Latest Folk Pillow~ Paddling Among Fish. The P.E.I. wool shop Fleece and Harmony is the real woolly deal with happy sheep hanging around the shop's acreage and where the wool makers create from scratch their nature-inspired hand-dyed yarns.
Paddling Among the Fish (Handknit, stitched, felt) by Minaz Jantz
In the fall of 2017, a week's holiday to Prince Edward Island found me walking the woodlots drenched in colorful leaves and time to seek out the next batch of wool to influence a new folk art pillow. 'Paddling Among Fish' reflects my gratitude for the wonder of the marine species that share this grande planet.
Swimming and paddling the kayak, I am in floating bliss while in a meditative mind. Each time I go to the water, I am replenished, uplifted, and relaxed. Water is my healing source and I am grateful to have manifested living on a lake and the Atlantic ocean.
The Fleece and Harmony wool colors remind me of water and so this batch of wool became the next pillow cover for Paddling Among Fish. The brilliant blue wool is a curvy crochet stitch that resembles water waves to which we live together but are separated by water.
The fish appliques are made from a mix of roving wool colors using hand carder brushes to combine and blend the colors to make the pre-felt fabric which I can cut and shape to suit my applique designs.
To attach all the felted appliques to another piece of thin black felted fabric, they are secured with running stitches to give the applique stability on a stretchy knitted pillow cover.
Each needle felted applique is complete with embroidery BEFORE attaching to the knitted pillow cover as you can see in the above photo. The boat is made from salvaging a felted knit slipper and the brown wool jacket of the paddler is a pre-felt saved from another project. Nothing goes to waste with felted wool!
The backside of my Folk Art Pillows has a simple cable stitch running horizontally to create texture and showcase the beauty of the yarn. The backside of the Folk Art Pillows is for laying one's tired head so as not to cause wear and tear on the applique design on the front side.
All the Folk Art pillows I design are conversation pieces in any room and like them to not only be decorative but also to be SOFT and huggable.
Who doesn't like BLING? My pillows get the BLING treatment and love coming up with the goodie bits to adorn the edges of my pillows. This pillow has two stuffed crochet fish instead of the predictable tassels which I like to call, 'Fish-assles' !!!
Just after a winter storm, I thought it to be time for an interesting backdrop to photograph 'Paddling Among Fish' pillow. Luck would have it, I found a huge tree washed up on the ocean shore which was perfect!
All my Folk Art Pillows are made to be one-of-a-kind, no two pillows are alike. The collection is for sale. The Folk Art Pillow Collection and my artworks will be featured during the studio event, Follow the Yellow Balloons this September 30, Sunday 2018.
To see other Folk Art Pillows
Click on the image below to go to the post:
No comments :
Post a Comment