It's been a hectic time preparing for the Isle of Wight Open Studios and the weekend came and went SO quickly. A very big thank you to everyone who visited us at the Freshwater Parish Hall, where seven of us were exhibiting together and we had nearly 700 visitors through the door...
This is one of the busiest times of the year for me. It's a great opportunity to show new work and to introduce felt making to a brand new group of people as interest in the workshops continues to grow, especially with the new venues.
Over the last few days I've been busy replenishing stock, including some of the knitted felt designs pictured here...
They are another aspect to my feltwork - made using Shetland wools, knitted up into swatches using the knitting machine and felted in the washing machine. The fabric is then made into all types of functional items. Small bags for mobile phones & ipods, pencil rolls, book jackets, kindle cases, scarves and appliqué flower brooches. Plus there's the felted lavender birds and lavender pincushions, and I will be bringing them all along to the summer shows.
I'm now looking forward to our summer exhibition at Quarr Abbey which starts next Thursday 26th to 31st July. Brother Duncan from the Quarr Benedictine order will be joining us and showing some of his new paintings. Lis Toft will be there with her porcelain & jewellery, photographer Dale Durfee will have her amazing horse & dog pictures and Barry Ecuyer will be showing his latest drawings & paintings.
The weather forecast looks promising for the week ahead with temperatures expecting to be almost back to normal, so hopefully we can leave our wellies behind for a change…