Teaching in France!

I was so honored and excited to be invited to teach felting in the south of France last summer! I was hosted by a shop here in the US who takes a group every year, offering various classes, tours, lodging, and delicious gourmet meals prepared daily by a chef there. The trip was amazing! We visited so many wonderful villages around Toulouse and immersed ourself in French history and local culture. Our temporary home there was a renovated hunting lodge for a castle in a nearby village. It was in the country surrounded by beautiful pastures and fields, and we were fortunate enough to arrive when the poppies and roses were in full bloom. We each had our own private room, which the owners had renovated from the original buildings while keeping the integrity of the lodge. My room was in the barn, which was nicer than most homes I've lived in, complete with a salt-water pool behind it and enclosed tennis court. My fiber classes took place outside as we were wet-felting and the early summer weather was perfect! We had 2 big tables to spread out on as well as plenty of water, and we had a great time felting. Here are some of the beautiful things my students created.

 My class samples nestled among the chives in the little herb garden off our kitchen.

 Miniature peas, strawberries, veggies and cute pumpkin!

 More adorable felted fruits and veggies!

Students busy at work embellishing their felted goodies.

Hand-dyed flower appliques were the perfect topper for strawberries and mini-eggplants!

One of the students embellished a fascinator with her gorgeous felted poppy and felted miniatures!

This student was a fantastic felter, she seems very happy with her wet-felted poppy.