Winona Queen

Happy Christmas

2009-12-25T15:02:00.000Z

Wishing you a Happy Christmas where ever you may be.

Doud's Orchard

2009-11-02T14:15:00.006Z

The Roann Covered bridge. It was a bit shaky. The field trip, not the bridge. Kole came home from school on Tuesday with a 102 degree temp. We were planning on traveling to Chicago the next morning for Fall break. Nope! Poor guy, but within 24 hours, the fever was gone an the son was ravenous. Ok, we'll go on a short trip to the orchard and pick pumpkins too.

I'd been to Doud's orchard the previous week with my friend Calla. She's an amazing cook and is very self sustaining when it comes to seasonal food, so we bought apples. I bought 1 small bag of beautiful Honey Crisp apples. They're similar to the Asian Pears. Juicy, crisp, sweet and a little grainy like pears are. Yum! Calla bought bags for sauce, pies, deserts and all sorts of things. I had the bug.

Just because it's so beautiful. Here is one of the trees across the lane from our apartment.

This is our haul. U-Pick pumpkins were 3 for $10. Good deal, plus I had to have my white pumpkin. They're like aliens, very cool and the insides are pale green. With every $12 you spend you get 1/2 a Peck of apples free. Ok, I can't pass up free food and still having most of the delicious apples at home from 4 days ago, I think I may be crazy.

This is inside. They have dozens of varieties that they grow and sort on the premises. Plus little knives around that you can taste the apples before buying. I also bought beautiful apple blossom honey that is produced there as well.

Here are some of the aliens. I bought the one in the center. It's very pretty. I wonder how it will taste when I roast it tomorrow?? We did end up going to Chicago later that day.

Halloween

2009-11-01T19:15:00.007Z

Happy Halloween

We all had a great time, although we weren't in Ireland this year. We usually congregate at the Barry's for an evening of fabulous food, rummaging through their neighborhood for candy and very excited children. We missed them, but had a great time with the Goldsmith's.

2 Gangsters, 1 Grim Reaper, 1 lady bug, 1 kangaroo, 1 gypsy, 1 mad scientist and me as Raggedy Anne. I didn't have the equipment or time to make my own costume, so I went to my mom's and borrowed hers. Stripy socks, bloomer and the whole deal. I love to dress up and the kids love when I make their costumes, so I did theirs.

We had great weather. A little cold, but it is October! Trick or Treat time is from 5:30-7:30. The police and Fire Dept were out with treats and patrolling the streets. I think there is plenty of candy to be had in 2 hours and you don't get kids at the door late into the night.

I did find it interesting that the police dept was couxing children over to their cars with bags of candy. So what was all the about "Not Talking to Strangers??" I love a small town!

Autumn

2009-10-22T01:24:00.005+01:00

It my favorite time of year. The air is cool and the leave are turning. The smell of burning leaves and Halloween is in the air. The first autumn Craft show is starting this weekend.

Some friends from church have an annual hayride. We were invited this year since we're in town. Roy was out of town, so the kids and I took the occasion to go and hang out in the country.

Mostly because I wasn't sure where I was going, we arrived early. Yes, I did know there would be skeet shooting, no, I wasn't planning on participating. But.... When in Rome.... Let the boy try. His father would be proud. Neil was a very good teacher with the older boys. Koleman loved it and decided that hunting was in his future. After asking him what he was planning on doing with the kill, he gave me a blank look. I guess he didn't realize that there might be actual killing involved in hunting. Maybe the shooting range is more to his liking.

I also had a go after several declines. I have nothing against guns in the proper environment, but have never actually held or shot one. 2 shots were enough for me. LOUD!!! Even with the head phones on. Enough!!

October 10th

2009-10-11T20:54:00.000+01:00

My Older Sister Laurie got married this weekend. She married a wonderful man and their very happy. So are we. They've known one another for many years and have spent the last year of so just spending time together and falling in love. They're amazing parents to their 5 grown children and are wonderful examples to them. All the best.

This is my family. My younger sister Jenny is on the left, then mom (3 weeks after knee replacement surgery, Lauren (Laurie's youngest) Jordan kneeling (Laurie's oldest), Laurie, Me and her dearest friend Dena from California.

It was very cold (32 degrees), but sunny. It had rained for the previous few days, so an outdoor wedding on the lake was not certain. It was lovely and Laurie wasn't cold. Adrenalin!

Roy (DH) performed the ceremony for them. It was sweet of them to ask. Roy and Jim have been friends for some time, so he was thrilled.

