Machine Needle Felting

2008-04-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I am ashamed to say that it has been way to long since I have written on my BLOG. I was reminded of that today when I received a phone call from Claudia in FL. So. I decided that I would write a bit today about what I will be doing in the next few weeks and they try to catch up on what I have been doing over the last few months.

First, I have recently joined the Palmetto Fiber Arts Guild in the Charleston SC Metro area. I am very excited that I will soon be learning to spin and I hope to have a spinning wheel of my own by the summer. I will have to chance to attend a Spinning class at Middleton Place Plantation on April 26-27th. Actually, I will be selling wool and yarn at the Sheep Festival they are holding there, but they agreed to put me in the area by the spinners since I want to learn to spin. And, I might even get spin while I am there if it is not too busy. There will be lots going on at the Festival including sheep shearing, dyeing, spinning and weaving demos and lots of food and hospitality. So, if you are in the area, you might want to check it out.

Second, I will be teaching a class at Margiotta's for people with Babylock Embellishers. I'll be posting another message with a sample of the project. The class will be on April 30th. Let me know if you would like to attend.

Third, expect to see some new photos in my blog of some of the projects that I have been working on lately. I will try to add some detail about how I made them, but no promises about that right away. For now, just think of them as "eye candy" as Claudia said to me.

That's all for right now. More to come....soon.
Denise

2007-09-25T12:17:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but I have been very, very busy. After returning from Ruthie's Notions in Florida (where I had a great time meeting 100 or more people), I got caught up on mailing out website orders and then left for vacation in Virginia.

Walter (my long time significant other) and I went to Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown and Richmond and then stopped on the way back in Myrtle Beach. I just loved visiting with the interpreters in Williamsburg...I made myself into quite a pest at the Milliner's shop, the Tailor shop and the Weaver's shop asking LOTS of wool related questions. The interpreters were WONDERFUL about answering my questions. I was even able to buy a reprint of a book about raising sheep in Williamsburg around the time of the Revolutionary War. Very interesting reading.

I also spent some time searching out yarns stores and spinning stores in the Williamsburg area. If you are ever there, you should visit Two Sisters Knitting in Williamsburg. Although it is a fairly new store, they have a wonderful selection of yarns and I actually found a great beginner book for knitting socks. I will post photos of the socks if I every actually get a pair made, although I am practicing. I also visited a spinning store in Yorktown and had fun there. I did not buy a spinning wheel yet, but perhaps one day in the near future. I had hoped to find a drum carder, but that will have to wait until more into fall and another trip since they did not have any in stock while I was there.

I am finally caught up again and will be adding some new things to the website. I have a couple of new color palettes of roving and I have retired one palette. I also have some new colors of silk roving and merino that I have dyed, but that have not yet been added to the website. So, there is still work to do there.

I have started teaching a class on how to make the pillow with the Rosemaling embroidery design from www.emblibrary.com that is posted on the blog. I did not use their recommended colors and would be glad to send the colors I actually used to anyone who is interested. Some of the people in the class are going to make a purse instead of a pillow. I hope I can get photos of their projects for my blog when we finish the projects. The group is meeting once a week, so expect to see more projects designed for them in the near future.

So, now, I need to get back to work. Just wanted those who were interested to know that I am still here and doing well....just busy. Look for more regular posts on my bog in the future. I at least promise to try to keep it moreup to date.

Denise

2007-07-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard the past few days and have (finally) something to show for it. Here is the Rosemaling pillow now that it is complete. I think that it came out really well. This picture Of the completed pillow, sitting in the chair, really does not do it justice. So, I posted a photo that shows the pillow with the trim, but before the back is attached that might give a better view. It was fun finishing the pillow and I am looking forward to taking it with me to Florida for the show.

