Felted hat on a ball

Warming up to have a class at the Appalachian Arts   and Craft Center in Norris, Tennessee. The week before I was so lucky as to spend a week in New York. Erin is a great travel companion and got us to everything we wanted to see. Spending 4 days with my sister and her daughters was a treat to treasure for a long time. On the Brooklyn Bridge, very cold and very happy to be able to use a felted hat to keep our heads  warm.

Back in East Tennessee, where it was also very cold and snowy several women join me at the Center to create unique head pieces.

Start with a sticky ball, weigh out your choice of Merino wool, and cover the ball in thin layers. Several fun color combinations were used. No one made the same hat.

Next, you cover the ball with  panty hose stretched over the wool, to keep everything contains and controlled. Dip in warm soapy water, and bounce the ball. When you have pre-felt, the ball comes out and you can work the hat with your hands keeping it wet and warm.

A lot of rolling, folding and un-folding. The final stage is when you work the hat to fit your head and give it the shape and brim you want.  Needless to say that we had some wonderful surprises and individualized head adornments by the end of class time. I love to see the results. 

We jokingly call this the Robin Hood hat. The colors are so great for her. If she wants to she can shape it some more, for a more rounded look, but this shape suits her great.         

 Nancy is just so cute in this blue hat. She left a wide brim. If she want to she can just wet the hat and make the brim smaller, very easy to do with  felt.

This multi colored hat almost look like it was knitted first. Many colors was worked together in the top layer, and the blue inner layer shows up as a very nice brim. Love the texture in this one.

 Ila's multi red hat is the perfect fit for her. It is fun and unique just like her. Also great colors for her.

Teal is just a colors that looks good.  This is another good fit, with a very nice brim. Keep in mind that the size of the brim can vary, nothing has to be permanent on a felted hat. You can just wet it to re-shape it.

Ginger chose colors that was very  successful for her to wear. Fall colors has always been on my favorite list, but some women just looks very nice in them

Adonia is also fond of the fall colors, and they are so perfect for her. Her scarf is also felted with added curlies and crystal beads. Now she has a set to wear out.

Had to make one too, This is my demo hat, and all though I don't wear much red, I think this one will be used a lot. It fits a and feels so nice on my head. And it I don't like it anymore I can change it in a few minutes!

This was a super group of ladies. I hope they all will make more hats, and most of all have fun with felting. Hope to see them all again very soon!
(Ginger, Ila, Jane, LaDonna, Nancy, Adonia and Carla, Thank you for coming!)

 On a final note, New York is a very interesting place to go fabric shopping, so we did. Mood was just one of the many, many stores we visited. Many treasures were brought back to Maryville. Most of them silk that I plan to use for Nuno felting. Now I just need some time.

I guess we never expected to have this view from a hotel room,  but this was right outside our window on the 34th floor. The Empire State Building was lit up every night with different colors. Have to say, it made an impression on us.

EASY ARCH at Cedar Lakes quilt camp, October 2015

Once again I had the pleasure of joining over 200 quilters at Quilt Camp, a retreat held at Cedar Lakes in Ripley, WV .
For over 30 years quilters have come together here during Columbus week to learn new things and enjoy each others company. Weather was just perfect  this time, and so was my class of 8 ladies eager to learn free form rotary cutting and sewing curves. I have  come up with many variations over the years of this simple block, but still there are new inspirations for new variations to come. Making some blocks into free form leaves has become a favorite, not just by me but also by many taking this class. Below are several outstanding examples of that. Enjoy!

 Jeri Fickes from Ohio came with a plan to make a wall piece for her new bedroom. This black and white with a little red is very original and creative. Love it!

Jeri's leaves continues her love for black and white.
This wall quilt will probably stay asymetrical, with a nice quilt design in the dark area. The red piping is perfect.

Cindy Kellner from Georgia became very prolific in making Easy arch blocks. The leaves in orange, red and yellows will create a stunning wall quilt after she has the leaves appliqued to the purple background. A beautiful color combination.
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 This is the first piece Cindy worked on. She made many blocks in the blue and burgundy hues, with a touch of green. This is a more "traditional" setting of the blocks, but can easily be changed around as long as you don't have them sewn together. She might also make it bigger by adding more blocks. Lovely cool colors.

