Luna Moth...

I awoke this morning and there he was,
Mother Nature's Etherial boon...
Robed in mint and crowned in gold...

From twilight's murky realm he voyaged...
and upon my humble doorstep
this resplendent Prince did rest.

An exquisite gem,
Entrusted to me...
A favor from Sister Moon...

What to do on a rainy Sunday...

With a handful of wool yarn scraps and circles cut out of a felted up old sweater...

Make needle felted coasters of course!!!

Amalie made these...

A rainbow...

A patterned design...

A rose in the sun...

What did Mama make for our new circular table? Placemats of course! Circles cut from coordinating flannel...sewn right sides together and reversed. Then ironed flat and
sewn in a spiral pattern towards the center. These are reversible... one side pink... one side peach.

Here is our beautiful table...

The Golden Goose Is Finished!!!

Actually I finished him Sunday night and Amalie brought him to school Monday morning. The children needed him for "dress rehearsal" and I think they really love him!!! I know Amalie does!!!

It feels fantastic to volunteer my time and energy towards a gift that I'm hoping will be with the children for many years to come...

So what were the things I needed to do to finish? The final tweeks...?

Using a regular needle and thread, I anchored everything. I pulled the legs back a bit and anchored them to the body...to no avail really...this goose wants to sit!!! I also tacked down all the edges of the wings to the body, again using the blind stitch. Voila! Finished...

A project is only fun for me when I can share it with others...I'd love to know what you think...or answer any questions you might have about needle felting...just ask...

The Tale....heh...Tail of The Golden Goose...

We're getting close to the end of things. Hahaha! Goosey's tail is complete. Classroom teacher requested that the goose have feathers the children can grab on to. That means they have to be pretty strongly attached. Here's what I started with...

More curly wool...

and Sparkly Gold Tulle.

I cut a strip of tulle which I then layered four times so that there would be a stiffness to the feathers.

One thing I forgot to mention that is VERY IMPORTANT...ALWAYS HAVE A PILLOW OR FELTING FOAM BETWEEN YOUR NEEDLE AND YOUR LAP!!! It is very painful to get a needle stick and your pillow or foam will give you some protection as well as a nice surface to work on. I use an old meditation pillow. It fits nicely in my lap, and has a handle so I can take it anywhere.

Here I am needle felting wool right into the tulle creating an outline for each feather.

Here is what it looks like before I cut it out.

I cut the feather out along the outline. Then I felted more wool into it...to give it some texture and make it more aesthetically pleasing.

After I had five or six feathers completed, I tacked them together with the felting needle. Then I placed a piece of tulle underneath the bunch.

I then folded the tulle over...

and used my sewing machine to really secure them together as a bunch. The stitches don't have to be pretty...no one will see them.

I trimmed off the excess tulle and at this point I used a regular needle and thread to sew the tail feathers as strongly as I could to Goosey's behind.

I placed them in such a way that the ends of the wings overlapped the ends of the feathers.

Here's Goosey with his tail...

Just a few tweaks left! We're almost finished!!!

Seeing is Believing...

I can hardly believe that Goosey is coming along so beautifully!!! I just love him!!! His eyes are now attached. I love the expression in them!

I started with two small pieces of black wool batting.

I rolled each eye tightly into a small ball.

I don't show it here, but I decided to wet felt the balls so they would be really tight. You do this with warm/hot water and a tiny bit of soap. Just roll the ball in your palm until it is the size and basic shape that you want. In hindsight I think this made the eyes more difficult to attach, but I like the way they turned out. This is a picture showing the amount of batting I used compared to the size of the balls you end up with.

I placed a small bit of white batting behind the eye before I needle felted it onto the goose. This part was hard because I wet felted the balls pretty tightly. I broke at least one needle!!! Once the felting softens the wool up it gets easier and you can better shape each eye as you fasten it down.

You can add more white around the eye as needed by just needling it in. I added a little white glint in his eye. I think it gives him a little more expression. What do you think?

We have wings...

Of course, threads of gold were not enough to satisfy my esthetic and tactile dreams...so I added a little texture...

Using uncarded wool(I'm not actually sure what this is called...but it's the curly wool that makes great hair and beards for little gnomes....) in complementary shades I hinted at feathers...

When the wings were complete I attached them to Goosey at the shoulders using the felting needle. I felted in a straight line...I also lifted the wings and felted them on underneath as well, for a stronger connection.

Here is Goosey with one wing attached...

Now both wings...

I decided to felt the wings fast to the body because of their length and their weight. This Goosey must stand up to the handling of twenty four first graders. Tacking the wings makes them less likely to be torn off. At this point I only tack them on half way down the body because the tail feathers will need to be attached.

Here is a nice photo of the detail work on the wings.

So this is what Goosey looks like so far...

The Golden Winged Thing...

Goosey's body is, for the most part, finished and shaped. I may need to tweak him a bit...we'll see.

Here is a sort of odd view from the front. But wait...something is missing... Ah yes...WINGS!

I begin these with plain white batting in a basic wing shape. I made two approximately the same size and shape.

I wrap one side of the natural batting with "golden" wool batting then tack it into place with the felting needles...shaping the wing as I felt the roving together.

The basic shape of the wing is here now. More tweaking is necessary and will happen as I put the goose together.

Now for the threads of gold...I'm so addicted to this I'm bringing it with me everywhere! Notice the different background...in some window somewhere...in the city...

I think the biggest gift for me in all of this creating is from Amalie. She is so pleased with the goose as he comes along. I give a gift to her and to her classroom...the rewards for me are in my daughter's eyes and smile.

RUMPLESTILTZKIN....

Needle felting takes a very long time. It really is sculpting. The more I work...the more meditative I become...and I realize that each and every one of my projects comes directly from my heart, through my hands and into the medium. I'm redefining myself...feeling the magic...and creating. It's incredibly satisfying and rewarding work...

Tonight...I felt wool...into gold...

I begin by wrapping the goose in a beautiful heathered gold wool...tacking it down with a single needle so that it stays in place.

I lay strands of yellow and rose gold fibers over the wool and felt the fibers firmly together.

I am amazed at how the gold strands weave themselves into the fabric so easily...

Tonight I understand the glory and power Rumplestiltzkin felt as he turned straw into gold. I am felting wool into gold...and it's fantastic!!!