I have also been finishing a project that I started months ago. It is called Swimming with the Fishes and is an underwater seascape that was first created in felt on Vilene. Then, I felted it to the royal blue twill material. I added some small sealife designs (from http://www.emblibrary.com/). I really love using felting and punching designs as backgrounds for machine embroidery. Finally, I have started adding the stitching details to the seaweed. I still need to add some more free motion embroidery to the water areas. Then, I will make it into a tote bag. I want to finish this before going to FL, so I will likely get it finished tonight or tomorrow. Oh, here is the picture so far. I will post the finished tote before I go to Florida.

I am also working on a new veneer for a purse. I don't think that I will have it finished before going to Florida. But, since I am taking the Juniper Revisited Purse with me, I think that it will be good to have a similar project in progress to show how these purses are made. I am also working on finishing off a new bowl so that I will be able to show that you can make 3-D objects with the Embellisher. I'll be posting some photos of these in the next week or so.

Oh, and one more project. It was a fast but fun little project. First, I made some silk fusion (look for some instructions on how to do this soon) and then embroidered a butterfly (from Hatched In Africa) on the silk. I then cut it out and used some fabric stiffener to shape the butterfly's wings. It is really cute. But, I forgot to take a photo, so you will have to wait to see it until next time.

Until then, have fun.

Denise

www.tryourdesigns.com

2007-07-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

I have been busy this weekend. Mostly, I have been trying to get my inventory organized, but I did have to take some time for fun. I got the chance to dye some more silk roving. This is a wonderful reddish-brown that should be on http://www.tryourdesigns.com/ in a few days. I did take some time, though to have some fun. So, I started working on a pillow. It is a sueded rayon that has been needle punched onto a denim foundation. I then embroidered a design that I got from http://www.emblibrary.com/. I really like the results. Now, I hope to find enough time to do some free motion sewing on the portion of the pillow that is not embroidered. I thought I would post a photo of the work in progress. SO, here it is. More photos of this project to come.

2007-07-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

I just received some wonderful news today. I am going to be lecturing and doing demos on July 26, 27, and 28th at Ruthie's Notions in Baker, FL. (www.ruthiesnotions.com) This will be part of her Christmas in July event. I am really excited to be doing this. I'll also be bringing in all of my products to be able to sell there at the event. So, I am off to the studio to produce some new items for the demo so that people can see some of the great things that you can do with a Babylock Embellisher, especially when it is combined with machine embroidery. I have been working on a few pieces which have been sitting on the sidelines and this is definitely the push that I need to finish them up. There will also be some other great people at this event including John Deer, a fabulous digitizer, and Joan Friedrick and Susan Zellers from Babylock. I have seen John's presentations before and they are just wonderful. I can't wait to see what the Babylock ladies have to show since they always have such new and wonderful things to show. Unfortunately, this event is currently full, BUT, the good news is that I will be doing a two day solo event at Ruthie's in the near future. We are working on the dates now, so stay posted to my bog for more info as it becomes available.

If you are close enough to Baker Florida (in the panhandle) to come to one of Ruthie's events, you should. She has a lot of events and many of the events are FREE to attend. So, if you haven't been there, you should check out her website. Also, Christopher Nejman (whose book, Pillows, was or is the number one craft book in the country as I understand) will be there in August. So, if you can be there, what a great chance it would be to be able to see him.

Well, I need to get back to work now. Lots to do anyway, and even more to do to get ready for this event in July. Hope to see you there.

2007-06-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am back at home and ready to get back to work on my fiber crafts. I have spent the last week at the beach with Walter's 4 daughters, 2 son-in-laws, 2 daughters' boyfriends and 5 grandchildren (aged just under 2 to 11). It was absolutely crazy but I loved every minute of it.

Access to the internet was non-existent (hence, no new posts) and on the one day that I made it into town to try to check up on email and send out a few packages, the USPS site was down. So, I came home to a bit more work than I anticipated, but I have caught back up.

