Quick Workshop update..

I totally forgot to post about this on here (I remembered on Facebook)!  On the 17th February I went along to Oak House in West Bromwich.. a beautiful Tudor House where I worked for 10 years until turning full time felter, and have been in love with since I was 8!  They were having a fun day to celebrate some exciting developments on site, and had asked me to come along and create a piece of felt to commemorate the event.  It was to be a communal felt, mostly made from a local mule fleece that I'd spent days cleaning and carding, supplemented by other domestic wool; natural Jacobs and dyed Shetland.

The day went well.. there was a steady flow of interested people watching, talking and lending a hand when they wanted.  I was very happy when it came time to start rolling to find that I had 8 eager little helpers and a couple of mom's too.. many hands really do make light work!

The thing that really made me smile is that not one child passed by my table without popping a bubble on the 'oh so tempting' bubble wrap :)

I don't have any photos from the day.. it was just to busy to stop, I didn't even get a drink or bite to eat.  And it wasn't fully felted at the end of the day, so I brought it home for a couple more hours rolling, throwing and pounding.

The finished picture panel..  A Tudor Rose
I added my favourite curly Wensleydale locks around the edge.
Measures 40" x 25" and just under 1cm thick

The mule felted well.. I had actually expected it to be slower.  Maybe it was the extra hands speeding things up.. Whatever, it has formed a strong, thick felt. 

I've sewn small brass curtain rings on the back so they can hang it if they wish, or use it as a table centre.  Not sure where they plan to display it eventually, but it will be there somewhere.. I shall have to go along in the summer and see where it's ended up :)