****Deadline approaching *****For anyone who is interested in Dagmar Binder’s workshop, the deadline for applications is next Friday 11th May, the application form and details are on our website. Dagmar is a very talented and inspiring teacher and we are delighted to have her – she will be giving a talk about her work which will be open to all members. The workshop and talk take place in Collins Barracks in Dublin at the end of June.

Sunday 13th of May is a very exciting day for us. We are hosting our second ever Felt Fashion Show and have received some spectacular entries. On the same day we are holding our AGM (very brief meeting) in the Church of Ireland Parish Centre in Lucan. It is always a wonderful opportunity to meet up with old and new felting friends, eat cake and get the latest news. There will be stalls from the Wool Initiative, the Yarn Room and all the way from Prato in Italy the DHG (Dyeing House Group) http://www.dhgshop.it/ – they are bring a huge range of wool and silk from Italy, the prices are really good (especially as we don’t have to pay P&P and there is the advantage that you can see and feel the fibres), they are also a discount for Feltmakers Ireland members on the day.

Future workshops to look out for are a series of Recession Sessions in our studio (Basic Feltmaking, Needle Felting and Dyeing) – watch the website for more details. Judit Pocss coming in September and Jeanette Appleton will be giving a two day workshop with us at the end of October. Yippee!

I hope we will see you all very soon,

Feltmakers Ireland Committee

Come join us in the Social Club in Inchicore tomorrow (Saturday 21st April) for a felt “Play “Day”. Work on your own project in the company of other feltmakers, there lots of space and good company. Starting at 10am till 4pm – bring a packed lunch. Cost €10 towards the hire of the hall. For more information call Sheila 0877738282

We are delighted to present a workshop with the renowned German feltmaker Dagmar Binder. Dagmar has given workshops and exhibited widely throughout Europe and North and South America. As well as the two day workshop with us Dagmar is also giving an illustrated talk about her work on Sunday 1st July in the Palatine Room of the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks. Check out
the details on the workshop application form here:
dagmar-application
You can see more of Dagmar’s work on her website.

http://www.textillabor.de/index.html

We are delighted that Kaeth Burt-O’Dea will be going us in the studio next Sunday. Kaethe set up a felt business in the west of Ireland in the 1980’s when very few people here had ever heard of felt. She ran a very successful business for many years, running workshops and selling her work. When Kaethe moved to Dublin she gave up her business and moved into other area. Recently we met Kaethe and was hugely impressed by her knowledge of wool and feltmaking. She has given Feltmakers Ireland much of her feltmaking equipment and wool – wash boards, hat blocks (with amazing wooden brim moulds) and some of the beautiful wool from Kaethe’s own sheep. We are so grateful for all this material and will put it to very good use. Kaethe is going to give a talk about her feltmaking experience in Ireland at our next Sunday Sessionhttp://feltmakersireland.wordpress.com/wp-admin/link-manager.php on April 15th from 10.30-1.00. I hope you can join us.

Be careful – there are some road diversions in the Phoenix Park next Sunday because of a road race.

There are still some places available on the Complex Bag workshop on Saturday the 31st March and Sunday 1st April. The workshop is being taught by Hungarian feltmaker Gabi Mc Grath and costs €100 for the two days and will take place in Inchicore, Dublin. If you are interested give Sheila a call on 087 7738282.

The CTN are holding their annual Conference in Cork next week end 2-4th March. The focus this year is “textile – art, culture and heritage” and there is a full programme of events listed on www.ctn.com . UK sculptor Annie Hutchinson is giving a workshop on Sunday 4th on needle felted sculptured creatures.

We are planning to hold a series of “Play Days” at the Inchicore Social Club, the next two will be on Saturdays 24th March and the 21st April. These are days when feltmakers can work together on their own projects. The Club is an ideal venue to work on larger projects that won’t fit on your kitchen table. There will be a small charge for the hire of the hall (depends on numbers but max €10). Places will be limited so if you are interested in joining in please email sheila.ahern@ireland.com

Our next Sunday Session will be held in our studio in the Phoenix Park on the 11th March – we will be looking at felting using an embellishing machine.

We are also holding a two day complex bag workshop in the same venue on Sat/Sun March 31st and April 1st. The tutor is the Hungarian feltmaker Gabi McGrath, participants need to bring their own materials but there will be Hungarian merino batts available to buy on the day. You can download the application form here Complex Bag application

In June we are delighted to welcome the German feltmaker Dagmar Binder to Ireland to give a two day workshop working on her wonderful 3D Sculptural felt. The workshop will be held in the National Museum of Decorative Arts in Collins Barracks on the 29th/30th June. Applications forms are more details available soon

A group from Feltmakers Ireland spent last Saturday felting together in the Social Club in Inchicore. It is a great venue, it was originally the Railway workers social club in Inchicore Square and is now a community centre. We were made very welcome and the hall is ideal for feltmaking – lots of light, space and big tables. I made a lovely rucksack style bag based on a design by Leiko Uchiyama. Leiko was in Dublin over the New Year and I was very jealous of her bag and decided to make one for myself. I used some Norwegian C1 wool fibre, and created a “bed” of green Wensleydale and “planted” some 3D red merino roses (inspired by Lulu Guinness).
We hope to hold these day long working days regularly. If anyone is interested in taking part please let me know – sheila.ahern@ireland.com. The days are very informal, everyone works on their own but it’s great working with other people and you can learn a lot just by seeing what everyone is doing.

We are holding our next Sunday Session in the studio in the Phoenix Park on the 12th February from 10.30-13.00. Natzaret Sindreu will be demonstrating her skills with needlefelting. Natzaret “sculpts” amazing pieces with just some wool fibre and felting needles. Everyone is welcome.

As Valentines Day is very close Natzaret hinted that there may be a love theme to next Sunday…

Happy New Year to you all. We are looking forward to kicking off the new year with our annual Introduction to Feltmaking workshop on Saturday 21st January. It is always a busy and exciting day and is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to learn all of the basic techniques of felt. As well as the classes there will be a shop selling wool fibre and a display of members work. The application form can be found just below in an earlier post.
All our members should have received the latest issue of our magazine. We have included your membership renewal form. Membership now runs from January for 12 months and costs €25 – among the many benefits of membership you will receive copies of our quarterly magazine in the post, reduced price for workshops, access to our studio and library, opportunity to participate in exhibitions and events, a real bargain!