a beautiful mini rug. A big thank you to Gabi for sharing her knowledge with us and hope she will join us again.

 By Marguerita Mc Clean.

Feltmakers Ireland have launched a book hilighting feltmakers in Ireland, and Feltmakers North are very proud that three of are members have work included in this lovely publication. If anyone would like a copy they are 15 euros and available from Feltmakers Ireland!

Gails selection of felted pen she had made to inspire us all!

November's felt in was taken by Gail Cooke and her topic was felted pens!! We had a good turn out and the craic was mighty, after being fortified with a welcome cup of coffee, we all set about making  many variations of a theme. It is always interesting to see different peoples colour choice. 

Jenny on her second pen!

Under the very good instruction and supervision of Gail everyone had a very successful and productive morning. There was tremendous curling,  twisting. and manipulation to create different shapes to the end of the pens, there was also plenty of laughing!! A very good morning was had by all, and some stocking fillers were made.

TO ALL MEMBERS OR FUTURE MEMBERS OF FELTMAKERS NORTH!!
Feltmakers North is holding an exhibition of members work in The Island Arts Centre, Lisburn at the end of 2012, we hope each member will exhibit three of four pieces. It is a great opportunity to showcase the art involved in felt making and talent of  the members of Feltmakers North. The title of the exhibion will be released in the next blog post! For those of you who are not exhibiting there will be invition to the opening night of the exhibition when you will be able to see and hopefully be inspired by the work on show!

Hat Workshop
There are details on the hat workshop which is taking place in February in the "workshop" section of the blog and details of how to receive an application form! Next month there will be details on the Elizabeth Bonnar nuno workshop in March 2012!! So many exciting things coming up!

For those of you who enjoy looking at felt making on the internet check out www.feltunited.com they have just posted there 2011 exhibition. For the last three years they have taken a section of the colour wheel and asked people to felt using the said colours and then send in there photos, they are from all over the world and I must say I find the work very inspiring! Cynthia Reynolds and Elis Vermeulen who organise Feltunited do it to promote feltmaking world wide and to link like minded people around the world!

I couldnt resist including this wee pet, who I have named The Strawberry Elf!! How cute!

I think I have brought you up to date with all that is happening in Feltmakers North but keep checking the blog for the latest news! We hope to see a really good turn out at our Christmas Felt in, forget Christmas shopping come and have a little quiet relaxing ME time. December 17th 10.15-12.30 Hillsborough Village Centre! So like they say ( used to say I'm may be showing my age here!!) in all good cartoons That's all from me folks!!
Fiona Harvey.

Yikes! Spikes!

Pudding the Pug modelled her new winter coat complete with Spikes this Autumns Must have!!

Our felting session today was learning how to make spikes and then attach them to felt or make them into the cutest flowers.
We started with equal lengths of merino tops, and using the small plastic bag and band, provided by Fiona, we kept about 1/4 of the piece dry. The spike was then made by wetting and gently rolling it until it became solid. Felting was achieved by firmly rolling the spike, so that it would stand up on its own.

We made a flat piece of felt, taking it to the pre felt stage, so it was still fibrous and ready to take the spike. The plastic bag was removed and the fibres were fanned out. This was then placed on the prefelt, dampened with soapy water and rubbed gently, so they became one. Once the spike was firmly attached, the rolling began. the resulting piece revealed a stunning piece of felt with a spike attached!!
A second spike was made and the plastic bag removed. We then added more fibres and worked on the top to develop a really lovely flower, small enough to make a brooch.

                                                               Completed Flower.


A great session with lots of new techniques learned and new members  producing stunning, creative work! All thanks to Fiona's excellent tutelage.
By Elaine Mc Combe.

At next month's felt in (November 19th) we will be making felt pens so please bring with you a new biro style pen. They are fun ,colourful pens that would be a lovely stocking filler! Please check out the workshop page as we regularly up date with all the information on up and coming events. We have some very exciting workshops planned for the next year, including an exhibition of members work in the latter part of 2012. This will be an excellent opportunity to show case the work that is produced by Feltmakers North members. We hope to have examples of the new technique we have acquired through attending our great workshop.
On the blog we now have a new section Book Review, this one was very kindly written by Barbara, But I hope some of you will send me a book review of your favourite book, or be a bit controversial and write a review of book you didnt like!!
Thats all from me, hope to see you all at November's felt in. Fiona Harvey.

