Sunday, February 7, 2010

Earthy felt and tomoatoes!


Hi friends!
You may recall the other day I was laying out these rich colours of the earth. Here is the result felted. You can see that dyed cheesecloth/muslin just adores being felted to a woolen ground.


A variety of hand spun yarns create a great knobbly texture and always give surprising results.



I got to thinking that this is really the essence of felting. The delightful surprises that reveal themselves in the last processes of the technique. If you have never felted and feel the urge to try I think that this is the key element to understand. With many disciplines you have a fairly clear idea about the end result, with felting there is much that is unclear when you set out. Certainly there is a visual result you are trying to achieve - but there is much that waits until the final curtain call.

I love this element of magic so much - if I really stop to think about it - it is why I continue to felt. Surely, whatever discipline you have selected, then a little magic each day you work at it is crucial! Don't you think?




These tomatoes were collected this evening - about 7kg!!!!! I am turning it all into sauce in the morning for the up coming months for pasta etc. NO sprays just sheep manure and water.

Like life really, the simpler the better!



The dark ones are Russian tomatoes and the yellow ones are acid free in case tomatoes don't agree with your tummy!




Gorgeous colours though!

See you soon
Love
Elizabeth
XX

10 comments:

  1. Your felt is glorious!! I do so love all of the texture that you can get with the dyed Cheese cloth!!! Your tomatoes are gorgeous- I can just taste them. I am drooling as I look out my window at 2 ft of new snow that needs to be shoveled!! Oh Spring!!!!!!
    Warm Wintry Hugs!!!

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  2. Gorgeous felting. Love your tomatoes ( my alltime favourite food)

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  3. We are gray and damp here in the Pacific Northwest of America so your post is a totally ****warm**** delight. Both your feltwork and your 'maties are GORGEOUS! Thanks so much for the uplift!!

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  4. Your felting colour combination looks wonderful and the cheese cloth just adds that nice texture detail. Your tomatoes would make a lovely colour way too.

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  5. Oh my goodness E! What a beautiful post! Such textile yumminess and tomato yumminess too.
    Love the photo of Ms. Nell in the post below. I knew it wouldn't be long and she would venture into your studio.
    Lots of love
    Dot xx

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  6. I completely agree with you about the 'mystery' of felting. That's my favorite thing about it...that it can surprise you at the finish!
    Have you ever halved your tomatoes and put them in a slow oven with olive oil and some Italian spices?? They take a long time to get to the right 'chewy/partially dried' stage, but they can then be frozen and added to all kinds of wonderful dishes later.

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  7. Thankyou so much for your lovely words everyone! I get such a thrill when I see that someone has written in - or should I say "spoken"
    Heather I will try that with the next batch when they ripen - it sounds a gorgeous recipe!
    Love
    Elizabeth
    XX

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  8. Tomato City indeed! beautiful felting and the tomatoes are gorgeous.

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  9. Wow...that vegie garden has sprung to life and there is nothing like the taste of tomatoes home grown!
    What gorgeous, earthy colours. I LOVE them! Dont forget, Dot and I want to come and do a dyeing class with you...some muslins, wool flannel, silk. Do you sell any scrap packs of assorted dyed fabrics as I would love to buy some.

    Jacky xox

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  10. I too am always amazed at what appears when felting even when its been a' controlled' piece, there are still delicious unhoped for elements as there are in yours.

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