Little Birdies...

Two little birdies...so much fun! 

A little over a month ago, my older daughter and I went to a needle felting class offered through our extension office.  This is the project that I started in that class.  It is loosely based on inspiration garnered from photos of felted birds done by other's that I had viewed on-line.  There is a lot of inspiration out there...google felted birds, select images and there are more ideas than a person could manage in a lifetime...

For a first attempt at needle felting, I am incredibly pleased with how my two little birdies turned out!

The background layers are felted wool sweaters.  I cut squares of different sizes and blanket stitched them together to get the rustic, layered background that I wanted.  The little birds themselves are a variety of wool fibers...our instructor had a plethora of supplies.  It was great fun to play with everything she brought.  By the time we left, after an enjoyable three hours of play, I just had the blanket stitching and the felting of the branches that overlap the stiching to complete...

I finally finished this project last Monday evening, blanket stiching the squares together and then the fleece back to the pillow front.  I chose fleece for the back primarily because it has a little more stretch to it than the felted wool sweaters, making it easier to get the pillow form into the envelope.  You can see that it has a very plump pillow form inside of it.  I put this together envelope style as I like to be able to change my pillows out easily and/or wash them if the need arises (which it does as a three year old lives in this house). 

This was a really enjoyable project.  A change from what I usually do, and something I definitely want to do more of...very relaxing and fun, like painting with fiber.

Tomorrow, I will share the story of the lovely afghan you can see behind the pillow...until later, then!