Busy Monday

This morning it was rather grey, but dry. I had an early start and went off to the supermarket - always better to go first thing when one can get round and back home within 45 minutes. I then spent a couple of hours in the kitchen before heading out into the garden to open up my studio for our Highlands Open Studios event.
Yesterday I had laid out some fleece and had it all ready to wet down and make some felt. I spent the rest of the morning working on this. I am not sure yet what I will do with this piece - probably embroider on it, or perhaps use it as a rug.



Val took a break from jewellery making to come and make felt beads using some half-felt that I had cut off from the edges in an effort to get the felt into a better shape. She likes to sit and watch me working hard!

While it is wet the contrast between the bright red and the darker blotches is a bit strong, so I am hoping that by the time it is dry it will be a bit more subdued.





At lunch time a local woman called Laura turned up and asked if she could try her hand at felt making. We spent a very pleasant afternoon going through the basic principles and then building up a felt picture inspired by the buttercups growing at the side of the garden pond. She will be back tomorrow to do the hard work of rubbing and rolling.

While Laura was cutting out yellow petals for her buttercups I decided to see if I could do something with the lovely blue irises which have just opened out today. The flowers are almost at shoulder height and they look very impressive. It remains to be seen whether I can do them justice in felt.

All in all it has been a very pleasant day in the garden and we now have clear blue skies and sunshine. However, the day to day work doesn't go away just because I have been "playing" and I now have to head upstairs to the workroom and get on with making purses for an order.