The MAY garden...

The never-ending spring sunshine and clear blue skies over Freshwater Bay

 have been amazing during the past months of lock-down.

Those of us fortunate enough to have gardens have turned towards 

them for occupation and sanctuary…

… for me ‘GARDENING has now become the NEW feltmaking... " 

The steep slope behind our house has always been a challenge and over

 the past 25+ years it has gradually been tamed into a garden!

No fences, just a few well-placed stones mark the boundaries.

We benefit from uninterrupted views across to our neighbour’s woodland 

and really appreciate the shade from the trees.

Just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic, the salty south/westerlies play 

havoc with anything growing too tall… 

BUT unbelievably these echiums have survived - 

a mass of tiny blue flowers and bees.

 Sadly these beautiful bearded iris 'Kent Pride' weren't so fortunate...

Falling foul of the recent gales they ended up in a vase, 

still looking magnificent, but not your usual cut flower!  

Lots of tough wind and drought resistant plants grow

 such as phlomis, teasels and giant salvias

 and my personal gardener’s code is " if it thrives and survives, it stays"

 whether it’s classed a weed—or not!

So the borders of cow parsley and red campion have been 

an absolute delight this spring... 
Nature at her best, and right on trend if you're a Gardener's World follower!

And then other delights appear from nowhere.. 

  the hardy geraniums, ferns and euphorbias self-seed and grow

 just in the right places

However big or small—enjoy your gardens this summer...

Unbelievably it's just a couple of weeks since my last post! 

SO much has happened, and all our lives have changed dramatically

because of the coronavirus...

All feltmaking workshops and events are cancelled.

We are all in isolation and lock down. But like everything in life, this will pass,

life will return to some sense of normality.

 and so will the workshops...

Until then keep yourselves safe and well, 

and thank you all for your wonderful support and kind wishes. 

SPRING workshop dates...

After one of the wettest months on record most of us in the UK will be relieved 
to see the back of February, and as we slip into March there is 
at long last, a feel of spring in the air...

The sun is shining again, although the chill wind is blowing the daffodils 
about and reminding us not to
 get ahead of ourselves and be too optimistic!

Many thanks to all of you who came along to my third Felt Open Day 
yesterday, Leap Day, at Seely Hall in Brook. 

What an amazing start to the year! 
It inspired all of us to get back into our feltmaking again, helped along by 
lots of tea, home-made cake AND a glorious sunny day! 

So I'm pleased to be posting up the new spring workshop list here, 

which can be found if you click onto this link...

http://www.gillianchapmanfelts.info/p/workshops-in-freshwater.html

I hope there is something here to interest you and
 I'll look forward to seeing you at one of the workshops
at Seely Hall over the next months!

FELT OPEN DAY #3...

It’s the beginning of February, and it's really grey, cold and damp outside... 
Time to look forward to some feltmaking

and what better way to spend the extra day in this leap year

than making FELT with friends...



 Following on from the success of previous FELT Open Days at Brook

 I've arranged one for 2020 on  

Saturday 29th February 10am - 4pm.

 A definite date for your diary if you are interested in FELT and 

would like to find out more about the activities & workshops

taking place at Seely Hall this Spring.

A wonderful creative day is planned! 

FREE admission - open to EVERYONE. 

Feltmakers and visitors are all welcome to come along and 

join in this informal get-together… 

Come and make felt, stitch, embellish, or just socialise, chat and

exchange ideas with fellow feltmakers, 

and hopefully get inspired… 

There will be a limited number of large work tables available on the day 

for wet felting, plus smaller tables for sewing.

If you would like to make use of these let me know and I can reserve a place.

Although there will be no formal tuition on the day I will be on hand to 
give advice and help with any new projects.

There will be feltwork on display from my workshops, 
plus students' work and feltmaking in progress throughout the day, 
so if you are new to the craft 

or just curious to see what FELT is all about then
 this is a perfect opportunity.

All the felt featured in this post is students' work.

I will have details of the NEW Spring programme of workshops 

coming up in March, April & May and will be taking bookings.

Needle felting expert LOREN THORN will be demonstrating 
her work and will have details about her workshops too...

This is a FREE event!
There’s NO charge for the day and everyone is welcome!

Tea coffee + home-made cakes will be available 
with donations for refreshments 

going to the Australian Bushfire Animal charities 
of Kangaroo Island which has been so affected by the fires.

This will be the third FELT DAY I've organised and if it's anything
 like last year it will be an amazing day 
and a perfect start to the feltmaking year!

I’m really looking forward to catching up with 

all my old felting friends and hopefully 

lots of new faces too… 

So please spread the word !

And if you want to contact me for further details

call Gill on 01983 752872