Felting with Orikiri Cutouts

My felting group got together recently to learn about orikiri cutouts and incorporating them into

 a felted piece.

I made a flowy one, with bits of wool and a cutout or two, felted onto silk.

And another one that is reversible, with wool on both sides.

Our instructor, Sachiko, lives in Australia, but is originally from Japan. Orikiri is the art of folding and cutting to create shapes. Similar to the more familiar origami (the folding of paper), the base material is first folded, then cut, like the snow flakes we made as kids. Sachiko also incorporates weaving into her pieces.

We first learned the weaving technique on construction paper.

Then used various colors of prefelt to weave in and out, forming an organic, free flowing design.

 We cut out prefelt in various designs

laying them out on a silk base.

Sachiko brought many of her finished pieces to offer us inspiration.

Lots of silk on silk (with wool in-between)

I chose this lovely, whimsical shawl as a jumping off point.

My supplies were ready

 Forming loose circles

 and placing torn and cut pieces of thrift store silk 

 I had my shawl ready to start the felting process.

 Everyone else did intricate weaving and cutouts for their pieces.

I knew I just wouldn't have the patience for this so I did just a few cutouts.

A sample to show us the weaving technique using various colors.

After laying out the design, we got busy rolling to start the felting process.

Our group does eat well at these workshops. We ate the first night at my house (where it poured down rain) and the second evening at Bev's on her deck.

It was a lovely evening and Bev's crape myrtle was in full bloom.

Our view from the deck, overlooking Bev's gardens and fields.

Since the derecho had cancelled our last day of our felt workshop in June and we didn't have a chance to see our finished coats, we brought them to this workshop and had a little shoot.

Both these workshops were three days of felting fun. But my felting days will continue as I'm participating in a 5-day workshop in a couple weeks in Michigan. This is more up my alley....five different teachers, a different project every day. Now to just find time to do more felting at home before I forget everything I've learned!

Barn Raising Sort Of

Houston and Forrest finished the post and rail fence a couple weeks ago. But since pulling wire is super hard to pull tightly, I hired the rest of the fencing out to a local contractor. I've know Ron Magaha for decades. His daughter and our oldest son went to school together 30 years ago. He does great work. He's recently done a total renovation on a neighbor's place, two houses up and a kitchen redo on my closest neighbor's place. 

 Three men showed up with big tractors and attachments and got right to work, cleaning up the pasture, cutting down dead trees and even mowed the field. The put in posts, put up the wire and gates and made the field an enclosed area for my sheep again. But while they were there, with all that equipment, I thought that with the new fence looking so spiffy, the barn looked mighty shabby. 

 So out comes the big cherry picker and off comes all the old wood. I'm saving all the wood (nice old hardwood with chippy white paint on one side) to cut into uniform lengths and sell. I'll use some for table tops or shelving or whatever else Krista and I can come up. (I scored some seriously large table legs today for free so maybe the old barn door will become a farm table). 

But I hadn't realized that when the walls come off, EVERYTHING inside is exposed to the public. Yikes! Old sleds, junk, shutters, windows, doors, pipe, wood, etc. I asked them if I could throw some stuff down before they put up the wood. I think they viewed me as a bit of a crazy woman, up there in the heat, throwing shit down. They all cleared out pretty fast.

 But soon the barn was beginning shape up.

They also power washed the roof, painted the lower roof, but dead wood out of two trees, built three doors and even built the chickens a new coop. Oh, and they moved the big propane tank to inside the fence. 

The dug down nearly 2' and buried the wire that deep. It's totally critter proof now.

Who wouldn't want one of these awesome machines?! One night I measured the width of the bucket with my feet, then walked the width of the back of the barn lot. Yep, it could just make it. So they also cleaned out the years of sheep poop and hay that had built up so I couldn't even open the hay gate any longer. It would have taken me all day to dig through all that and move it and they did it in 20 minutes!

 Yay, gas powered machinery!

At times I was working right along side them and was wondering how much money I was making. I asked Ron to put me on the clock.

So now I have my fence back, along with a new gate. I picked this gate out because it had maximum bars for drying yarn.

