Here’s a link to  a video of the work by participants in Charity’s workshop at the recent Felt in Focus Symposium in Denmark (Feltmakers Ireland’s very own carol Hawkins is on the catwalk). Charity is coming to Ireland at the end of September so there is a real treat in store for the lucky participants.

http://www.youtube.com/user/devilrick999

Notice from the Crafts Council of Ireland

Following on from the success of Tread Softly an exhibition of textile work by members of the Crafts Council of Ireland at the Knitting & Stitching Show RDS, Dublin, October 2010
would like to announce for 2011 – Seascape an exhibition for the Knitting & Stitching show – 10th-13th November 2011

Brief
Work in the exhibition is to be made in response to and inspired by the sea
and the underwater world; its colour, textures, pattern and forces. It can take the form of literal or abstract interpretation.
Pieces must be contemporary in design and can be in any textile media and technique.
Selection
Work will be selected on the basis of excellence in design and making, it must fit within the overall exhibition and creative interpretation of the brief. If you have an existing piece that you feel would fit into this remit it must be less that 2 years old and it must not have been exhibited before.

Selection Requirements
Makers will be invited to apply for the exhibition by the 20th July with the following information
> * images and/or design drawings of their intended piece
> * four images of relevant work made within last two years; images must be jpeg images, no larger than 300dpi sent  on a cd
> * completed application form (application forms available on CCOI.ie)
> * 100 word interpretation of the brief.

Shortlisted makers will be asked to submit the work for second round
selection by 2th Sept and if successful will be photographed and exhibited at the Knit and Stitch show.

We are planning to open the studio to members who want to use the carders, the library or need the extra space to lay out a big project. We will be posting a list of dates and times shortly. In the meantime the studio will be open tomorrow morning Sunday 10th July from 10.30-13.00.

We are also planning a series of Summer Recession sessions ( workshops at rock bottom costs – eg €40 for full day tuition incl tea/coffee). Once we have four people who are interested we will schedule dates. Some ideas are for a beginners workshop, a hat making session,  an indigo dying day, an experimental dying  day with natural materials, felted vessels…if you would like to learn a new skill please let us know.

**MEMBERSHIP MUST BE CURRENT IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL EVENTS**

Tis’ the season for shearing sheep.  Here are a couple of options if you’re interested in processing your own.

SHEEP FLEECES FOR SALE

We have unwashed white sheep fleeces for sale from our farm in Co.Kildare.

• Suitable for spinning, felting or other wool crafts.
• Staple length 3-4 inches.
• From Texel cross, Suffolk and Cheviot  ewes.
• 4 euros per kg  – average fleece is 2.5kg.
• Hand picked over for vegetable matter and dung.

Contact  Brid og on(045) 841912  or  bridognorrby@yahoo.ie

Fionntan Gogarty of Sea,Sky,Shore Gallery Westport has a small flock of Soay, Jacob and Friesian sheep and is offering their fleeces for FREE when the sheep are shorn in a few days time, if anyone is interested please make contact with him by email ……. seaskyshore@eircom.net   or call him 098 2712

Let us know how the fleeces work for felting!  We’d love pictures for the magazine.

Fiona's Vessels

A great morning ahead

Our next Sunday Session will take place on Sunday next 12th June from 10.30-13.00 in the Visitors Centre of the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Fiona Harvey from Feltmakers North is going to  bring some of the lovely vessels she has made and guide us through the process of making hollow form vessels. Please bring along a basic feltmaking kit if you would like to try it out yourself. We may have to make very small vessels as the space is limited. Everyone is welcome.

And….while you are there you can visit the textile exhibition in the gallery downstairs. The 04Textile group do beautiful work and many of them are feltmakers. Their exhibition runs until the end of June. Here is an invitation to the exhibition.

running threads

Due to the visit of Queen Elizabeth there are traffic and parking restrictions in the Phoenix Park and so we can’t use the studio this week. We have moved the venue for next Wednesday (May 18th) evenings talk to the nearby Anglers rest pub. We will have upstairs to ourselves and there is a car park across the road. The Anglers rest is only about 500m from the studio.  There is a link to a map below – any questions pleases call Sheila on 087 7738282

http://maps.google.ie/maps/ms?t=h&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=212269660918540604753.000495e2e7ccfee4aafe4&source=embed&ll=53.359388,-6.359773&spn=0.019183,0.038581&z=15

We are all recovering from a terrific day on Sunday when we held our Felt Frenzy and AGM – thanks to everyone who made it such a success. We are so sorry to lose three fantastic committee members – Colleen Prendiville, Cristina Garcia & Elaine Peden. Each of them has made a significant contribution to the organisation.

We are delighted to announce a visit by fibre artist Elis Vermeulen to our studio next week. She will be sharing her experience about her work and about Felt United which she co-founded. If you would like to attend please text Sheila on 0877738282 to book a place (space in the studio is limited so they are on a first come basis) – the talk takes place on Wednesday 18th May 2011 -7-9pm in Feltmakers Studio, Knockmaroon Gate, Phoenix Park, Dublin.

You can see some of Elis’s work on the link below.

http://elisvermeulen.wordpress.com/

We received an invitation to Filament’s exhibition opening to share with our members, click here to view Latitudes Postcard

Next Sunday the 8th May 2011 is our annual bash. We have invited members who are also wool producers/sellers, we will have an exhibition of work and are having demonstrations of techniques and materials, we will be eating lots of yummy homemade cake and generally having fun with other felt enthusiasts.

The stall holders this year are the Wool Initiative who supply the most beautiful fleece from native and rare breeds. We also have a stand from Craftspun Yarn in Naas and the Yarn Room from Ashford. Eamonn Murray will also be there with some of the beautiful wooden hat blocks and felt tools that he makes. All of the stall holders are donating spot prizes for some lucky winners.

We will have four demonstration areas – this is the “frenzy part:

Sheila Ahern & Maria Melvin showing how to work with fleece straight off the sheep (there will be a surprise guest – shhhh), they will share their passion for native breeds and all things woolly.

Holly & Angle & Kathrina Hughes will demonstrate the drum carder and our new baby “Wild” carder which can card just about anything.

Elizabeth Bonner & Rosemary McCarthy Morrough will have a silk treasure table where you can learn abut the huge variety of silk fabric and fibre that is available – tussah, chiffon, habotai, throwsters waste etc

Clodagh MacDonagh and Liz Nicholls will guide people through the merino maze of all the different types of tops, rovings, batts, 100′s 64′s  etc that felters use.

The event is being held in the Church of Ireland Parish Center hall in Lucan village from  1-4pm

Everyone is welcome. Please bring along some of your work for the exhibition table and wear some felt. Looking forward to seeing you there.

The next Sunday Session is on in the Visitors Centre of the Phoenix Park at 10.30 on the 10th April. Niki Collier will be giving a talk abut her textile experiences in Shanghai. If you are coming along please note that there is a major athletics race in the park and there are lots of road and gate closures. Gave a look at this link for more details http://www.phoenixpark.ie/newsevents/title,15715,en.html