I was thrilled when Kathrin Weber of Blazing Shuttles contacted me about doing a special piece of her farmhouse in North Carolina. Next year the farmhouse will be in her family 100 years!

Kathrin has beautiful gardens surrounding her home and studio. I first started by doing a felt study of flowers using some tussah silk as well as merino wool. Silk felts easily with bits of merino wool - it gives a wavy, shiny appearance in comparison to the wool.

After reviewing several photos of the farmhouse, I completed a quick sketch for perspective study and pulled some fibers I wanted to use. A quick sketch is helpful in simplifying the details as too much detail can overwhelm the composition. It is more typical for me to work directly from my photos. Layout occurs in thirds. Example: sky is 1/3. The tree is layered on top of the sky by twisting silk roving. Leaves are applied by using scissors to snip the wool over the sky. Most of the wetfelting wools come from Carr Park Artisans (21 microns). Wool roving whisps are wrapped around my finger to leave an open space for silk bits in the center of the flower in the foreground. I have been scouting a few Blazing Shuttle yarns to use in the finishing of this piece. I think it will be especially meaningful to Kathrin to know that some of her dyeing handiwork has gone into the piece.

I have been scouting a few Blazing Shuttle yarns to use in the finishing of this piece. I think it will be especially meaningful to Kathrin to know that some of her dyeing handiwork has gone into the piece. I’ve done some corrective Needlefelting for the house and added a lot of fine details after wetfelting. It was necessary for me to finish the house prior to Needlefelting the trunk of the tree. I’ve also machine stitched and added some additional foliage and tussah silk flowers around the front of the house and in the garden. The sunflowers and spiderplants add a pop of color and are prevalent in her flower gardens at this time of year. It is much prettier in person than I can capture in a photo as I imagine her gardens might be.
The last stage is hand stitching. I’ve used a variety of random stitches using Blazing Shuttle Thrums, silk, and cotton embroidery thread (six strand) around the flowers and home. The finished piece is approximately 12” x 13” after completion and one of my favorites to date.

Blue Ridge Mountain Home

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