Happy Christmas

To celebrate Christmas Day with felters across the world we thought we would share these beautiful icons with you.

Mystic by S Seaman

Byzantine by S Seaman

Celtic by S Seaman

We on the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Committee wish you all a very happy Christmas.

Felt in a Hot Climate

Do people in cool climates make better felt?

We ask ourselves this question as we see that the weather forecast for Christmas Day is 34 degrees and we are sure we will get our share of even hotter days in the summer months to come.

Of course, we don’t think climatic conditions have any influence on good felt but of course we regularly see the wonderful garments and accessories produced locally by our talented Western Australian felters. However, it is nice to have our opinion confirmed as was the case when we got an email from Sally in Tucson Arizona asking for details of the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence. Quick as a flash we checked out Sally’s own felting website  and yes, in that hot dry desert climate they do make some simply gorgeous stuff. Check this out for yourself by clicking here.

Picture courtesy of http://www.spiritedhandsstudio.com/

Do hope you can make it over to Bunbury in October Sally,we’d love to meet you and your felt in person.

Traders Hall Update - The Snowy Creek Roller Felting Machine

For those of you who read our last post and don't have access to a horse or an AFL football team to help with your rolling you will be relieved to read that Paul and Christine Harrison developed their Roller Felting Machine especially for us felters.

The Harrison's started their company Snowy Creek Engineering about 15 years ago when they escaped from Melbourne city life and bought acreage in country Victoria at Snowy Creek.  They started breeding Alpacas and got interested in felting.  Paul, with his engineering background, looked at ways of mechanising the felting process and after consulting with other felters he created his prototype felting machine.

From there the Snowy Creek Roller Felting Machine was developed, a wonderful piece of equipment that will tackle both small and large felting projects without the tiring work of hand rolling but with the same beautiful results that are achieved by experienced felters.

It sounds just what we need so click here to read all about it.   

Snowy Creek Engineering also create and sell needle felting equipment and are very kindly donating a needle felting kit as a door prize at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury 2011.

We hope they will be able to make it over here in October 2011 and join us in our Traders Hall.

How to Make Your Very Own Yurt

We often tell people that felt is probably the oldest textile and that once upon a time it was used to make peoples dwellings; but how many of us have actually seen a yurt let alone made one? 

A yurt is the traditional dwelling of the nomadic people of Central Asia, it consists of a collapsible wooden frame and wool felt coverings. Textile artist Martein Van Zulien coordinated a National Yurt Building project in Australia during 1998. The full scale Mongolian style yurt involved over 100 feltmakers across five states and was largely possible through donations of fleece and the use of reclaimed wood.


So we, the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Organising Committee, are now proud to provide our readers with your very own step by step instructions for constructing your own yurt, complete with chimney. 

1.  Lay the wool out

2. Roll up the wool

3. Roll with feet - 200 times

4. Roll with horse - 100 laps of field (200 carrots)

5. Enlist the boys (200 beers)

6. Put up the framework

7. Construct centre of yurt

8. Put up roof frame work

9. Dry out wall panels  (it rained heavily!)

10. Get the panels to the framework

11. Put panels up

12. Put roof  on

13. Tie it all up

14. Stand back and admire your  finished yurt

The yurt was made at the Mittagong Textile Fibre Forum  in 1998

The group that worked on the yurt in Mittagong

Many thanks to Helen O'Neill who provided us with the photos. Helen  helped with the roof panel that was made here  in W.A.  She was also in the Mittagong class and you may spot her in a couple of the photos. 
She tells us that they made hangings for the inside of the yurt  and  there was also a pot belly stove in the centre hence the chimney.  She says it was a very calming feeling sitting in this yurt and that some people slept in it overnight.

The finished  yurt  set off on travels around Australia but we do not have any idea where it is now or know if it still exists.

Have you seen the Mittagong yurt?


For more information click here to go to Martein Van Zulien's website. 

Important Convergence Announcement - Guess Who's Coming to Tutor Pt II

Yes, the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury 2011 promises you an exciting program of talks, workshops and master classes that will bring new strengths to your felting work.

Our world class keynote tutors include  Anita Larkin from New South Wales who will be making her first visit to Western Australia.

Anita is an experienced sculptor and felter who has exhibited widely throughout the Eastern States of Australia. She will bring a breath of fresh air to our felting fraternity, giving us new direction in our work.  We are particularly pleased that she is able to join us as many of you experienced felters told us that you wanted to focus on the artistic side of felt as a medium.

Go over to her own website for her full biography and pictures of her amazing work by clicking here.

Keep looking in to our Convergence Blog to get all the latest news on the Convergence and enjoy all the beautiful felting that we are showcasing.

Important Convergence Announcement - Guess Who's Coming to Tutor

We are  very excited about the wonderful tutors we are having at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence. They  include some of the biggest names in felt making and design, to give you a program that will challenge and extend your felt making to the highest levels.

We are pleased to announce one of our keynote tutors will be the internationally renowned feltmaker and author Liz Clay .

