Video filming!

I was so fortunate to be invited to do a video for Annie's, a company based in Berne, IN that has catalogs with supplies for quilting, sewing, crochet, knitting, beading, crafts, and all sorts of fun pastimes! I had met VIP Michele Fortune at Houston Quilt Market in 2013 and she had seen some of my fiber art, I think my Nuno-felted Mosaic Shawl got her attention, and then I showed her some of my other work. After corresponding back and forth with their wonderful video producer Laura Scott, they invited me to do a video on Learning to Wet-felt Fanciful Flowers. I happily agreed, and began planning my colorways, designs, samples, and step-outs. It was so much fun...and also a lot of work! I wrote up an outline for my class, then the script with all the steps for each segment, and then practiced. The video teaches how to make lay out the fibers, make pre-felt, add texture and dimension, how to wet-felt wool beads to make the flower centers or jewelry, how to make the curly tendrils to accent the flowers, wet-felting a spiral leaf bracelet, and also some fun leafy napkin rings. I had taught all these classes for years, but it is very different doing it in front of a camera instead of a class! Still it was fun, I taped my script on my cell phone so I could listen to it when I was driving, felting, cooking, etc. (My hubby's idea, a good one!)

Finally after weeks of preparation it was time to fly to Berne, IN to film the video! I was so excited, I do travel quite a bit, but hadn't flown in a long time, so that was fun. And I had never been to IN, what beautiful country! Lots of cornfields, and the lakes were gorgeous. Once the plane landed, I rented a car and set about driving to Berne. I had no idea what to expect, the company is pretty big, but not the town! When I drove in, the first thing I noticed was a quaint horse and buggy going up the street, and being a country girl who grew up near a horse stable, I thought, oh how neat, they give carriage rides here in this historic town. Then I noticed another...and then another. I soon realized this was a Mennonite town, there were horses and buggies everywhere, and beautiful architecture. The town was settled years ago by a group of Mennonites from Switzerland, and there are lots of shops, restaurants and buildings in downtown Berne that have that Swiss chalet look, it is absolutely charming. The people there were so nice too. I met Laura for dinner, then we drove to the studio in the park so I could set up for filming the next day. I wish I'd had my camera handy, I was in shock to see about 20 horses and buggies in the park as their owners visited. As I arrived on a Sunday afternoon, the families all gather together in the park to socialize, as they don't use electricity and don't work on Sunday. At any rate, I got everything all set up for my shoot, then checked into my hotel, also owned by the company and was warmly welcomed by the hostess to my suite with a cozy couch complete with afghan and basket of goodies to munch on.

The next morning came early with make-up at 7:30 a.m. Then the filming: I was nervous at first, which is apparent in my free preview, the first segment they shot. (Now I understand they're shooting that last, thank you I offered that tip!) But the staff was great, Laura was just super nice and Scott the director, a Texas boy was just the best. Once we got going on the class it was easier, and by the next day I had things down pretty well. Despite the fact they wouldn't let us use "Whip it" as part of my background music lol.

Once we finished filming (a half-day early, yay!) I had lunch with some of the staff and then got the grand tour of the company, which was incredible! I love seeing how big companies work, all the different departments for ordering yarn, fibers, fabric, patterns, books, magazines, everything you can think of. I met some of the magazine staff and discovered I'd worked with one of them on a couple of magazine projects years ago. Then I had some free time in the afternoon, so I did a little shopping, there was a wonderful deli/antique shop there with all sorts of treasures, and also a great little quilt shop, as well as some nice gift shops. Couldn't do too much damage, though, as I had to fit everything in my suitcase for my flight home the next day. Here's a pic of the view from my hotel:

...and other photos from the town.

Soon it was time to head back to the airport, I stopped by one more store on my way out of town, Hilty's Drygoods, no electricity but some neat supplies for cooking, sewing and gardening, I found an Amish cookbook for my sis and some vintage hankies for Mom. After a magical trip, it was time to return home. And yes, after all that work, I'm ready to do it again!

Double-layer Flower Class

We had the most wonderful class at Tranqwool Knitting Provisions in Spencer last summer making these extraordinary double-layer felted flowers, these girls really raised the bar with their creations! Beginning with hand-dyed merino wool fibers, silk, and a smidge of Angelina for a bit of bling, they rubbed, rocked and rolled their fibers into submission to form these beautiful dimensional flowers with curly tendril centers. I love what some of the girls did with the little wool spots, they really added a special touch!

