HAPPY TO JOIN THIS FORUM!

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Hi, a new member from Chicago! Retired educator but still enjoy learning.  Love wool and other natural fibers, so have begun to
felt, both wet and needle.  Hope to start the new year right by following this blog and its very cool 4 founders.

As a new felter of one year my biggest problem seems to be motivation. Have taken a couple of workshops--and I have the time, I have the wool and all of the tools, but I find I need a sense of camaraderie to keep me focused.  Hoping to find that through this forum and fabulous site.  Chicago has a very cold climate, and it's a bit isolating at times.  Any tips for others from severe climates?
How do you all stay motivated?

[lyn]

Hello from wet and windy England! A good motivator is taking up the studio challenge.....

link

....and getting inspiration from other members. It's a great forum and I hope you enjoy it.

[MTRuth]

Welcome luvswool! Glad you joined us and Chicago has been certainly getting it's share of cold weather lately. I'm from Montana and we have lots of cold weather and short days in the winter.

I think that the forum really helps to keep you motivated because you can see what other's are doing and ask questions, show what you've made and have a real sense of community although we live very far apart. The more you participate and join in, the more you will get out of it. As Lyn suggested, the quarterly challenges can provide a lot of motivation. Take a look at the link and see what you can come up with and then share what you've made here on the forum.

The other suggestion is to find like minded people in your area. When you took your classes, was that locally? If so, that would be a good source to find others who enjoy felting. Otherwise, look where you can buy supplies. Are there other people buying the same fibers etc. that you are. Strike up a conversation. Sometimes spinners and weavers guilds have felt makers as well. See if there is a guild (there must be in the Chicago area) and go to a couple of meetings to meet others and get involved. I have started several groups here of fiber artists and we get together monthly and play.

[Pandagirl]

Welcome luvswool! I'm born and raised in Chicago living in the western suburbs. I think you've found the right place to find inspiration and motivation. I certainly have. I've taken a couple of classes, but usually alone. Most of my learning has been online and in books, but felting has really come alive for me on this forum. I hope you will enjoy the camaraderie here and learn from the wonderful members around the globe. It is a lot of fun! I look forward to seeing some of your work.

[halay]

Luvswool, welcome to this club. I'm also new to this forum and have found a lot of inspiration, useful advice and wonderful tutorials. If I have a specific question, members are always ready to help you. I hope you enjoy this community.

[zed]

Hi Luvswool, and welcome to the forum

Yeah, the Challenges definitely get you thinking and motivated, and you can make as many pieces as you like.
Here's the link to some of the previous challenges feltingandfiberstudio.com/community/2011-2012-challenges/
if you hover over the Community drop down menu, you'll see links to 2013 and each of those pages has a gallery subpage.
We definitely have camaraderie here and love to see others' work too, so please show us lots of photos

[Shepherdess]

HI for the frozen north. I am up in Ottawa Ontario Canada. There should be a weavers and spinners guild in Chicago and I bet there are some other fiber groups too. i found this meet up www.meetup.com/Chicagofiberartists/ when I did a quick search for fiber arts Chicago. this might be good too fiberarts.org/directories/guilds/Illinois
As to felting in a cold climate the biggest thing for me is to keep my hands from drying out. A nice soap to felt with and lots hand cream through the winter months. The best thing thou is that you can make lots of useful things if you get cold weather.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

It's so encouraging to receive these warm welcomes and great suggestions, so thank you all! I look forward to sharing and learning
and am definitely up for the first quarter challenge!

[koffipot]

Hello Luvswool and welcome. I'm sure you'll enjoy this forum, everyone is happy to help, enjoy the first quarter challenge.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Thanks, Judith! I took Zed's advice and checked out the gallery of past challenges and saw some gorgeous work, including yours!
Thanks to Shepherdess for the link to Illinois guilds, and although most are far from Chicago, I found one in Northbrook (just 20
minutes away by car) which encompasses needle arts…a possible fit since I also have embroidered and quilted in the past.

[Shepherdess]

I saw another link on facebook today. I don't know if there is anything different there.  www.interweave.com/spin/resources/spinning_guilds/?country=USA&state=IL