The next day she ran the Chicago marathon. 26.2 miles! Her first one! She said that she was registered and paid for before the engagement came. You can't train for that and not do it. They're off to Hawaii next week. We all went up to watch and cheer. No, I was not inspired to try it myself. I know my limitations and it's 26.1 to many miles for me. Yes, she did make a veil for her running hat. Easy way to keep track of her amongst 40,000 runners. It was fun.

Rivers and Tides

2009-05-06T13:55:00.003+01:00

Thought this was really cool. There is a Sculpture in Context Exhibit going on at the Botanical Gardens in September. It's brilliant.

In Honor of Spring

2009-05-03T10:33:00.003+01:00

Felt Snails are the safest type. He was fun. I did him at the zoo demo a couple of weeks ago.
Another finger puppet to keep the mice company.

A close-up of the shell. I've also made a ring using the same process. He doesn't like to share!

IFA

2009-03-26T00:01:00.000Z

Well, I'm off to Loch Lomond Scotland for the International Feltmakers Association annual AGM. 4 days of workshops, socializing and seeing the wonder of felt. I'm scheduled for 3 workshops: Art Therapy, Printing on Felt and Shibori (which is meticulous tying, then over dying)
Heading off with 12 ladies from Feltmakers Ireland tomorrow at some wee hour of the morning. Should be great!!

Annette Quentin-Stoll

2009-03-25T09:38:00.005Z

Finally a post.

Feltmakers Ireland has just hosted a marvelous German felt maker. We invited her to come and give 2 two-day work shops. She has recently published an amazing book called The Felted Play. It's a composition of early work from Textile Design school and recent work. Soft toys, play mats for babies, puppets and inverted pleating provide exceptional texture and interest.

She makes unbelievably smooth felt. Very thin and light weight. Amazingly cute and child like. Hidden pockets and folding surprises. It was really a pleasure to learn from her.

This it the mouse finger puppet that I made after coming home from helping all day on Thursday. Plus another brown mouse and of course DD needed to make a pink one with purple ears and tail. The design is very simple, yet very effective. As you can tell, I was impressed!

This is the 1st group with their mats that were made the first day, as well as all the items that were made the second day.

Workshop 2 was animals. We did a small mat the first morning to learn how to insert dimensional pockets, spikes and tubes. This is my camellion. He turned out well. It was very difficult because of it's size. Making and inserting the tail and legs was hard as well. Annette does most of her felting dry in the beginning which makes it tricky to work with initially. I got the eyes and 3 legs done by the end of the first day and took the rest home. I worked until 10:00pm and finally got the body laid out, eyes and legs attached and was ready to do the tail the next morning. I would have never finished if I hadn't done a bit of homework.

This the the group shot of the second workshop. There were 2 seahorses, a mythical animal, spotted chicken, dragon, yak, snail, Very Hungry Caterpillar, elephant, cat and a spotty insect. Everyone had a great time and I'm very happy to have taken the workshop from a talented Felt Maker. Thanks Annette and Sonja!!

Valentine's Day or Keebler Factory?

2009-02-14T10:56:00.009Z

We love baking at our house. Allergies and waistlines prevent us from doing more, but when holidays come... We must bake.
Avery wanted to make up cookies for Valentines Day for her class mates. Might as well do both classes while we're at it. So 2 batches later we have dozens of cookies. DD thought we might ice and decorated each one.
This was Wednesday night. Thursday schedule was jammed with Mom's craft morning at school, Feltmaking with 2nd Class in the afternoon and Family Fun Night to follow. Hardly had time to make dinner and swallow it.

So when time it short, production mode commences. Put the children to work. Decorated 60+ cookies in one shot. 3 colours of icing, bags and tips and off we go.

I think they turned out well and the children seemed to enjoy them. Have a great day whatever you're doing.

Mehmet Girgic - Felt Rug Workshop

2009-01-19T11:46:00.012Z

I've just completed a three day workshop with Mehmet Girgic. Nicola Brown is hosting him for 2 workshops this month. He's a fantastic rug maker from Turkey. Very calm, doesn't lecture, gives as much help as people want. He started by teaching us the Osman method, which starts with making ropes and outlining your design. Then you fill in each section with colour. The same colour choices were given to everyone and I was amazed at the style differences that came out of it. Myself and 9 others took the course.

This is the basic rug base that everyone started out with. You could make them smaller if you wanted by cutting them. It is really a pre-felt of cheesecloth and a light layer of wool. These were provided for us, but it would be interesting to try and make them.

Here is a bit of the outlining. Using tops, you pull off a sliver and roll in on your leg to make a yarn type of material.