The chickens are so happy with their new crib. But color me thrilled to have this screen door (that Penny had given me years ago) to WALK into the chicken run. Before I had to bend over at the waist and crab crawl to get any wayward eggs that were in the run. I spent 20 minuets just opening the door, going through, talking to the chickens, then going out again. I think I'll put a spring on the door so it can slam. That's such a great summer sound.

I let the hens out while I cleaned out the main area. They couldn't wait to get back in to check it all out. 

Seal of approval from Rhoda. I do need to bling up the coop a bit. Maybe Chirp will donate some furniture to the place. I am sooooo glad to have this all done. : ) Now it's time to move the sheep back. But Forrest is my sheep wrangler and he's going away for a week, so my girls won't get to see their new digs quite yet. I hear they're quite happy at Ann's though. 

Granny Camp

 My friend, Phyllis, hosts 'Granny Camp' every summer for her four grandkids. She takes the two girls one week and the two boys the next. Olive and Georgie came over for a little felting fun the other morning. 

With Granny's help, the girls chose colorful bits of wool, silk, locks and glitz to make a ball.

They looked a bit stunned here, holding their balls of fluff like they might escape.

But Olive held hers up and wondered how this messy bit of wool would become a fun little ball.

 

 Georgie worked it...

 and worked it.

And they ended up with a soft ball to throw around. Thanks girls for coming over! They made me some zucchini bread for a thank you. Yum!

Felt It!

Last Saturday 12 of us women had a great time felting. I had 11 students who had never felted before.

 I had dyed dozens of scarves for them to choose from then helped them pick out their 'toppings'.

 We had some good music to 'roll' by and before we knew it, 11 beautiful pieces of artsy wearables were ready to model.

Aren't they luscious?!

They can't wait for the weather to cool off a bit to wear their neck art. Thanks to all of you for being such great students!

My Feathered Friends

The evening light was so pretty last night. I rushed to get my camera to click the clucks. See Rhoda on the right? She's my evil sex link hen. See how she's running to attack me? Scary stuff.

I so enjoy watching my hens devour the weeds I had just pulled from the garden. They eat the weeds, 

then poop and I put the poop right back in the garden. Recycle, reuse. But am I recycling weed seeds? Probably.

 I still have the main coop separated into two 'rooms', with a large screened panel dividing the area. The chicks have been in their little annex for 3 months now. I want to join the two gangs together in harmony but every time I try, the older gang members (The Coop Crips) peck the younger gang members (The Chicks) until they bleed. Which makes The Chicks cower in a corner and defeats the purpose of giving them more room. And they're bleeding. Not good. So every day, I move them to their play pen in the sheep barn where they have free roam. I carry them one by one and they put up such a squawk. I tell them they should be used to this routine by now, but they scream and flap anyway. But when I release them, they run around gleefully.

 Every night, I do this in reverse. I wait till it's dusk and they've roosted on the beams that are just within my reach. Easy peasy. Here are Mabel and Matilda waiting to be carried back to the safe house. 

Ohhh, they know something's up. 

Matilda giving me her beady eye. But they're all tucked away in their little room in the hen house. Soon I'll try again to get the gangs together. Can't we all just get along?!

More Girl Time

I spent a few restful days in Cumberland last week. My knee behaved well enough so I could get some biking in. This is the view from the C&O Canal leaving Cumberland. To just rest your eyes on that is relaxing enough. 

But to be on my bike and ride like the wind with my girlfriends is my idea of relaxing.

Jeri invited us out to the farm for a delightful dinner on her porch overlooking the fields, flowers and barn.

See how relaxed we look? Wine helps with that!

I thought this was a brilliant idea to keep your woodpile dry. 

Our woodpile will be sporting a new 'roof' soon.

The girls surprised me with birthday cupcakes and presents. Lucky me!

And back out on the trail the next day to work off those cupcakes. We got on the road at 7:30 to start the day because it was going to be a scorcher. But up in Ohiopyle, it's much cooler so it really was a great ride. Now it's back home to catching up in the garden, painting furniture and splashing color on yarn.