September's Felt-in

Ever wondered how to create windows in felt or nuno? Well that was the subject of our first felt-in of the season on Saturday. It was great to see everyone back again and some new faces as well.Liz took us all through the process of creating circles in a piece of nuno using a light cotton fabric and merino tops.

We added sari silk to one example and threads to another and everyone went home with a good sample of the technique including some who had never made felt before!!

Happy felters with their samples of a new technique!

 There was lots of chat and great advice going on with the members sharing their work made over the summer break and great plans being made to embark on new projects or at least dream about them!! As one person said "this is me time, a great chill out!" 

 By Gail Cooke and photographs by Rachel Julca.

Next month the topic is spikes, which if you have never made before are great fun, and like most felt items are versatile, and add a completely new dimension to a piece of felt.We are in Hillsborough Village Centre on Saturday 15th October from 10.15, we welcome everyone and hope you will bring along items you have made for the show and tell!

In November we are having a Hungarian Feltmaking workshop, this is a unique opportunity to learn another technique. Everyone that has been to a Feltmakers North Felt-in would be able to take this workshop. The less you know the more you learn, I can back this up with first hand knowledge. As I had been to 2 felt workshops and then went on Feltmakers Ireland 2 day Icelandic Hat workshop, I had so much fun, learnt oddles, and made so many good friends, plus two rather interesting hats from Icelandic wool! I thoroughly recommend it to all the enthusiastic felters.Details will be out soon! I am looking forward to seeing you all in October!

Fiona Harvey

                                                                            

Meet Ted!

Saturday 20th August was a Feltmakers North workshop, taken by Dorothy Dinsmore and what fun we had! The photograph above is not one of Dorothy's teddies but one made by Vicki, who had never needle felted before!! So let this be inspiration to all you of out there who say you are not good to enough to take a workshop, the less you know the more you learn, plus you have loads of fun!
                                                                                       

                                             Dorothy demonstrating how to needle felt a teddy.

The ears are soon to be attached!!

The day was very relaxed, and Dorothy gave us very clear instructions, which made the whole process quite straight forward and easier than we imagined. We used Corriedale wool, which is a coarser texture than merino and more suited to needle felting animals.
                                                                                

                                       Vicki and Ann getting all the individual pieces ready.

Here are the Teddies that were produced at the workshop!

Once all the individual pieces were made we sewed the bear together with dental floss! Linen thread can be used but as it is hard to get dental floss is a very good alternative. Everyone on the workshop was delighted as they all got one Teddy completed, some even started a second Teddy.

We start our Felt  ins on September 17th in Hillsborough Village Centre at 10.15 till 12.30pm. For September Liz has very kindly offered to show us how to make a window in felt and also a bump! This technique is very versatile and adds great interest to scarves, bags, cushion covers to name just a few! Just bring your felting kit and Liz will have anything else you might need. We are looking forward to seeing every body again and hopefully some new faces too, if you dont have a felting kit come along anyway and have some coffee see what goes on!

                                                                             

Holiday update

I hope you are all enjoying the summer despite the very changeable weather! The committee of Feltmakers North are hard at work over the summer planning an exciting programme of events for the incoming year! We have 2 workshops this year Dorothy's teddy bear workshop in august and you still have time to apply for this workshop the deadline is 6th August! Then in November we are having Gaby Mc Grath for a one day Hungarian workshop, showing us traditional Hungarian techniques using Hungarian wool, I can thoroughly recommend this workshop and tutor, and I think places will be highly sought after.
We hope to plan an exhibition of Feltmakers North's members work for the winter of 2012 and the title for this exhibition will be announced soon, so that you can all get your work ready. This is a great opportunity to promote felt making but also have a goal to work towards personally, we hope all members will produce an item or items for the exhibition. It will also give you the opportunity to sell some of your work!! Now there is a thought!!

  

Don't forget The Rare Breeds Show at Gosford Park on Saturday 3rd  September, Feltmakers Ireland are running a competition previously mentioned on the blog, so even if you have not entered it will be a good opportunity to go and see some vessells made with native wool! The visitors are the judges so you can vote for the one you like the best!!

17th September in Hillsborough Village centre, we will be having our first autumn felt in. Liz Nicholls is going to show the technique of using a resist to make a window in your felt! This is a very exciting method than can be adapted to use in many items of felt.

