Sizzix Creations

Here are some things I have made using felted wool cut from my Sizzix BigKick. Most of these were made during the winter and spring. Now I am not making many things with wool, I have switched over to cotton for the hot months.

Wool Bunny Pins

Here are some more bunny pins. I just love how these are coming out with the different wools. The brown fabric in the photo on the right got very fuzzy and heathery after I felted it in the washer and dryer. I also found some nice springy scrapbook papers at Michael's (and I used my 50 percent off coupon.)

If you go to the Michael's website and register they will send you the ads and weekly coupons via email-- so there is no reason to rush out on Sunday looking for a paper. Also, if you live or work near a Michael's you can print many coupons and use one per day if you like. For fun, I sometimes print extra and pass them out in the store.

More Birds in Trees

A new project that I am working on features 2 blue birds facing each other on the branch of a tree. Between them they are holding a large flower. I got the idea as I was planning my last bird project. I thought a pair of lovebirds holding a heart would be nice, but Valentine's Day is long over. Then I imagined a pair of real birds courting in the spring, preparing to nest. Perhaps one would present his mate with a fresh spring blossom. Anyway, this is the result.

This time the tree is in leaf, so that the flower could stand out in the composition. As always, the pieces are cut from felted wool and hand stitched. There was some hand dyeing involved-- the background fabric and parts of the flower were all dyed in my kitchen.

The backing of this project is a darker teal colored wool and it has been blanket stitched around the edges to finish it.

Here is a detail photo of the birds with the flower. I used perle cotton to embroider the beaks and a French knot for each eye. I get the felt balls from Handbehg on Etsy. I tried making some, but not much luck there.

Valentine Creations

Here are some things I made this year in the Valentine theme:

First I made a bunch of stacked heart lapel pins. They are all reclaimed wool from thrift store sweaters, boiled wool jackets and sport coats. I felted them at home in the washing machine and dryer and I even overdyed some of the tweed wool. I used Cherry and Fruit Punch Kool-aid that time instead of the Wilton dyes.

I cut out the hearts in 3 graduated sizes and sewed them together. Some are stacked in penny rug fashion with blanket stitching. Others feature vintage buttons cut from wool jackets or sweaters. After adding a pin back, I had a basket full of Valentine pins. I sold most of them at school. I wore them on my coat, my hat, my sweaters, etc. and put up two posters in the teacher's workrooms.

I made a penny rug for myself with lots of hearts. The penny rug is not really a rug, it is a decorative mat made with wool. I tea-stained the wool background to make it look older. The hearts are stacked and stitched with perle cotton using a blanket stitch. The edge of this penny rug is finished with blanket stitching. Click on the picture to see more detail.

Here is the penny rug I made for Stacey, my sister. I used a black wool background and a color palette leaning more towards lavendars, purples and pinks. I cut out the letters "LOVE" from a felted sweater and attached them with blanket stitching. The project is finished off with narrow twill binding tape. I almost lost my cool stitching the binding on. At one point I threw it on the floor and resolved to not give it to my sister since it looked "terrible." But them I got ahold of myself and finished it for her.

Hare Leaps Toward Spring!!

Here are 2 pictures of the rabbit project I completed last night. I created the flowers using hand dyed felted wool. I cut out the shapes and stacked them to form flowers in shades of green and yellow. These colors really pop off the black wool background.

Originally I cut the rabbit out of a felted fuzzy pale gray sweater. I just did not like the look of it, so I cut it out again using gray flannel wool from a pair of slacks. That rabbit (in the second picture) looks so much better than the first. I also added a sun made of circles stacked on each other in the penny rug style.

All the elements of the picture are blanket stitched using either persian wool floss or perle cotton floss.

Daffodils Wool Applique Art

Here is a project that I recently completed. It is a wool applique wall hanging made from felted wool and felt balls. The background is felted wool from an old winter coat in a soft cream color. The stems, leaves and grass are made with felted wool from a pair of slacks obtained at a local thrift store. The wool in the daffodil blossoms is hand dyed by me. I used Wilton cake dyes to create several complementary shades of orange and yellow. I cut the pieces and hand-stitched them to look very like real daffodil blooms.

All the elements of the picture are embroidered with the blanket stitch using either persian wool floss or perle cotton floss.

This project was alot of fun to make and has inspired me to do some more similar flower pictures.