Last night we had a lovely, creative needle felting event at our local synagogue in Beit Shemesh. Fifteen women attended and left at the end of the evening with beautifully crafted needle felted art. I taught the craft and supplied the materials. The foam upon which the women worked came from a mattress my son cut up for me… My husband graciously hammered the needles into corks so they could be held easily. I bought the materials at a local shop in Nes Ziona. It all took some orchestrating, but it worked out very well. My friend Eileen organized the event on behalf of the synagogue. Thanks, Eileen!

As you can see from the photos some women followed photos they brought with them. Some worked from their imagination. The result was that they enjoyed, relaxed and had a very nice time.

Eileen sent out a mail at the end… “A great big thank you to Cindy Richard for teaching a wonderful class on needle felting. The women’s evening last night was fun filled and relaxing. Cindy taught us the craft of needle felting which was enjoyed by all the attendees. At the end of the evening we each took home our own beautifully handcrafted picture. Thank you to Cindy and all the women that attended!”

I realize this is a bit off topic, but I thought you might give me a bit of latitude. On Friday a group of 250 women in the town where I live, Beit Shemesh, Israel, got together and performed a flashmob in the middle of the town square. It was great energy, a lot of fun and was a grand reminder we are part of a larger picture.

Official Bet Shemesh Women Flashmob

Just to fill you in, lately there has been a lot of negative news coming out of Beit Shemesh. An extreme faction of religious orthodox men in the city have been demonstratively belligerent to the modern orthodox community. The flashmob was an expression of women in our city. It was meant to show the world there is more to Beit Shemesh than has been in the news lately.
Enjoy!

Thursday night Shulamit Montel and her friends enjoyed needle felting landscapes during Shulamit’s bat mizvah party. I taught a group of 12 year old girls to create needle felted designs during an hour-long activity. My daughter and I brought all the supplies and prepared kits to the hall. Each girl was able to choose a design she wanted to make. At the end of the activity each girl had a lovely keepsake to take home.

According to Judy Montel, Shulamit’s mom, “Shulamit and her friends, both her school friends and her bnei akiva friends, had a wonderful time with the project, and so did her cousins”.

Here are some photos from the event.

The Dec / Jan issue of Quilting Arts Magazine features the Pet Peeves Challenge. The magazine accepted many of the small quilts that were sent in for the challenge and printed photos of the quilts. I am pleased to share this link to the magazine, which shows the table of contents of this issue.
Quilting Arts Dec / Jan Table of Contents
And some photos…

On Dec 7th there was a fashion show held as a fundraiser for a local children’s services organization in our area of the world. Fashions of all sorts and colors were shown and modeled by volunteers who banded together to help raise money for this group, which assists kids with learning disabilities. So many people have used these services; so many kids have benefited from them. Even my kids went there.
I had a table at the event filled with all my new work — lots of bags and belts and scarves. Danielle, my daughter, came to help me out. Here are some photos… Thanks Danielle!

I’m running a huge sale on some of my art and bags in my Etsy shop for only the next 2 weeks. This is the time to shop! Visit right away while items last.
CindyRQuilts Etsy Shop ON SALE

Mercaz Rakefet is running an incredibly fun fundraising event for women. Rakefet provides developmental therapies for children in Bet Shemesh.

Ladies, come on out and show your support for all the designers! I will have a table and my accessories, such as quilted bags and silk scarves, will be modeled on the runway!!

7 December 2011 at Kibbutz Zora

Israel’s national flower is the poppy. In the spring, fields are carpeted with these amazing wild flowers of red petals with black centers. I had this in mind when I composed me latest needle felt design, which I call ” Field of Poppies”.

It’s made of a medley of wool fibers sculpted together in a soothing composition. I hope you like it.

It’s available on my Etsy shop. So, come visit.

I’ve discovered another loved fiber art technique: Needle felting! It’s great fun made by hand from pure wool fibers. The basics are that you use special needles with barbs along the shaft. These barbs help to weave the fibers of the wool as you punch the fibers on a felt base.

I’ve learned so much from others who enjoy felting and are incredibly talented at it.
Visit Debra at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Deebs. Her work is amazing and she has been kindly sharing her knowledge with me. Debra refers to this process as “wool painting”.

Together with my friend Marina we have been creating beautiful artwork using this technique. Just today we spread out Merino wool fibers in a wet felt process and made felt mats, which will be used as the basis for later art projects.

Here are a couple of examples of some new pieces I made this week that are for purchase via my Etsy shop.

Sea of Galilee Needle Felt
Jordan River Needle Felt

Let me know if you want to learn to do this. It’s handmade so required supplies basically consist of wool fibers and needles. I found a local store to buy the supplies, called HabayitShelBitik.

What is the best market research? The commissioned work! Our cousin called and said she wanted a bag to give as a gift. But it needed a zipper and it had to have shoulder straps and maybe some pockets… Pockets are always good. Voila! The new fashion shoulder bag is born!
I just delivered the bag to her and she was really pleased. It is now available on Etsy. Comes in lots of batiks (options shown in the last image). It’s lightweight, colorful, fashionable and washable.
Come visit! Shoulder bag.
Enjoy.