Needle-felt Sweater Purse Class

Well it's only been a bazillion years since my last post, time flies when you're having fun! Going to do my best to catch up a bit as I have lots of new stuff to post and getting ready to begin a very busy spring show season. But I do have lots of fun photos to share of my awesome students' work, here's some pics from a class we had at Tranqwool Knitting Provisions in Spencer last summer, look at the cute things these gals did with their felted wool sweaters! Each student began with a wool sweater and my Needle-felt Sweater Purse pattern, then chose their own embellishments from a table piled with goodies such as hand-dyed merino wool fibers, curly locks, lace, metallic mesh, silk threads, hand-dyed silk velvet and the like. The girls each put their own spin on my basic design, needle-felting their creative visions into the wool to form the front of the purse, to be assembled and finished later. Here are some photos of their beautiful work, I think they all had fun!

The last purple one is my model from the pattern so you can see what the finished one looks like...of course, every purse turns out different, as each sweater is different! I think that's part of what makes it so much fun, no two are ever the same.

Original Sewing & Quilt Expo - Raleigh

Last weekend I vended and taught at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Raleigh, what a great show that was! I was lucky enough to share a room with my friend Alby right across the street from the convention center and so I got to visit with her in the evenings, which was really nice. The hotel was so close, I just parked my van after unloading and never had to move it again until the end of the show, we could walk to the show every day and also to a number of good places to eat. Our favorite restaurant was "The Big Easy", offering up authentic Cajun food and a Bananas Foster dessert that was to die for. The show itself was wonderful with lots of great vendors and classes. I taught 2 classes, my "Fascinator Fun" class and my Spiral Leaf Bracelet felting class. I think everyone had a good time, I know I did! I also got to visit with lots of friends and folks I met at last year's expo, and made some great new friends too. Last year I had met a very talented fiber artist from the area, Jude, and she and her sister stopped by my booth and visited on Thursday, wow Jude is doing some incredible fiber art these days! So proud of her and all of my students too, here's some pics from the show.

 Beautiful silk kimono on display.

 Jude and I, a mega-talented fiber artist! Don't you think we could be sisters with our hair?

 Sharon was invaluable helping me Saturday in the booth while I had my class, what a life-saver!

Love this quilted car by the Sanford guild made of UFO blocks..yes, it's a real car.

Charlotte Needle-felt Purse Class

Not long ago I had the good fortune to share my skills with a small group in Charlotte with my Needle-felt Sweater Purse class. I brought a small collection of sweaters for them to choose from; I'd already felted these 100% wool sweaters by washing in hot water, rinsing in cold water, and throwing in the dryer, I did this twice to really felt them for the extra body. Then I set up my "embellishment buffet" in their wonderful classroom. I brought lots of hand-dyed goodies: merino fibers, curly locks, corriedale fibers, silk velvet. And there were other textiles to add interest, tapestries and jacquards to cut leaves from, textured yarns, and of course metallic mesh and Angelina fibers to add the bling. The girls each chose a sweater and their own embellishments and went to town needle-felting. Although each used my pattern as a guide, they all put their own spin on it, and each purse turned out its own unique work of art! A good time was had by all, and they almost finished their purses too, here's a few photos from the class. (Lol I know one is upside-down, can't figure out how to fix it with Windows 8, sorry!)

NC Quilt Symposium, Fayetteville

The Fayetteville quilt guild hosted this year's quilt symposium, and what a grand time we had! They were gracious enough to open up another room for vendors right over the cafeteria, and we had such a nice group up there. Lucky me - I was set up beside Fiber on a Whim and got to chat during our down time and also shop in their fun booth. One of my favorite parts of local shows is reconnecting with old friends, and I saw lots of folks I knew at this one and enjoyed catching up on the news. Also made some great new friends too! Here's a photo of me and Karen with her adorable fascinator from my "Fascinator Fun" pattern.

And this is a lovely lady from the host guild whom I met while I was there, Bonnie is super-talented and was so sweet and such a help to us vendors!  I hope to return to Fayetteville one of these days, I really enjoyed my visit with this wonderful guild.

Gastonia Flower Class

I met this lovely group of creative souls about a year ago when I did a program for the Gastonia Quilter's Guild, and was fortunate enough to go back recently and teach a "Wild Wooly Flower" workshop with them in Gastonia. I was so impressed with them, as many had never felted before, and they just picked right up on what to do. Their flowers turned out gorgeous, each one different and beautiful on its own. Some of them were big luscious works of art, which I always love. And we had a couple that were small dainty creations, inspiring me to come home and see how "small" I could go with my own felted posies! We even had 2 men in the class with their wives, and they did such a great job. I really enjoyed teaching and also visiting with these wonderful, friendly folks; here are some photos of their beautiful work.