Inspiration

Many things in nature excite and inspire me.  Here you can see some pictures of the development of a small art quilt from sea urchins.  These urchins I collected in a Norweigan fjord near Trondheim when I was 20 years old and backpacking and Eurailing across Europe for three months.  I went out in a boat on the fjord with a long pole with a plastic milk jug that had the bottom cut off. I scooped up the sea urchins and then they were eaten and cleaned in the home of the family with whom I was staying.  Norway was my last stop in the 3 months of travel, otherwise, I don't know how they would have survived my backpack and the youth hostels!  I've always cherished these urchin exo-skeletons and here they've become a small quilt with a radiant pattern.

Everything begins with a 100% wool knitted sweater that is washed for 2 hours on the hottest cycle possible, tossing and turning in the washing machine with wool soap.  It is the process of hot water and agitation (facilitated by the soap) that felts wool and causes the natural fibers to reconnect and interlace in a new, more compact way that we recognize as felt.  Every bit of wool is from a different sheep, that wool is spun differently, the sweater is knit in a different way - so every sweater felts differently, providing varied thicknesses and textures - but it is all felt.  Now, this renewed material is what I go to work on - cutting, sewing, appliquéing, embroidering and fashioning into something totally new and upcycled! Pins, wallets, purses, pillows, mini-quilts - recycled felt in all colors is a dream.