Description

Schedule

Friday check in is at 5:00. Meet the instructor, explore the schoolhouse and unpack in your room. Enjoy a delicious meal at 6:00 and meet your fellow participants. Then learn about needle felting tools and materials and make your first needle felted pieces: felted leaves and acorns. The rest of the evening is yours to relax by the fireplace, read a book or head to bed in your beautiful guest room. Saturday will be filled with projects! After a 9:00 breakfast, you’ll learn to manipulate fibers to needle felt fine lines, blend colors and fill spaces. Techniques will include shading and highlighting to create depth and volume and utilizing upcycled wool garments, “felted fertilizer” and yarn. You’ll learn ways to mount or frame your artworks and view felting resources and examples. Lunch will be served at 12:30. In the afternoon, you’ll use layers of fluffy wool to create a still life and wet felt it into fabric using soap, water and friction. We will also tour the mill! Supper is at 6:00, and the evening can be used to socialize, rest or finish some of the day’s projects. Sunday morning breakfast is at 9:00. Your wet felted still life will be dry and ready for you to add needle felted details. The retreat will conclude after lunch with a time to reflect and share and an opportunity to shop in the Nome Schoolhouse store.

Meet Your Teacher

Jean is a fiber artist living in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Her textile exploration began in the 70s when she tried batik, tie dye, and bleaching blue jeans. After retiring from teaching special education, she re-embraced textile art, taking classes and selling her felted and dyed artwork. Jean is a member of the Textile Center of Minnesota and has a degree in Art Education from the University of Minnesota. She loves sharing her knowledge of felting, especially at the Nome Schoolhouse.