                                                                                
In September we would like Feltmakers North partiscipants to bring items they have felted over the last few months so we can see what everyone is up to! This is very inspirational and a great way to learn straight from the horses mouth, so I hope you all remember to bring some thing along. The committee would also appreciate some feed back from people as to what they like or dislike about FN and any ideas as to how we can improve, or any techniques you would like to learn we are open to suggestions and where possible we will try and accommodate all suggestions! These suggestions can be emailed to feltmakersnorth@gmail.com we are looking forward to hearing from you.
The next blog will be packed with information and will posted in August so dont miss it! Bye for now.


                                                             

Summer Nuno Wraps with Cristina Garcia

  Cristina making notes with her felt pen in her felt book!!

                          
Cristina Garcia is a extremely talented feltmaker from Kilkenny, who I meet a few years ago at Feltmakers Ireland, when I saw her work I thought one day I would like to take a workshop with her. She only takes a few workshops every year so we were very privileged to have her at Feltmakers North The day began with Cristina showing us her designs and samples of textures created in nuno felting, there were so many ideas, and Cristina was so generous with her knowledge, the excitement was mounting! The silk fabric and wool was selected, but before we could start any felting we had to make a sketch of our design and discuss the techniques involved with Cristina. once the plan had been discussed and we were all clear on our approach to our design we began to felt. The first day flew in and by 5 pm there were a few tired but extremely happy faces leaving the Island Centre.
If the first day went quickly the second day went in the blink of an eye! Everyone had finished there summer wraps and some people started a second one and others decided to make a silk scarf with wool beads on it.

                                                                                  
Cristina is a delightful tutor, calm and very encouraging but generous with her knowledge and tips. Everyone on the workshop went away with a beautful summer nuno wrap and so many ideas for other felting adventures.  More photos of the wraps will follow as some were not dry enough to photograph.                                                                               

A few of the girls with Cristina wearing their summer wraps.

For those of you who missed this workshop, we will be running another nuno felting workshop in the future so keep an eye on the blog and remember members get priority. Do not forget the next exciting workshop run by Feltmakers North is August 20th with Dorothy Dinsmore and it is a needle felting workshop to make your very own teddy bear, if anyone needs an application form for this workshop they can email either Liz or myself Fiona and we will forward you one, you do not need to be a member, but members will be given priority and all names are drawn from a hat! There are more details in the workshop section of the blog.

Our felting session start again in September on 17th and the first one will be held in Hillsborough Village Centre, if you have not renewed your membership there will be an opportunity to do it then. Also some of the Summer Nuno wraps will be on show for you to see, we would also like people to bring work they have made over the summer to show! I hope everyone has a lovely summer!

                                                                             

Fantastic Fleeces

The committee and I were delighted to recieve an invitation from Freda Magill to visit her farm, and see the process that the wool goes through before we are able to use it in our felting. We headed down to Rathfriland with our wellies on, for our farm visit, we were all like school children, very excited by this invitation! Although I had grown up on a small farm which had sheep, I never realised the lengthy and painstaking process the wool goes through before it is ready for us to felt with. What makes this even more amazing is that Freda does an immense amount of the work herself! We were first shown into the shearing shed which had an adjustable height shearing table to prevent the shearer bending! We noticed the differences in the fleeces ,the wendsleydale fleeces from the younger sheep were a lot more curly, and all the fleeces had a tremendous amount of lanolin evident, this would be reduced when they were washed. The washing process could only be started on a day with suitable weather conditions so as to enable the fleece to dry, as once washed it takes several hours to dry.

Lambs that Freda has to hand rear they were born earlier this year!

Then we proceeded out to the fields; where we saw ewes rearing triplets, young ewes with their first lambs, some pet lambs and even a newly born lamb that had arrived that morning (especially in honour of our visit!!)

Wensleydale Lamb born that morning!

After a short walk up the hill we visited the main flock of Wensleydales, Texel and Wensleydales  X Texel, who were more wary of us than the younger lambs. The view of the countryside was spectacular as were the sheep.
Once back at the farm we were able to see Freda's stock of over 30 different varieties of wool, each type having different qualities and uses in felting! Freda uses a wild carder to card the wool then she dyes in to many colours and her colour combinations are fantastic. As if carding all the wool isnt enough Freda also has a loom and weaves some into the most amazing fabrics which we were able to admire.

We had a very informative and fun filled morning, which made us all appreciate the work involved in preparing the lovely wool for felting. If you would some rare breed wool contact Freda at http://www.woolinitiative.com/ it is perfect to use in the competition at Gosford Park in September, entires can be given to Liz Nicholls.