Well, I am delighted to announce that I have completed the road sign, all be it not quite in the way that I blogged about yesterday!  Before starting the rolling and fulling again (dreaming of another 52 minutes rolling X 2 or 3) I asked myself why I didn’t do a little experiment and try out my sander and my washing machine to speed up the process.  I debated with my conscience for about ten minutes, hand made versus machine assisted and finally decided that it was only a road sign, not a beautiful commissioned scarf or wall hanging.  What was I sweating it out for, time = money and if my idea worked I could get started on my nuno mosaic series of wall hangings, these will not have any mechanical assistance!  Well, I sanded the whole sign for a couple of minutes until I was absolutely sure that there were no loose fibres, bundled it into a duvet and stuck it into my machine on a quick 40 degree wash cycle.  The result was pretty good after the first go, I trimmed the edges a little and stuck it in again for a further cycle at the same temperature.  Once this was completed I pulled and stretched the edges using a pliers and then rolled the sign in my bamboo blind again for a few minutes, rotating it every now and again until I was satisfied with the shape.  Although I know that the felting process was not exactly purist I have to say that the result is just what I need for the end of the lane, a tough and hardwearing (hopefully!) sign that will alert visitors to where my studio is.  It did seem pointless when I thought things over, spending hours more slaving over the thing when I could really be starting on the series of mosaic wallhangings that I have been dreaming and plotting about over the whole holiday season!  I will take some images of the sign in the morning (writting this post in the early hours!) and also measure the exact amount that it shrunk in the making.

Bartering is fun!

One other thing that I have done today is to sign up to the Barter Bunch.  This is a great idea for trading hand made goodies that Malissa has started on her blog, check it out and see if you might like to join. 

The things that I can make and trade are my own felt designs and include scarves, jewellery, vessels, small bags and wallhangings.  The type of items that I might be interested in trading these for include one off silver or ceramic beads, handmade cards, bags, sewing (possibly sewing my nuno fabrics into gorgeous clothes to my design!!), handmade toiletries with no artificial colours or scents ….. the list is open ended, surprise me!