I have been obsessing about making a felted woven wool quilt for what seems like an age, way before I started sewing or blogging in the last few years … It's part and parcel of my synaesthesia really ...
The texture just sends me ... the colours have to be fuzzy colours, of course, but most colours can have a fuzzy feeling to them if they're the right tone.
Recently, when I saw this fab felted jumper quilt from @ RecoverGirl on Pinterest, my interest was piqued again:
I have to say that I find the primary blue-ish squares on this quilt just too jagged for the soft fuzziness. I'm not too keen on the red either, but it doesn't mean to say this isn't a lovely quilt!
I just can't stand primary blue. I bang on about it incessantly, but it really is one of the few negative aspects of my synaesthesia. This colour repulses me. physically. It makes my elbows scream ... it makes me teeth itch ... I won't go on ... It pains me to even include a square of it here. Ironically, my (inherited) sofa at home is pretty much exactly this colour, but I've learned to block the nausea. I never sit on it though!
I dislike all primaries when grouped together. It's not a tonal group I go for at all - I think it's why I have such a problem with most Christmas fabrics too ...
In search of the perfect cosychickfuzzyfelt I’ve stalked Etsy, visited Weeks Dye Works, wiped the drool off my spacebar, and moved on. Fact is, if you want to buy bundles of loveliness like this ready felted, it seems you have to go Stateside - I can’t even find wool jumpers in charity shops anymore! … But those shipping/possible customs costs eat into your fabric budget, which if you’re anything like me and on a pretty horrid fabric diet, is a crucial deal breaker.
I've been clobbered twice in a row! The Japanese Charm Swap - 1 metre of swap + 2 metres of Washi from superbuzzy came in at £1.09 over the £30 max and Kapow! I was hit with a £12 customs charge – well actually, it was £4 of VAT and a whacking £8 to the Royal Mail for handling (really? – I mean, surely that’s their job??)
Anyway, I digress.
I’ve even stalked plain dyed herringbone like this lambswool with an idea to felt and dye my own (until I saw it was £58 per m! - there’s seriously good {window}shopping to be had at fabrics and papers though!)
But after Ali@ VeryBerryHandmade and I had a little exchange about our obsession, I thought I’d just bite the bullet and order a little bundle, just to see if it’s really all I’ve fantasised that it is!
Run your virtual fingers over this little lot:
It’s from a fab little Etsy store called Quilting Acres based in Portland … These 8” squares are super soft and super cosy and this could be my new addiction!
I think the colours of this bundle work really well because they are heathery and my syn likes the fuzziness combo. If anything I was slightly disappointed that they're not as soft and fluffy to the touch as they are to my mind ... but to be honest, they are ridiculously soft.
Has anyone out there made a whole quilt with felted woven wool? I know people use it for applique, but judging by its invisibility in the UK, I’m guessing the answer is likely to be “no”!
But, if you do know anywhere in the UK I can get this … lemme know … I’m building my C*******s Wishlist …