Most felters will know Liz through  her book “NUNO FELT” which has to be the most comprehensive instruction book on combining wool fibres with fabrics that is available.  It is certainly one of our favourites and if you haven't got this valuable resource in your own library then we recommend you get one.  (Perhaps Liz will have some signed copies for sale at the Convergence?) 

Liz is the current president of the International Feltmakers Association and a much celebrated felter and designer from England.


In addition, Liz has been featured in Vogue magazine and has worked for the Givenchy fashion house and for the amazing Stella McCartney.

She has not visited Australia before and she is very excited about joining us at  the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence and also getting to see some of our great country. 

We are so pleased that she is able to join us .  She will be running a number of segments at the Convergence so everyone will be able to enjoy the  Liz Clay experience with their felting.

Keep tuning in to our Convergence Blog for another Tutor announcement shortly.

If you want to join us at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence in Bunbury October 2011 you must register your interest via the email link on the right hand side bar of this Blog.

Best in Show

Like many country places we have a number of agricultural shows occurring at this time of year. Not only do they make a great family day out but also they are a wonderful place to show off our felt.


This year Joan Kent decided to put some of her creations into the Bussleton Show

Designer J Kent

Designer J Kent

She won first place for the gold chair and second place for the stool in the Furnishing Category.

She also won a second prize in the Felting Category for a nuno scarf.

So if your local shire has a Show Day enter some felt. It really seems to be the textile of the moment. Remember to send us some photos of your winning pieces!

Oooooh - Felt Magazine Is Out

Regular readers know that we love this publication and Issue 4 is about to hit the newsagents full of projects, information and pictures of wonderful felt.

If you can't get it locally we have a few extra issues for sale.  Just email us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and we'll send you details of how to pay.

Important Convergence Announcement

We are pleased to announce that the Information and Enrolment Form for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence is about to be released. 

It will be emailed to everyone who registered their interest in the Convergence via this blog or posted out to you if you don't have email and provided us with your address details.

The form will only be sent to people who are registered, so if you want to come to the Convergence and haven't registered your interest yet then do so now by clicking on the email address shown in the relevant section of the right hand tool bar of the blog.

Check your inbox soon!

Calling New Zealand Felters

We were recently contacted by Kate Mahoney asking for our help.  She would like to get in touch with New Zealand felters.  She was at the first and second Convergence but has been out of felting for some time.  She would love to reconnect as she wants to get back into feltmaking again.

She's planning to join the Creative Fibres group but wondered if there was still a feltmaker's list for New Zealand.

Well we can certainly understand Kate's desire to get her hands back into the soapy wool fibres so if you'd like to get in touch with Kate just email us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and we'll pass your details on to her.

Traders Hall Update - New Trader - Auzzie Kid Mohair

We think it is really important to get distinctive textures in our felting by experimenting with lots of different fibres so we are really excited to welcome Auzzie Kid Mohair to our Traders Hall.

Auzzie Kid Mohair began at Llewta Mohair Farm back in 1988 in gorgeous Gidgegannup, just 50 kilometres east of Perth. It's run by husband and wife team Margaret and Garry Atwell who have been breeding Angora goats for many years and want to share their experience with the outstanding qualities of the natural fibre.


Mohair’s unique fibre offers tremendous lustre and glamour in colour. Its luxurious silky texture gives resilience and is very warm without being heavy. 

Pop over to their website by clicking here to see their range which includes yarns and garments including coats, capes, tops along with a range of hand knitted hats, scarves and mohair for doll making. They also sell some rather beautiful shawl pins which will really add a finishing touch to our creations.


We are looking forward to visiting her stall in the Traders Hall at the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury October 2011. In the meantime, we have added them to our Traders Hall section on the right hand side of this blog so you can visit them on line any time you like. And of course if you are in the area you can visit them in person and see all those angoras that Gary and Margaret breed.
 

Have a Good Felting Weekend

Felt Flowers by the Bunbury Felters

Raffle Winner

The latest raffle to raise funds for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence was drawn at the Bunbury Felters meeting on Friday 5th November.

The lucky winner was K O'Loughlan pictured here accepting the prize basket which is literally stuffed full of good things. 

A big thank you from us to everyone who donated a prize to the raffle and of course to everyone who bought a ticket.

If you would like to contribute an item for a future raffle to help us raise funds for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence then please contact feltconvergence2011@westnet.com.au .  The lovely Helen O'Neill of Sals Wool Den is our raffle coordinator so when you see Helen on her travels please buy a ticket and support a great felting event.

Remember Remember the 5th of November

All though we in Western Australia have been having some hot weather lately, up in the northern hemisphere it is autumn and pretty chilly with it. The 5th of November is of course Guy Fawkes Night and often celebrated in England with bonfires and fireworks.

It's usually a pretty cold evening so a nice warm coat is required.  Of course, we have the perfect outfit -



Designer Sue Seaman


The outfit is titled "Spirit of the Forrest"  and  Sue entered it in to the 2010 Bendigo Sheep Show Wearable Art category in July.