Susan Tardif, also from Georgia, made even more blocks. Her very large stash of beautiful batiks in blues, turquoise, purple and pinks was one to envy. Her setting is more random, but it lets lines flow through the quilt. She is planning to add even more block for a larger quilt. It will be stunning.

Susan in front of some of the leaves she made. She chose a very skinny vein to go through the leaves, and that is very effective. The setting in the large green squares will give her many options for how to put them together. This will be another very vibrant piece.

Mary Bugg from Ohio brought some very rich fabrics to work with. The blue tones just made this beautiful square from 4 blocks. She is planning to add similar blocks in brown and pinks to compliment the blues

Becky Hamilton from Ohio worked with a very soft group of Christmas fabrics. They only looked christmasy when you were close. Becky cut through several of the blocks and added skinny bias strips. It gave the quilt a very contemporary look using traditional type fabrics. She added couched yard around the borders, and pretty much had the top ready to be quilted by the end of class! Impressive.

Becky's leaves has added plain fabrics as well as prints. Love this original setting. With some border(s) it can be a wall piece or a table piece that will work all year.               

Lois Hall from Ohio is a quilter who gets a lot done!  This is a baby quilt that she actually also basted and quilted during the 4 days at Cedar Lakes!  A baby girls will love this quilt, it has minky on the back and is soo soft. The blocks are set in a traditional setting, which is perfect for this. Lots of movement.

Lois made blocks from these cute Halloween fabrics, but instead of making a Halloween quilts she assembled 4 Trick-or- Treat bags for the grandkids. How adorable is that!. All the bags are lines and have sturdy handles, ready to be filled with goodies.

These bright leaves will most likely be the beginning of a larger project. I can see Lois make several more and have something to show at the next retreat!              Every year I am fortunate to have talks with Lois about our common background . Her grandparents were from Norway, and she has done a lot of research about them. It really gives me a feeling of home when we share this, even if it is only once a year!                                                                     

 This is Shari Gilzow from Ohio and her bright batik wall quilt. Strong colors gives her quilt a very dynamic and swirly effect. She plans to add one or two borders to frame the blocks. That would make it large enough for  a lap quilt, or to hang on the wall.

This says late fall to me. Right before some leaves disintegrate on the ground they have this color of brown and purple. It is quite beautiful, and Shari have captured this. I hope she agrees with me! Love it. Whatever she adds to this, it will be a great piece. One which I hope to see next year.

Last, but not least, Dee Burdette from Ohio, brought a beautiful collection of blacks, browns, grays and whites to use for her blocks. Very rich colors that played so well together. She chose a gray setting with black cornerstones which compliments the blocks very successfully. She plans to make a few more blocks to make it somewhat larger, and add a border for framing. This will be a gorgeous quilt when it is finished.

Dee wanted to make some leaves, but did not have a specific project in mind for them. I think she should come up with one, because this is a great beginning! Since yellow and orange are my favorite colors, she can not go wrong in whatever lay out  or positioning she chooses. Hope to see what she will come up with .

 As an added bonus I was able to see a few finished projects from last year's class. It is a real treat to get to see the quilts we work on in a class as finished projects later.

Ginny Diefenbaugh from Ohio made a very bright and colorful wall piece with several blocks in the Transfer paint class last year. She now added embroidery outline around the leaf shapes and quilted it. Beautiful result!

Cheryl Davis from Ohio planned and worked out a fairly complicated design (her own) as a memory piece for her mother who had passed away. After the Transfer paint class last year, she finished it at home by adding beading and embroidery as well as quilting. This is now a  very personal memorial to her late mother.

Lois Hall took the Free form Machine applique class a few years ago. She started a very special and personal quilt from a photo of her son during a horse race. This was a challenging and detailed piece, but this year the quilt was done, and I think you'll agree it was worth all the work. This will be a gift to her son, and I think it will blow him away. For me it is so rewarding to see the accomplishment of creative people

Lois also finished a second quilt this year. The Eagle will go to her other son, as it represent his interest in Tae Kown Do. Wish I can get this much done!

As you see, lots of things going on at Quilt Camp in Ripley. More classes coming up next October!

Felted Bag workshop at Appalachian Arts and Craft center in Norris.

Wet felting bags is so much fun, and that was what we did in this class at the Arts and Crafts center at the end of August. I forgot my camera this time, and Karen Bills very graciously let me use some of the photos she took in class. To warm up (even though it was 90 degrees outside!) we made small mug rugs just to get a feel of what the wool rowing will do as we work it through the felting process. Love these!