Filling in is done by wetting the wool with thick olive oil soap/water and stretching it into the outlined form. It can be difficult in the pointed areas.

This is how far I got by the end of the 1st day. It takes a lot of time to do this.

The final finishing of the corners before laying it out to be rolled.

Huge mats were brought in from Turkey to roll the rugs on. We rolled 4-5 at a time.

One they were rolled up, we rolled them in one direction to tighten the mat down so nothing would shift in the design work. The mat was lifted, turned and rolled to the other end for about 10 minutes.

We then tried to stay behind and on top of the roll. Kicking and stamping for about an hour. Always turning and rolling in the same direction. It makes smooth, dense felt this way. This is Elizabeth Bonnar and Mehmet working on the rugs.

The final rolling with 4 rugs together. It's a lot of work, but well worth it.

Here are all the rugs that were done before we left. Nicola and I were taking pictures. Check out Feltmakers Ireland and Clasheen for more photos and videos on the course.

New Glasses

2009-01-15T09:12:00.003Z

I got new glasses. I find it odd that you have to get used to glasses that are measured for your eyes. Like shoes you have to break in.. " Wear them a week or two and you'll adjust" So I did. I'm sure my sinus headaches came from them. Took them back... "Sorry, we made them too strong" "We'll lower the script" so they did. First two days, I'm back with the headache, but not as much and last night I discovered that my head wasn't hurting at all, except when I went to look for a lost lipstick under the cabinet. Thought my brains were going to pop out from the eye sockets. Won't do that again. That's what kids are for, Right??

Anyway, I like them a lot and think everyone needs more than one pair of glasses. You don't wear the same shirt everyday, so why do it with this. As soon as the "newness" wears off, I'll take the green ones in for an update.

I'm off to County Carlow for a felt rug making workshop for a couple of days. Laundry first.

Off to London

2008-12-03T20:12:00.003Z

Well, I'm off to London tomorrow. Visiting a friend and talking to her sewing club about selling their wears. Funny, I've sold a lot, but not through Etsy. I've learned a great deal in my years with the Feltmakers, so hopefully I'll be able to pass on some information that they can use.

Signs

2008-11-29T14:38:00.004Z

Our first signs that winter is on it's way.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T20:21:00.002Z

Hope everyone has a great day!

Craft Show

2008-11-24T11:04:00.009Z

Tribal Nuno Scarf.

For the past month or so, I've been getting ready for a craft show at the kids school. It's on Sunday the 30th. This week is photographing and pricing things.

SOLD
This scarf is wool/silk with silk strands running in a trellis pattern across the front. I dyed the fibre and silk.

SOLD
Silk ponge with a window pane of wool/silk. Whisper thin.

Mad Retro plaid print silk from the 60's found in a vintage fabric shop in NY years ago. It's a large wrap with orange wool panels to create a nuno felt effect.

SOLD
Hand dyed silk ponge, wool and silk scarf in rust, plum and sand.

Aqua - SOLD
Floral Broaches.

SOLD
Hand dyed wool/silk fibre with silk crepe strips are made into a sheer cobweb scarf.

More fibre that I dyed with a blossom edge.

Bangles galore!

Aqua/Brown - SOLD

Pink/Brown - SOLD

Pink/Green - SOLD
Now the key is selling them! Should be fun and they're really lovely

Halloween Felt

2008-10-31T13:34:00.008Z

I have done a bit of felt over the last few weeks. These are among the seasonal.
Giant Witch hat that was worn last night! Looks really good on.

Nuno Ghost. Layer of muslin and wool over plastic template. Worked on these two at the Zoo demonstration in early October. Kids loved them.

Little pumpkin never got filled with treats, but will also never go bad.
Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Going, Going, Gone

2008-10-29T18:12:00.003Z

What a suprise! Before delivery to the Knitting and Stitching Show booth that they were intended for, I had sold 6 out of 11 of the dyed fibre. Need to dye some more before Saturday!

Fibre to Dye For

2008-10-27T16:44:00.003Z

Brown Blue Faced Leicester and Silk Mix overdyed with acid dyes.

White and Brown Blue Faced Leicester fibre

More of the white Blue Faced Leicester. Gorgeous fibre to spin and felt with.

Ready for the annual Knitting and Stitching Show this weekend in Dublin.

Halloween at School

2008-10-26T12:57:00.004Z

It's that time of year again. Costumes R' Us.
Time for the costume making to overtake the kitchen table. Several sewing machines, fabric, paint and total mayhem.

This year, after stories of long lost Halloween's of my childhood, the milk carton costume took hold of my son. So, here he is. Mad Cow Milk.

