3D Felt Embroidered Birds

I have been working on a new idea for a workshop.  I saw some robins at Christmas and thought it would be a lovely idea to take a robin shape and embroider it.  The birds are made from hand dyed felt but you could easily use hand made felt.  I love playing with colours and you can use all your colourful left over scraps of felt to good effect.  Wouldn't they make super bunting!

 

 

Craft4crafters Exhibition

A few days ago I visited the Craft4crafters Exhibition at Westpoint Exhibition Centre, Exeter.  All the photographs are of work done by members of West Country Guilds, Clubs, Groups and Bicton College.  Poppies were a recurring theme this year to commemorate the start of World War I. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each block of the Poppies quilt was made by a different person, therefore all the poppies are made with different techniques.  The blocks were later joined together and machine quilted to create a  quilt.  It was stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Needlefelting at Bicton College.

 

 

 

West Country Embroiderers, Cornwall South AGM

A few days ago I took my 'shop' to Perranwell, near Truro for the West Country Embroiderers, Cornwall South group AGM.  I have been several times before and it is always a very enjoyable event.  There was a display of items made at workshops over the year which covered a wide range of techniques.

 

 

 

Patchwork



 

 

 

 

Felt Pots

 

 

 

 

Rag rug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a superb buffet lunch the guest speaker was Di Wells who creates the most spectacular patchwork.  Some of her work is extremely small and her hand stitching is unbelievably neat and even.  Her talk was a real joy and made a great impression on everyone.

 

 

 

 

A jungle scene

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Log Cabin made with 1/8" strips

 

 

And finally...

 

During the AGM a mobile phone rang and a lady rushed out of the room.  When she entered the room I could not hear what she said.  She then apologised and said she would turn her phone off but all her friends told her to keep the phone on.  About ten minutes later the phone rang again and the lady left the room.  When she returned she was very emotional and said in a loud voice, "We've got a girl".  Her daughter had just given birth to a baby girl!!!

Seascape

As the weather is so terrible at the moment I thought you might like to see a picture that reminds me of the summer.  The picture is a seascape with blue sky, sun shining on to the turquoise sea, golden sands and gently flowing surf.  The back of our house overlooks the bay, so I spent many happy times watching the effect of the sun on the water.

 

 

 

 

I have made the picture using machine knitted felt but it could easily be made using fabrics, hand made felt or needle felting.  I have continued the wool theme and used textured wool yarn couched down to represent the waves.  Finally running stitches and French knots of varying thicknesses were added for additional colour and texture with a few Tumblechips sewn on to catch the light.

 

At the moment the skies are charcoal, the rain is pouring and the waves are crashing on to the beach driven by the strong winds.