Portrait of a Cottage

The neighbors next door have been working on improvements to their charming cottage this year.  It's so pleasing to many in the neighborhood who pass by their home.  In general, fresh paint, beautiful doors and windows, landscaping and even general clean up can make such a difference to the first impressions of a neighborhood.  Everyone who passes takes pleasure when someone improves their home.   I love the new look of our neighbors' home.

 I wanted to express my appreciation in a more permanent way, so I thought a felted wool portrait of their home would be a fun way to recognize all their work.  This was a new technique for me, so I improvised as I went along.    I started with a photo on my cell phone, which I enlarged to my desired size.  Using Photoshop I created a second layer and traced the principal lines of the home that I wanted to repeat.  I also printed out the photo on copy paper and traced a few of the curves for a more accurate black and white sketch than I could achieve with my amateur photoshop skills.  I made a couple of copies of the sketch and that became my pattern.

I appliqued the wool to the backing wool fabric.  Color selection, and shading helped begin to create dimension.  Due to the size of my project, I did have to make edit decisions regarding which details I wanted to repeat because they expressed the essence of the home, and which could be omitted.



I used # 5 pearl cotton to begin embellishments.  I used an assortment of stitches, to suggest the tile roof texture, the bricks on the fireplace, the window frames, and the stained glass in the front window.

The final shrubs are one of my favorite parts.  

Here's a closeup  and the original inspiration.

Modern Bird Pins

Hand dyed wool is marvelous for the pop of color it offers.  These modern birds with pins on the back showcase the wool and a variety of embroidery stitches.  Each one is unique.

The shape is a modern take on a scandinavian bird motif.  The color is hand appliqued on top of black felted wool.  Running stitch, stem stitch, french knots and an open buttonhole stitch fill the body with bold black lines.

Taking these to Mighty Tieton Craft and Antiques Holiday Bazaar next weekend.  Still lots to do before then.

Stick Tree in wool

Prepping for the Mighty Tieton Craft and Antiques Bazaar December 6 and 7.  I'm taking some felt applique pillows.  This is a new technique using strips of hand dyed wool - great for those little scraps I couldn't quite toss out.  Now they're featured in this cozy pillow.


It starts with a few strips pinned in place, and woven together for form a tree.  Using a variety of threads, each strip is hand appliqued down - over and under the other strips.  Pins keep the strips straight while stitching.

And then a red bird topped it off.

Embellished Felted wool leaves

Inspired by Sue Spargo's book Creative Stitching,  I have yet to tire of stitching embellished leaves.  No two are alike.  Texture.  Color.  Mixing cottons and wool felts.  Some repurposed and some hand dyed.  These keychains go with me to The Mighty Tieton Holiday Crafts and Antiques show December 6 and 7 in Tieton WA. 

Mighty Tieton Holiday Crafts Bazaar 

Our workshop is hopping with fabulous wooly felted balls, glorious garland, tiny acorns, lavender handwarmers and embellished felted wool necessitites.   

Perfect over--the-shoulder wallet

My purse of choice is a small wallet that hangs over my shoulder and holds a bit of cash, a few plastic cards and the essential debit card and driver's license. I have one in rugged outdoor-gear fabric I picked up years ago from REI but it's well worn and my other essential, the smartphone,  just won't fit inside the pocket.

There are many small purse and pouch patterns to consider, but I picked up this Little Wallet pattern by Valerie Wells awhile ago and gave it a run last week.









For my first spin through the pattern, I used cotton and stayed within the lines following the simple instructions closely.  The result was a really cute small wallet with three small stacked rows of inner pockets.

Nothing that would fit an iPhone or over-the-shoulder strap though.  The next adaptation enlarged 125%, with strap, and using felted wool was already under development by the time the first pearl snap was in place.

And here it is…5 inches at the opening and 6 inches at the bottom, swingy across the body shoulder strap, and big enough even for the iPhone 6!  Now this is a 50th birthday gift for a good friend.  But the next one's mine!

 I used an over dyed felted blue wool with a check for the exterior and a repurposed grey wool for the bottom pocket.  I chose a recently purchased cotton print bought on impulse for the lining, and grey cotton solid inner pockets to keep the bulk at the seams manageable, and to ensure I could insert the snap pieces through all the layers.

#5 pearl cotton embroider embellishment was irresistible for the finish.  But I can see future efforts using cutwork and wool appliqué.

     Juicy berry tones of hand dyed felted wool.