While I was at the beach, I did finish a new "knit to felt" purse that I am designing. I'll be adding some pictures to the blog in a day or two. I am really enjoying making purses this way, particularly when my machine is not convenient to use. I have been dyeing all of the wool for the knit-to-dye purses and if there is a demand, I will be adding some to the website soon.

There is not much more to tell for now. I have 12 days home alone to work since Walter is on a voluntary teaching assignment in Lithuania....Vilnius exactly. So, I have added a coupon to my website for a sale while he is gone. Just type in VILNIUS as the coupon code and get 10% off of your entire order. That should keep me busy enough while he is gone, while still giving me some time to play.

Now, I am off to start working on a pillow that I started before I left for the beach and about a dozen postcards for swaps. I'll be posting photos as I finish. Hope you are all safe, well and having fun.

Denise

2007-06-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks, I have been working on postcards for a postcard exchange. I thought that you might enjoy looking at them. They are part of a postcard swap that I joined. I wanted to create postcards that had a meaning. I kept thinking about how there are many paths that we can choose in our lives. Some paths take us forward. Some take us back. Some take us in loops. Some paths are dark...I have traveled a number of those. Some paths are colorful and sparkling. I do hope my art keeps me on those colorful paths.

The postcards were lots of fun. If you have not had any experience with making postcards, they are a great first project. They are also great to use when you want to try a new technique. Hope you will try some soon.

Denise

2006-09-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Since opening www.TryOurDesigns.com, I have had a chance to interact with lots of people who enjoy felting. I feel like I am getting to know many of them as well as if we had met in person. So, I thought that a blog might be a good way to keep those who are interested in Needle Felting, particularly using machines like the Babylock Embellisher informed about where the website is growing and perhaps a bit about my felting adventures as well. I first became interested in fiber in the early 1990's when my good friend, Pat Boddie, decided to raise a few alpacas in her backyard. Pat was both an artist and an animal lover, so this was a great mix for her. While building her herd on the East Coast and waiting for her husband, Lewis, to retire, she got into doll making, some elementary spinning and lots of other artful endeavors. Pat definitely had both the talent and training to be an artist. I, on the other hand, was a well trained mathematician and computer scientist with no art training. I had learn to sew when I was about 6 years of age on a treadle sewing machine. I had learn to knit, crochet, cross stitch and tat in my teens and twenties. I was quilting mostly in my 30's. And in my early 40's, got interested in fiber when I started making anthropomorphic dolls (human bodies with animal heads) so I could make realistic manes on my lions and giraffes. In 1995, I found that I had a congenital abnormality of my skull/brain, called a Chiari malformation, which had cause a portion of my cerebellum to leave my skull and put pressure on my brain stem. I had suffered from this condition for over 20 years before diagnosis. One surgery later, I was back at work and within a year, I thought I was good as new. But, it turns out that a stressful job can create a great deal of scar tissue and after fighting this condition for 4 years, I found I needed another surgery to remove the scar tissue blockages that had cause my symptoms to return. I was lucky that I could retire on disability and chose to do so in 2000. Since then, I have been exploring the side of my brain that I had ignore for so long. I have taken up crochet again, started machine embroidery and digitizing designs, and quilting. At a recent American Embroidery Conference, I won a Babylock Embellisher. I haven't done much quilting since then. I have been focusing on using the embellisher to make felted and/or textured fabrics and exploring how they can be combined with my love of machine embroidery. I have just started teaching Embellisher classes and hosting Embellisher club meetings at my local Babylock dealer (Margiotta's) and have been having a ball coming up with projects for this group. I will soon be making those projects available to you all on the website. For the next few weeks, I will be adding new roving colors and Hot-Fix Swarovski crystals. I am having a blast with the crystals and felt. I also sell felting needles which I personally cut to use in my Embellisher as well as use by hand. I will also be attending the Babylock Event in Alexandria, VA in mid-October to learn more about the Embellisher. There is more to the story of TryOurDesigns that will be posted in the coming months. So stay tuned for ideas.