The Memory of Trees

The Memory of Trees is a small experiment in needle felting. Wool roving is placed on a base of organza. An Embellisher is a machine that looks very much like a sewing machine, but has no thread and does not sew. Instead, it has a group of barbed needles that are enclosed in a shield that moves up and down. The needles pierce the organza, pushing the wool through to the back. By moving your hands, you can guide the punching process until you get the results that you want. I used organza that had some shimmer to it, in order to get a more lustrous look. On top of the felted background, I used my sewing machine to do a little thread painting using my free motion foot attachment. A tree trunk with branches were sewn to prepare for the hand stitches. The leaves are hand stitched using embroidery threads. I wanted to keep this composition simple and not overwork it. So much texture can over dominate, if you don't know when to stop. I placed the circle on a felt background that I had found at a craft sale, and glued down a key that says "Memory." This can be seen on Off The Wall Fridays Right Click on Image and Open in New Window for a close up view.

The Lambikin

The Lambikin: Needlefelt Art. This 8 X 10 feltart piece is based on the fable "The Lambikin," from India. This childrens tale relates the story of a trickster lamb, who tells his preditors to wait until he returns from grandma's house before they eat him; for then he will be much fatter. Of course, in the end his lie catches up with him, and he makes a tasty meal. Although this looks like child's play, it is probably one of the most labor intensive pieces I have done. Dyed wool roving can be bought at a yarn shop or you can dye the wool yourself. I take the dyed roving, which looks like hair after it is carded, and place it on sheets of sheer fabric. I use my Embellisher to needle punch the roving into the fabric. The Embellisher looks like a sewing machine, but it has 5 long, barbed needles that felt the roving as you carefully run it through. I take these sheets of different colors and cut out my shapes. I use a hand held needle felting tool to attach the pieces to my base fabric. I formed the sheep using the hand tool. The tree is constructed from collaged fabric and yarns. The collaged elements are snipped from hand dyed lace. Free motion quilting is done overall with rayon threads. Beads are added as a finishing embellishment. The bird is a metal charm and the butterfly is cut from fabric and beaded, and then attached. Many hours have gone into this, but it think it is quite charming. This piece was accepted into the Waverly House Gallery exhibit called "Journeys."