And The Winner Is...

We put the names from the comments entered under our post of 28th July into a felt hat and with a drum roll drew out the name of Felted Kiwi.

Rather appropriate as the New Zealand Felter runs her own blog under the title The Frugal Kiwi - Live Well Spend Less.  Well you're definitely succeeding Ms Frugal as you are going to enjoy the latest issue of Felt Magazine without having to fork out for it at the newsagent. Just email  your postal address  to us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and it will be on its way to you.

For everyone else -  have a look at The Frugal Felt blog.  It has all sorts on it from felt to food so check it our here.

Creatures from the Deep

Continuing our look at things that live in the waters that surround Bunbury and appear in our felt creations; one of our favourites is the beautiful elegant sting rays that can sometimes be seen sunning themselves on hot afternoons in shallow water.

By Jean Braund

These felt fish were created by Davida Palmer from a Judit Poc workshop.

By D Palmer

D Palmer

This shoal of fish was made by Sue Seaman.  Each fish is about 80 cm long.  The felt was hand dyed to get the right colour  and then machine embroidered to give the effect of scales.  The fins and tails were made from organdy; again machine stitching was added.  Each fish had a metal wire inserted into the body and held by a block of wood.

"Will This Be All The Future Holds, Memories and Shoals of Fabric Fish"
by S Seaman

The finished piece was entered into the 1998 South West Survey.

Something Fishy Going On

Bunbury is a regional  port city of Western Australia situated 175 kilometres south of Perth.  It is protected from the Indian Ocean by the Leschenault Inlet, which opens to Koombana Bay a popular swimming and sailing spot.

Image Tourism Western Australia

Not surprisingly our watery surroundings often provide the inspiration for some of our felt creations.

Take this small sample for example, created many years ago by Gloria Truman -

More recently Lorraine McArthur made this sampler at a FeltWest workshop run by Catherine O'Leary

Good felt requires the fibres to meld right the way through the fabric and Lorraine passes this test with flying  fish colours!

Lorraine can do big fish as well as she shows with this chair -

Now for more underwater creatures - this jelly fish created by Val Hornibrook-

Look at the detail -

If you want to be inspired by water then there are plenty of things to do around the coast of Bunbury.  One of the most amazing local attractions are the dolphins of Koombana Bay.  Such a big dolphin population has resulted in the creation of our Dolphin Discovery Centre - Australia's first dedicated research centre.

Image Tourism Western Australia

Here you can organise to swim with the dolphins.  An amazing experience and definitely one to do when you finish felting at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence in October 2011.

Image Tourism Western Australia

Looking forward to seeing all your watery work there.

You are Invited to Take a Seat

There is a beautiful exhibition of felted chairs opening today at Cafe Fez, 18-20 Princep Street, Bunbury, Western Australia.

The exhibition is titled "Take a Seat" and is a quirky, fun and colourful collection of high quality textile art.  The exhibition is presented by the Bunbury Felters group and includes many items for sale.

If you are in the area please come and join us over coffee and cake to view this delightful vibrant display and enjoy Cafe Fez's excellent choices of food and drinks whilst you "Take a Seat".

The exhibition runs from Sunday 8th August to Friday 3rd September 2010.

Venue: Cafe Fez, 18-20 Princep Street, Bunbury, Western Australia.

Where Are They Now - Claire Woolhouse

After our post on the 18th of May we were delighted to receive an email from Claire Woolhouse who had identified herself on the group photo.

Attendees of 1st Bunbury Felting Convergence 1994

Claire tells us that she is the young girl with long red hair standing right of centre with a black jumper on. She was just 19 years old and at university studying Art. The process involved in felting is what first attracted her to felting.  She loved the challenge of working on large scale pieces and would then use shibori techniques with indigo dye to add pattern and depth.

Claire now lives in the South West and teaches art.  She still felts and teaches felting  to her students.  She says they really enjoy it, especially the messy parts!

We totally understand, there is something magical about making your own cloth out of nothing but wool fibres, water and soap.

Thank you so much for telling us your story Claire and we look forward to seeing you at the next Bunbury Felting Convergence in October 2011.

If you recognise yourself in the group photo of 1994 please email us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and let us know what you have been doing since then.

Felt Exhibition Opening Soon

There is a beautiful exhibition of felted chairs opening at 2.00pm 8th August 2010 at Cafe Fez, 18-20 Princep Street, Bunbury.

The exhibition is titled "Take a Seat" and is an all age appropriate collection of high quality textile art. The exhibition is presented by the Bunbury Felters group and includes many items for sale.

If you are in the area please come and view this colourful and vibrant display and enjoy Cafe Fez's excellent choices of food and drinks whilst you " Take a Seat ".

The exhibition runs from Sunday 8th August to Friday 3rd September 2010.

Venue: Cafe Fez, 18-20 Princep Street, Bunbury, Western Australia

Our First Blog Give-away!

We have been writing this blog for over four months now and to celebrate the ever growing number of readers we thought we would thank you by giving away a copy of the latest issue of Felt Magazine.

Regular readers will know that we love this publication and Issue 3 is full of projects, information and pictures of wonderful felt.

To win all you need to do is put a comment on this blog post so press the "Comment" title at the bottom of this post and write your note to us.  There's no need for you to put your personal contact details on.  Just write your name and if you are the lucky winner you will be asked to email us your postal details.  We will post the magazine anywhere across the globe so if Felt Magazine is not distributed in your country this is a great opportunity to read it.

The winner's name will be drawn in 3 weeks time and will be published on this blog then.

Best of luck.