 Many of the ladies had never felted before, so some practise is needed to draft the wool rowing to get an even layer of wool, make that 3 or 4 layers. Then add water and soap, bubble wrap and your hands will do the work.

Miriam and Lynn have both done this a few times. And I am so happy to have them in class, it is almost like having my own sisters there!.

Adonia adds some final decoration to the front of her bag. Beautiful color choices.

A very nice overall decor to this white bag.

 Karen's fall colors came together so great. She spend some time on this design, but it was worth it. On the finished bag this will be the fold-over flap and the back of the bag. The front is equally beautiful.

Bag is almost done! Just a little more throwing and rolling, to full the bag so that it is dense enough to be used. Felt is a very strong material, but still soft to the touch.

8 great ladies in class (Karen is taking the pic).

I think we can be very pleased with production that day. Everyone made a cute mug rug, a small bag to practise using resist, and a medium size bag with inside pocket, that is large enough to be used as a handbag.
Just needs a handle, and ready to use. (will take a few days to dry, and can still be shaped). Thanks for a fun day, making bags is my favorite felting project.

Week long "Easy Arch" class at JC Campbell Folkschool

Last week of April, with beautiful spring weather in North Carolina, I was fortunate to spend time with several women representing many states. They all came to J C Campbell Folkschool in Brasstown, NC. On the agenda was "Easy Arch with variations". Freeform rotary cutting and curve sewing. This group was not afraid of cutting, sewing and playing with colors. The only thing the quilts below have in common is the basic "easy arch" block, the rest shows their interpretation of the variations, and their different taste in colors and fabrics.

Caroline Mackay from Florida very quickly assembled this bright and cheerful quilt with a very 70-ies feel to it. A quick run to the  local quiltshop added the perfect border! Every child would love to have this quilt to snuggle under.

Two more of Caroline's creations, the leaves is a variation of the block which became a favorite this week. One of my favorite blocks as well.

Caroline also made two sets of 8 blocks from a "layer cake" collection. The color combination in greys and green makes a statement.

 Diane Ray from Virginia brought a very large stash of batiks, and you can tell she had fun selecting and arranging the blocks in new variations.

This landscape is in progress, and a few more elements will be added.

Linda Cole from California loves blues and purple, and her long piece reflects that. This can be a wall piece, or a table piece. One of the fabrics has little fish in it, and the orange  border fabric tied that in.t

Linda's leaves, in orange and purple. This is a very exiting color combination. I even liked purple after this!

Carol Smucker from North  Carolina worked with these saturated blues. Adding that little bit of green just gave this quilt extra movement. The border fabric has underwater scenes, so appropriate for this one.

Sharyn Cole from North Carolina, a very talented quilter and designer, was very much working with colors I tend to choose myself. She did, however, create something that was new and exiting. The contemporary red fabric down the center, gave this table quilt an added dimension. 

 Sharyn made the smallest leaves I have had anyone do in a class. So cute! Of course I love the orange batik border fabric.

Miriam Land from Tennessee made many sets of blocks to create this original wall piece. It is still in progress and a few more designs might be added to complete it. It is difficult to see, but she came up with a beautiful leaf design, with a 3D effect. A very talented quilter, and I cannot wait to see this one finished.

Some of Miriam's leaves and scraps from the wall quilt made in to "small quilts".

Ellen Heimlich from Florida, is not afraid of color. She embraces every single one! Her beautiful collection of colorful and bright batiks was a delight to see, and obviously fun to work with. The large green leaves has a prominent place in this sofa/lapsize quilt. (Did I say that I am beginning to like purple now?)

Lindsey Stewart from Illinois brought some of my favorite fabrics by Kaffe Fassett to play with. By adding a few others that played well together, she made enough blocks to have a larger quilt. It will be a stunning and vibrant quilt for a bed or a chair. As you see, all colors of the rainbow can have a good time together!

Candace Tucker from Florida, a very good friend from her time in Knoxville, TN agreed to be at the school this week. Wonderful for me and for the students to have an extra teacher available. She is a textile artist who likes to creates fiberart without following anyone's instructions, but this week I think she had a little fun playing with the "easy arch" possibilities.

With a view of  the rustic  jewelry studio at the school, I thank everyone in my class for a wonderful time. I am now full of new ides, just need a little time to get that going. Have a wonderful creative summer!