Hi everyone,
No I haven't been sick, just too jolly busy or tired. Been working all sorts of shifts, so body clock has been non co-operative, so I haven't been online for ages :-( .

Julie, I'm sorry about your breakin, I hope that you are feeling better now.

Wendy, I'm not in the least fussed, as I'm still battling with the one for Rae ( very sorry, Rae) I'm sure, that what ever you do will be fantastic, I'll love it anyway, especially if it is unusual :-)

Rae, I have had yours on my work table for a month, now. When I first put it together, it looked great, but I realised it wasn't going to be right, so I recarded it & started again. It is nearly finished, so it will be on it's way soon.  I thought i would have some clear time to do it, but  one of our staff members died,  unexpectedly, causing chaos. I ended up doing heaps of extra shifts , with others being sick too. ( unrelated).

With extra-family commitments, it has been looking at me. I have had a little play with it every now & again.  Amongst all of this, final renovations have been completed on our home, which was also time consuming on my days off.


I haven't even had time to read all the news, so am looking forward to that, maybe tomorrow.

I did spend 2 wonderful days doing Liz Evans' prefelt class, which was great. This gave me more inspiration with the scarf. I have used prefelts a before. but it was good to get another perspective on it. I was also able to do a portrait in class, which I must admit, I stuffed up later when doing some work on the machine ( overdid it :-( ) Ah well, it was good while it lasted. I'm looking forward to doing it again soon. I used a prefelt base, then cut out the sillouette in the same base, to create a guidline. [ I had a normal photo printed A4 size, then manipulated as a 7 layer high contrast picture, which gave a patchy look, ideal to use 'colour by number' style. I printed 2 copies of the patchy one - don't know the correct term- ] I cut one of the photos into templates for all the grey, black, brown, fawn, etc, prefelts I had made. This took hours, as some were very complicated. I found that i had to cut them out larger than each picture piece- as one would for a sewn applique-, to slightly overlap the edges.  It was then wet felted.

It was  a fascinating, fun exercise.  I managed to get the picture about 3/4 finished, which, for me, in a workshop, was amazing.
The other participants & I all had a fantastic time, with so many different things being accomplished on that weekend.

I now want to see how I can use the machine to something similar. I did do some hand needling on the picture, then thought I could do some on the machine too, but it was so concentrated, that it made a weak spot under the nose, which i have been unable to fix, I am undeterred , though, & will try again soon.

I wanted to go to the Bendigo Sheep & Wool show, but didn't have the time, as I only had one day, with a late shift before & early after. As it is a 7hour round trip, without the day there, it wasn't feasible in the end.

The Victorian Feltmakers Inc have their AGM & 10th anniversary this year. We are celebrating it with a dinner & fashion parade at the "Y" in Melbourne, on the 20th Aug. We are also producing a booklet, eventually, + making some more bunting. (not me actually, I haven't time) I'm supposed to be compering the fashion show.( I can talk non stop, underwater,so should be ok.)

I'm so looking forward to going to Canberra for the convergence. I'm staying on campus, mainly 'cos I couldn't be bothered driving to & from the facility before B'fast & after dinner. I do so much of it now. I reckon i can enjoy the company of some other like minded ladies, & have requested to be put with night owls like me :-) , if possible. I hope to see some of you there.....

My husband is going to NZ to see our daughter again, so I hope he can enjoy himself better, this time, now that his sleep apnoea is under control. I decided not to make a fuss about his trip, as then I can go there for felting things, in the future :-D . I was so dissapointed, in Jan, when we went, for the 1st time, not to be able to meet any felters at that time, as he was so exhausted. --

 a point to think about, off topic: If you know someone who snores a lot, has restless nights, stops breathing often, has high BP, stomach probs, heart probs, depression    Do encourage them to see about it , as they may have sleep apnoea. A CPAP machine at night can make a world of difference, saving a life & sanity for all..

Well, that's all folks, for now, I hope all your troubles are sorting themselves out, & that you all keep felting happily.

regards, Barb Mewburn  barbam@...