The coat was made out of white felt and then dyed by sponging on a selection of cold water fibre reactive dyes.

This year's theme was "footprints" so Sue stenciled emu and kangaroo footprints across the coat using acrylic paints.

There is lots of machine embroidery added creating trees and other embellishments.

Silk paper gum leaves in various colours are added to the bottom of the coat to represent the forest floor.

Finally Sue made boots and a bag to complete the outfit.

Not surprisingly it won first prize.  It certainly is beautiful and would be an amazing outfit to wear this evening.

Race Day

The first Tuesday in November is Melbourne Cup Day and it's the richest and most prestigious two mile handicap in the world. 

The television channels cover not only the horses, jockeys and the race but also spend lots of time looking at the fashions.  We think the best thing about going to the races is getting dressed up and wearing a hat; this one will be perfect -



Designer C Castledine



And the Winner is.......

We put the names from the comments entered under our post of the 7th of October into our felt hat.  We thought we might let the lovely Disney draw the winner but he looked as if he might eat everything, hat and all  so one of the Convergence Committee did the honours and drew our the name of Rowena. 

So Rowena, just email your postal address to us at feltconvergence@gmail.com and a little piece of Disney will be on its way to you.

From what we can see, Rowena is a bit of a blogger too and  describes herself as a "craft designer and hand maker living in a beautiful island at the end of the earth".  Well Rowena - Tasmania isn't the end of the earth but you certainly can see it from there.  Actually we love Tazzie  - it has a perfect climate for felting!

Hobart / Mount Wellington

If you'd like to have a look at Rowena's blog you can check it out here.

Bags

We ladies just love our bags and with good reason.  Not only are they immensely useful allowing us to carry all those things which are essential to our day but they also enable us to add a touch of colour to our outfits. 

Just look at these beautiful felt bags.

Designer M Firman

Designer B Warner

Designer M Richmond

Three bags and three totally different looks.

Colours of Nature

Although we love colour in our felting it's nice to work in warm earthy tones as well. Just look at these -



Necklace by K Cutting



Jacket by V Hornibrook



Which is the scarf, which is the tree bark? Rust dying by D Palmer

  

Felt on Sale Today

Come and meet the Felt Convergence Committee at our stall at the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Craft Fair today - Sunday, 17 October 2010: 10.00am to 3.30pm.

We have lots of beautiful hand made felt items for sale including bags, scarves, wraps and jewellery.  A wonderful opportunity for you to buy some unique Christmas presents away from the shopping centre crush.

All proceeds go towards making the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury 2011 a fabulous festival of felt.

Date: Sunday, 17 October 2010: 10.00am to 3.30pm

Venue: Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School, 5 Allen Road, Gelorup WA 6230

Another Blog Give Away

Yes as it's now less than a year to go for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence 2011 we are giving away something special.

Do you remember our blog post on the handsome Disney?

Disney

We have 80 grams of alpaca rovings courtesy of this fine-looking boy.

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 some of Disney anywhere across the globe so don't be shy just because you live in Peru!
The winner's name will be drawn in 3 weeks time and will be published on this blog then.

Good luck.

Fabulous Felt on Sale

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Craft Fair - Sunday, 17 October 2010: 10.00am to 3.30pm

The Committee are having a stall at the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Art and Craft Fair to raise funds for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Bunbury 2011.

There will be lots of beautiful hand made felt items for sale including bags, scarves, wraps and jewellery.

Come along for a wonderful day of artistic and cultural pleasure.  This year's event will be bigger than ever with something for everyone including  lots of gorgeous felt of course!

Date:  Sunday, 17 October 2010: 10.00am to 3.30pm

Venue: Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School, 5 Allen Road, Gelorup WA 6230

 

See you there!

If you would like to donate a felt item to sell at the Craft Fair please email feltconvergence2011@westnet.com.au

Only a Year to Go!

This time next year we will be gathering at the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School for the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence.

It is a gorgeous location.  The school is around 10 km south of Bunbury and is in a beautiful, quiet bush setting  as Amelia shows us here surrounded by pink fairy orchids -

We are really looking forward to seeing you all.  We have a dynamic program of felting for you to enjoy as well as lots of fun and fellowship.

What will you be doing this time next year?

Information on how to get to Bunbury is given under Convergence Information - see the top of the right hand side bar.

The International Day of Felt

Yes felt has its very own day and it's today the 2nd October. 

Check out our friends at Felt United to find out more.  Their goal is to connect feltmakers around the globe to raise awareness of felt as both a craft and an artform and celebrate the world's oldest known textile. 

Well we are happy to participate by displaying some pictures of our felt in this years collours of yellow, green and blue.

First a felt vessel -

Artist S Seaman

Detail from a scarf -

Designer C Castledine

And looking down on the crown of a hat -

Designer J Gibson

Happy International day of Felt.