Another Purse Completed

Myra has finished the purse project she started during our meeting held in Woods Cross a few months ago. Just delightful with all the different techniques that she used. The colors are vibrant against the navy background wool. Great finish!

Maggie Bonanomi Workshop

Maggie Bonanomi

The three day workshop held recently with Maggie Bonanomi was a big success - thanks so much to the Guild Board for all their work in planning the event - it's very exciting to have a national teacher come to Utah and share her talents with us!  The theme of the event was Embrace Imperfection

And to start the first day off, Maggie shared her method of tearing strips of wool between 3/4" and 1" wide - then she cuts the wool strips down the middle using scissors and hooks her rugs with the result - always a very wide cut with one torn side and one smooth cut side. She showed a couple projects illustrating her Wonky Rug technique of not making lines perfectly straight or loops pulled perfectly even.....

and then the class was left to their own devices to try and replicate her look.

The second day everyone started on a new project - most of them were designs from one of Maggie's earlier books. Lots of fun going on!

Each attendee received a kit to make one of Maggie's puzzle balls using linen and cotton velvet - one industrious hand stitcher had it completely finished before leaving!

And on the third day we got the big reveal from Maggie's brand new book. Unfortunately, the box of books arrived on her front porch in Missouri while she was here in Utah so she wasn't able to bring them, but she DID bring most of the projects that are shown in the book so we got to see them all in person - such beautiful work!

 Surprisingly, she has added a bit of purple & indigo to some of the designs in this book.

Another Finish to Share

Here is another finished purse that was started in the spring at a Guild Meeting. Kim chose a cheery yellow color for her project and incorporated several different techniques in her work. Nice job!

Fiber Festival

This information is being shared because rug hookers love wool - and everything that is connected to wool. On Saturday & Sunday, August 24th & 25th, the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair will be held at the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park and Events Center. There will be demonstrations and classes held so you can learn everything you wanted to know about spinning, carding, felting, & knitting. You can get all the information on their website found here. Hope to see you there!

Guild Meeting

On Saturday, July 13th, we had a Guild meeting and learned how to make several different styles of flowers out of wool. First up was Sharon who demonstrated some darling sunflowers with a hooked center and proddy leaves that were then attached to sticks so they could be displayed in a jar or vase -

Lisa & Nan then showed us how to make little flowers using the selvages that were torn off of new wool. Some were just coiled like a quilly and some were gathered. Leaves were added and a pin back could be used to wear it on a lapel.

This same technique was used to attach the little flowers to a branch and they ended up looking like hollyhocks - so cute!

 Nan then made a flower by felting some wool roving and then shaping it with a pair of scissors. The wool was SO soft and the colors we were able to choose from were yummy.

Two finished versions of the little purses were brought to the meeting. We learned how to make these the last time we gathered. Cindy added cute little sheep to hers:

and Gayle did lots of flowers:

Pat is making good progress on her bag and is currently adding lots of bead embellishments to it.

This flower was made by starting with a circle of wool, then cutting it into a spiral using a pair of pinking shears (or a zig zag blad on a rotary cutter) and gathering it into a flower shape.

Angela got her selvage flower finished and was wearing it on her shirt.

The day was spent in good company. Our next event is the Maggie B workshop and there are still a couple openings available, so if you want to attend please contact Londi or Angela ASAP.