A Floral Tapestry

On Sunday, the 10th of September, 2023, 24 members of the Feltmakers Ireland guild gathered to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Founded by Elizabeth Bonnar in 2003, the guild is connected by our interest in transforming sheep wool into felted creations.

Our completed tapestry will be exhibited at our upcoming annual juried exhibition, which will be held at the Phoenix Park Visitors Centre in October 2023.

The 2023-2024 Committee with founder Elizabeth Bonnar (third from the left) –

As part of our celebration, we ‘combined hands’ to create a giant ‘tapestry’ out of felted flowers. Organiser, artist, and teacher-extraordinaire Deirdre Crofts designed five different flowers for members to create: the Anemone, the Dahlia, the Daisy, the Lily, and the Pansy.

(See the bottom of the page for links to download).

Members sat together and created the above five flower styles. Some members created their own fantasy flowers, so there is a lovely mix of styles.

A Selection of Photographs from the Day

And like any party, there was a delicious spread of sandwiches (including vegetarian and gluten-free), endless tea and coffee, and those famous home-bakes, which our Membership Secretary, Fiona Leech, so artfully displayed!

Many thanks to Deirdre Crofts for organising such a splendid event. Additional thanks to the other Committee members who helped sort our supplies, set up the wool kits, and share their flowermaking knowledge. Our gorgeously colourful Merino wool was purchased from Feltmakers Ireland member Leiko Uchiyama.

Lastly, huge thanks to the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland for helping fund our event.

Downloadable flower instructions –