He was well loved by all the children in the yard and became the human bowling pin as the younger children trying to knock him over. No damage, but he was very disappointed that kids would try and ruin his costume after so much hard work. No noticeable damage thankfully as we still have another day to conquer before the recycling bin swallows it up.
Recyclable costume. Got to love that!

Avery decided to be the Japanese Geisha. After a redo of an adult bathrobe and a slim skirt, she was ready. There was no interest in having any makeup on, but somehow that morning I managed to convince her that it would look great and not itch.
Have to say, Utube has great videos of how to do Geisha hair and makeup.

We're all set for later this week.

Tag

2008-10-05T19:13:00.006+01:00

Not the normal blog tags (thankfully) but...

These little lovelies. I love Moo.com Love it, love it. Great packaging and great products.

Extra cute holder for business cards. Coupons inside for my next order!

Great way to advertise or use as hang tags on crafts.

And you can upload up to 100 personal photos in your box of 100 cards. Wow! Now I know they've been around for a while, but I'm just getting around to ordering and getting them. Also took me several days to pick them up from the post office. I think our mail carrier waits until I leave before delivering packages. I'm sure I've seen him hiding out in the neighbors bushes just waiting! Maybe it me he doesn't like. Frightening woman in the red bath robe, hair that looks like tumbleweeds coming to the door. Yikes! Can't say I blame him, I guess!

Oh yeah, I got labels as well. Just cut and stitch. Love them too! They're from GB Name Tapes Ltd. in the UK.

Fruity Pebbles

2008-09-30T09:21:00.003+01:00

A total US breakfast cereal. Sugar coated lumps of processed flour, dyed with technicolor foodstuffs. Yum! Tied into the Flinstone's, Fred and Barnie gobbled it down by the barrel full. Every kid (most) loved it's sugary goodness, so to speak.

Hand dyed boucle that I picked up last time we were in the US. Really pretty. Only took 100 grams to make a good size shawl. Stocking stitch with an increase on both side of the right side rows. Garter stitch on the outside 3 stitches. US size 15 needles. Picot edge to finish it off.

I could say it was a quick knit, but I've been working on it for several months. Pick it up, knit a couple rows, put it away for a few weeks, pick it up again. Felt making, that's my excuse!

Before and After

2008-09-26T18:26:00.007+01:00

Summer 07' we were in the states on holiday. We picked up a lot of stuff along the way that are scarce or really expensive in Ireland. Joann Fabrics has an amazing sale table. Bolts of silk crepe for $4.00 a yard. So what do you do? Buy it all!! Came home with Teal, Aqua, Purple, Hot Pink and the lovely Beige. Feltmakers always need silk for Nuno felt.

Kidding on the Beige. It reminds me of my first real pantyhose that I got when I was in Jr. High School. I was a real grown up. Suntan pantyhose. Ok, Nobody has a suntan that colour. But, in the case of silk, you can dye it!

Broke out the Food colouring. Cochineal, drop of Red and a bit of Blue. It's actually a deeper shade than the photo, but it's really pretty. I may overdye it again in blue. The Wensleydale roving or top felted in beautifully and really crinkles up. I didn't shrink in the length, so it about 2 yards long. Looking forward to a little cooler weather to wear it around my neck.

To Market, To Market

2008-09-25T09:37:00.008+01:00

Not to my market (Etsy), but to Diane. She's teaching a drop Spinning class in October in Galway for the Knitters Retreat. 50 grams each of Blue Faced Leicester fibre. This is gorgeous to spin and silky to felt. Anyway, off it went yesterday to 16 lucky spinners. Have fun.

New Love

2008-09-18T20:56:00.003+01:00

I find I'm really partial to certain colours. I can't remember ever liking pastels except when I lived in California and had a perpetual tan. Haven't had that for... Ok, more than I can remember.

Early in the summer, I found a pair of Plum sudo Burky type shoe. Very feminine with thin mauve elastic straps that cross over the top of the shoe. Cute!! High on the Squeal factor! Anyway, need something to wear with it. Got some fabric and made a jacket, shirt and skirt of a cool funky cotton/Lycra print. Again, not drawn to mauve, country pink, yuck!!

Yeah, well now I have a small wardrobe of mauve, dusty, faded type of colour mauve. Of course you need a hat for weddings, so I got out the white merino/silk fibre and the (what was I thinking 4 years ago) silk package of dusty mauves, grays, blues and made a hat.

Love the hat. Have worn it many times. Have had 2 woman offer to buy it off my head. Hate to see the hair underneath it! No, I really love my hat. And bracelet. And necklace. Oh well, you need accessories to go with shoes! Right?