Students Share Their Projects

mushroom house

In the face of COVID-19, my teaching schedule tanked.  Facing March and April classes that had already been scheduled and booked, I turned the loss into an opportunity, transforming the materials into kits and the instruction time into recorded tutorials.  This allowed me to launch seven new needle felting kits with accompanying video instruction, which […]

Developing a New Model for Teaching Fiber Arts

Duluth folk school

Developing a New Model for Teaching Fiber Arts Until Spring of 2020 I had spend years immersed in an “in person” fiber arts teaching schedule, with needle felting classes on Saturdays, Painting with Wool felting classes on Sundays, two-day weaving intensives, and many Fridays travel teaching to folk schools for felting and punch needle rug […]

Adapting Creatively

front door sign

Sudden onset lifestyle change:  Social distancing, lockdowns, self-quarantining, sheltering in place.  These have all been added to our vocabulary in a matter of a couple of weeks, and we’re all feeling the pinch.  While I work from home (our family farm, my studio, and our farm store and gallery), so being at home is no […]

Making Miniature Dogs in Wool

scottie

Dogs have played a special role in our family, from early memories with Grandma and Grandpa’s Golden named Honey, to the misadventures of the Black Lab Meg to our sweet little Bichon Sophie, and hard-working farm dogs Lena and Finlee.  We’ve had furry family members in all shapes, colors, and sizes. But it wasn’t until […]

Making Queenie’s Miniature–Pet Portrait Commissions

Queenie the Cat

It started with the Down on the Farm newspaper article I’d written on teaching needle felting classes. Readers in Washburn clipped it out and sent it to a friend who now lives in California. Not long afterwards, I receive a call from Elena–full of enthusiasm. She’d seen the image of my hands holding the two […]

Needle Felting at the Duluth Folk School

cardinal demo

In addition to keeping this blog, I write a weekly column “Down on the Farm” that appears in several local newspapers.  Last week’s theme was inspired by teaching a “Needle Felt a Cute Cardinal” class at the Duluth Folk School.  Below is the full article, along with some amazing photos by the school’s director Bryan […]

A Festival of Needle Felting

felting class

I remember the interview for Vermont College, when I was asked what I hoped to be doing in 10 years.  I remember enthusiastically relaying that I wanted to have my own folk school, teaching traditional skills and keeping them from becoming lost arts.  That was in 2004. Ten years later, classes and workshops  were part […]

Needle Felting Kits are Here!

bluebird needle felting kit

Sharing the creative experience of needle felting with students has been both creative and rewarding.  But what if I could package these classes into accessible forms that fiber enthusiasts anywhere could take home, gift, or share with family and friends?  It has been a real journey developing this product, informed by my teaching experience and […]

Needle Felting: Magic with Wool

Wet felting can be fun in its own way, but it’s messy, takes up space, and is relatively unpredictable.  For me as a tapestry artist, a medium where the ability for precision is a cultivated skill, wet felting becomes very frustrating.  But when I tried needle felting two Januaries ago, I thought, “Yes, this is it!”  […]