FeltLOOM Owners Meeting

The weekend of September 14-16, 2012 I attended the Second Annual FeltLOOM owners meeting at LanMark Farm in Sharpsburg, Kentucky. Much of Kentucky is picturesque and LanMark Farm is a good example of the state’s beauty.

This is the view that greeted me each morning.

LanMark Farm produces and mills  its own wool, llama and alpaca fiber. These are but two of the llama herd.

The Greeters

Given that as a yarn sales rep I spend so much time sleeping in hotels I opted to set up a tent and sleep on the farm.

My home away from home.

Twenty three attendees listened to seven speakers with topics ranging from the technical aspects of how different needles in the machine effect the type of felt produced to color theory in dyeing and marketing in both the real and virtual worlds.

Everyone contributed to discussions about their own personal experiences in felt making. Quite a few FeltLOOMers brought finished products to show. The meeting room displayed a variety of FeltLOOM fabric and garments.

Purchased silk fabric enhanced with merino felt.

New tools were on display in the mill. Light tables are a great benefit when laying out fiber to ensure that the felt is the same thickness throughout.

I came home with new insight into the creative possibilities of my machine and am eager to put my new knowledge to use.  And I have been in the studio, here are two of my latest creations.

The first of many hats I see in my future.

Rosebud Baby Booties, merino wool on a cotton scrim fabric.

Ellenda Visions’ Blog World Premier

Welcome to the first official post of the Ellenda Visions blog.

I have for a very long time dreamed of being involved in  some sort of craft cooperative fair trade type business. Typically these types of businesses have artists based in some distant land where English is not the native language.  I saw this as a major obstacle not being the sort of individual who takes off to foreign lands where I don’t speak the language all by my lonesome. Then one day about four years ago while talking to my friend Laura Bellows about the expansion of her business, JUL Designs, it occurred to me ( or maybe Laura I don’t really remember) that it might be possible to expand her business in Wayne County, TN., where I live. I could help her set it up. It was a great idea! We made huge plans, she flew from Baltimore  to TN to check things out. We met with local business people, we talked, we talked some more, we planned. …….Nothing happened.

Laura’s business continued to grow.

I still had the dream.

Then in June 2011 I saw an ad in Spin Off magazine for a Felt Loom.  I knew it instantly in my heart of hearts  this was the key I needed to build my business.   On December 5, 2011 I took delivery of my Felt Loom.   May 5, 2012 I had my first sales booth at Wings to the Spirit conference in Pensacola, Florida.   October 20, 2012 I will be a vendor attending     Fiber in the ‘Boro  in Murfresboro, TN.

I still have the dream, the vision, that through my fiber, and textile craft obsession I can build a business that will enable me to employ myself  as well as a few others and make my small spot on the planet a better place.