Saturday 23 January 2010

The winners! and Felt

Thank you everyone for joining in with my blogversary draw and for all your lovely comments over the last week. Like everyone, I do like to get comments and feedback on my posts and you are all very generous and supportive. What else should we expect from such creative people? :o) Thank you!

Right, onto the draw! I have used this Random Number Generator to pick the numbers but, unfortunately I don’t know how to capture the screen so I hope you will trust me with the result. The winners are: (drumroll please!) :

1 Elizabeth

2 Kayla Coo

3 Linda

Elizabeth will receive the Journal Quilt, Kayla Coo will receive the cards and Linda will receive the heart so ladies, please email me with your snail mail addresses and I will get the giveaways in the post after the weekend. I’m just sorry that everyone couldn’t have won. Thank you all for taking the time to leave a comment and join in.

Yesterday I did manage to go to the felt workshop and had a really lovely day, although it was very hard work. The workshop was led by Alison Taylor who was a most generous teacher both with her knowledge and the materials she supplied us with. Unfortunately Alison doesn’t have a website yet although I believe she is thinking about starting one. There were 9 ladies taking part altogether and I have to thank them all for being such a welcoming group as I had not met any of them previously.

We were so busy that I didn’t have time for any photographs while we worked. The felt-making was energetic and at one point several of us lost the will to live (!) but eventually with some help from Alison we were all delighted with our results.

Felt Alison Taylor workshop

First of all we made a piece of flat felt. I know, I know! I’ve gone for my traditional favourite colours! Alison said we could make these pieces into an evening purse so I chose colours that I hoped would match a dress I have. I didn’t really intend it to be quite as solid in terms of colour but when you are working quickly some thoughts are not easy to hold onto and the design changes.

Felt Alison Taylor workshop1

This green side will be the inside of the purse and, once it’s dry I will square up the sides and make a 3-fold and stitch it together. I’m thinking of using any wavy edges I cut from the sides to decorate the flap closure and then I’ll add some stitch and beads in a similar way to the bag Alison showed us. It doesn’t show too well in the photo but I am pleased that some of the green has migrated through in glimpses to what will be the outside of the bag.

After a lovely lunch supplied by the ladies who organised the day (weren’t we spoilt?), Alison showed us how to make a bag,

Felt bag Alison Taylor workshop

The bag was made over/around a plastic template and involved more elbow grease but it did seem to felt quicker than the flat felt in the morning. Of course, the thicker the wool layers to start with, the longer it takes to felt. The bag is still drying and needs a handle but it may yet end up as a decorative pot, I can’t decide. The bag is about 10” x 9” and the flat felt is 15” x 10”.

An added bonus yesterday was discovering some toys to play with! Alison had 2 pieces of equipment that I could see a use for in other areas of textile work. One was a feltmakers bulb spray which gives a wonderful spray of liquid and I could see this giving some interesting effects with dye and the other is a knobbly/slatted rolling pin which I think would produce interesting marks in printing. Very naughtily I have ordered these 2 toys from Wingham Wools and I can’t wait to play some more! If the Spray Bulb works with dye I shall order more and keep one for each colour or group of colours. I don’t know whether the bulb can be taken apart to clean thoroughly. Watch this space! Again! Lol.

I was surprised and pleased at how I coped yesterday, partially due to stubbornness I think, but today I am feeling the strain. Don’t feel sorry for me though, all self inflicted and I thoroughly enjoyed the day!

19 comments:

ju-north said...

Pleased you had such a good day! Lovely work!

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Firstly, congratulations to the lucky ladies who won your pressies!

Your felt is really good and I like the shape of the bag. Like the colours you chose. I am really interested in your new toys and hope that you will report progress as and when ...

Hope you feel better day by day
Have a lovely weekend

silverpebble said...

I'm so sorry to hear the cough still lingers Julie. Many congratulations to the winners and to you for achieving such lovely felt work! Three cheers for your blogiversary too!

Heather said...

So glad you made it to the felt day Julie. Felt making is hard work isn't it? I always come home from a workshop exhausted and with my head in a whirl, trying to remember everything I have learned. Your bag will be lovely - my colours too.

Heather said...

I forgot to congratulate the lucky winners of your giveaway.

JP said...

hope you are feeling a bit better - it gets you down doesn't it when it goes on over a long period of time - maybe you need some Cornish air?! - your felt is great

Julie said...

Heather, you're right,it was hard work and I know I've forgotten a lot but fortunately Alison had made a wonderful book of instructions for us!

You are so right JP! Cornish air is definitely the thing! :o)

Guzzisue said...

well done winners!!!

Looks like you had fun with the felt :-)

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

Hi Julie,
What a lovely surprise,thank you so much.
Felting beats going to the gym any day!

Fenland Textile Studio said...

Hi
Sorry I didn't make it to your give away. I love the colours of your felt. I hope all goes well when you at at the hospital. Happy blogiversary as well.

sweetypie said...

glad you had a nice day look forward to picking your brains on this.

Shirley Goodwin said...

Well done for your blogversary!

Sorry I have only scraps of the frog fabric left and no manufacturer's name is evident. I have to admit that I seldom look at who produces fabric. It was an ideal fabric for a little boy's quilt.

Dot said...

Congrats to the lovely ladies who won your giveaway!
Love your felting piece(and the colors you chose). Felting can be hard work and fun too.
You know I am totally addicted to it!
Dot xx

pam said...

Oh wow the little bag looks lovely worth going to the course for - hope you feel better now.

Julie said...

Thanks Pam :) I think my cough may actually finally be subsiding! fingers crossed!

Linda Vincent said...

Hi Julie - what a lovely surprise! I just came to pay you a visit....and there was my name on your blog post! Thank you so much, the heart looks beautiful; I will email you straightaway.
Your felting looks great and I really like the sweet little purse.
Hope you're feeling lots better...
Love
Linda x

Indigo Blue said...

Many thanks for visitng my blog. Iwas disaapointed that I could not find a fabric shop in Florence, but you may succeed where I failed. Maybe google will help as Idid forget to think of this beofre I went. I also went to a felt making class last October. Seeing your post has spurred me on to finish it.
xx

sharon young said...

Sorry to have missed your blog anniversary, Julie, but glad to hear your feeling a bit better now.
Sounds like you had a wonderful day, shall look forward to seeing the results of playing with your new toys.

Angela said...

Glad you felt well enough to go to your class the results look lovely. The bag is so sweet.