The February Phoebe meeting was much more than a meeting! It was more like a play day or extended enrichment session focused on needle felting. Colleen, Geri, and other members experienced in needle felting brought a huge number of tools and materials—such as foam, fabric, needles, and many bins and bags of wool roving. We also had a potluck luncheon that was brimming with finger foods, savory entrees, sweets, and a special birthday cake baked by Anne for Marcella and Betts. Happy Birthday, ladies!
Calendar
March 9 Meeting, (Saturday), 11:30 A.M. at the Georgian Manor Community Center at 1419 Buckingham Way, Hayward. Please park in "guest parking" only. Thank you, Harlene, for reserving this venue for us. We hope to meet there in April, if possible. Drop-in social get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. For enrichment, Anne will be leading us in assembling Deb Shitil's unique and whimsical beaded cloth pins.
*Check your emails from Jennifer and Anne for details and list of materials, patterns and tools you will need.
Also, please bring your felting projects to share with us.
April 13 Meeting, (Saturday), Drop-in social get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Check the newsletter and Phoebe emails for confirmation of place, date and time. Business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Sharon will be presenting the enrichment session.
Enrichment
Felted items are created by using felting needles of various sizes to push wool fibers into a fabric, one strand at a time. It is very repetitious and time consuming. Only a very high quality of wool yarn, called roving, should be used.
Colleen began the enrichment session by showing us some of the many types of items that can be made by felting. Above is a handbag.
Here are two felted hats.
And she felted purple wool into a piece of silk to make this large scarf.
The above project was made by felting a huge amount of wool into a large piece of cloth and also making another small hat.
Once, quite a few years ago, the Phoebes invited world renowned sculptress Lisa Lichtenfels (who lives in New England) to conduct a figurative cloth sculpture class here in the Bay Area. Google her name to see her work, including many of her famous life-size figures. She taught us how to needle sculpt a small doll made from nylons and stuffing. This is the doll Colleen made, and then used felted roving to add her hair.
The Phoebes gathered up the needed materials, which included a solid work surface and a piece of foam, found a comfortable spot, and got right to work.
A Sample of March's Enrichment Project
The March enrichment session will be led by Anne. We will be making some of Deb Shitil's famous tiny pins. Deb made them for years and they were a big success at the many craft shows she participated in. Now that she has moved on to other media, she gave the Phoebes permission to use her patterns and instructions to create our own interpretations.
Samples of April's Enrichment Project
In April, Sharon and her friend Linda will be leading enrichment and will demonstrate how to make a decorated envelope using a file folder. It could be used for storage of photos or other types of memorabilia. Linda created the one above, and Sharon, the ones below.
Show and Tell
Barbara used die cut pieces to construct this adorable little paper armoire.
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And she continues to work on her "book of dresses." This is the third dress she has completed so far. Each set of pages feature a different dress design and accessories and trims, with French papers she collected on her trips to France as a background.
Geri used her paper die cut pieces to assemble these paper shoes, beautifully adorned with ribbons and flowers.
Jennifer die cut many paper hearts, which she assembled into a heart shaped book. Perfect for Valentines Day!
