Welcome to the NEFG

The Northeast Feltmakers Guild is a nonprofit organization whose mission is educating and inspiring members and the public about felted fiber art through an inclusive and friendly community. All are welcome! Join us here.

Inclusive Community

Our members are now located not only in the Northeast but all around the country and the world. All felters, from novices to skilled teachers, wet felters and needle felters, are welcome.

The Guild uses Google Groups and hosts active Facebook and Instagram pages to support and help our members to connect.

We are an all-volunteer organization, and we welcome your active participation on committees and in governance roles.

Events & Programs

Workshops, regional get-togethers, member events, exhibition opportunities and more...

Upcoming Events

Education

The NEFG maintains an online Learning Library with free tutorials and recorded programs for members.

Our regular meetings and free workshops are accessible on Zoom for all.

Members can attend our in-person annual NEFG spring retreat and program, gather in regional groups for the August challenge, attend the November business meeting with fall program, and join commissioned in-person workshops held throughout the year.

NEFG member @lynslade recently completed this gorgeous landscape. It is needle felted on Lyn’s hand dyed wool.

Santa and his reindeer needle-felted by NEFG member @feltigo are headed to @cleverhandgallery for the Christmas Season. Ho Ho Ho!

Eek! Look at these sweet little mice created by first time felters. Great instruction by @curly.n.crafty.

NEFG member @judith.m.daniels is doing some slow stitching on this vessel. The embroidery enhances the silk on the felted wool.

Ellen Silberlicht has been busy making purses. These are two recent beauties, made of merino wool and silk. Both purses include interior pockets for phones or small items. 💜

Managed to get a few of the NEFG members at the Basking Ridge show to stand with their gorgeous felt work! Ribbon of Highway will remain up through November. Thanks to all members who participated and all of the visitors who came to see this amazing exhibit.

#highwayart
#northeastfeltmakersguild
#woolart

Don’t be afraid! This bear is the greeter at the front door of the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge, NJ. This is the location of the NEFG’s exhibit, Ribbon of Highway.

The exhibit is a manifestation of a challenge the guild members did as they created felted works of art inspired by the variety of landscapes in our natural world. Each piece of artwork contains a strip of grey fabric going from edge to edge. When hung together, the grey strip connects all of the pieces together.

Go check out the show! It is up until November 23rd.

#northeastfeltmakersguild
#nefg
#woolart
#handmadeart
#woolexhibit
#wetfelting
#highwayart

Please Play! Is a bonus feature at the Ribbon of Highway show in Basking Ridge, NJ. NEFG members created handmade felt squares with black yarn entering and exiting the squares at an exact measured location. This interactive exhibit allows visitors to move/rotate the squares, yet the pieces always remain connected.

As guild members, we are from all over, yet we always remain connected. ❤️

#northeastfeltmakersguild
#NEFG
#interactiveart
#interactiveexhibit
#collaborativeart
#collaborativeartproject

The Ribbon of Highway is the manifestation of a challenge the Northeast Feltmakers Guild (NEFG) took on. Members created custom pieces of art inspired by a variety of landscapes in our natural world.

Each member incorporated a single strip of gray cotton gauze fabric into their art. The strip of fabric, which runs edge to edge in each individual piece, connects throughout the entire exhibit, capturing the interconnectedness of all of us.

The exhibit is currently displayed at the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge, NJ. The show runs from October 30th - November 23rd.

#nefg
#northeastfeltmakersguild
#fiberart
#feltart
#highwayart
#memberexhibition2024
#wetfeltart

This lovely shawl is by @barbarajonesryan, with inspiration from a post by Silas Corbet ( Nuno Wt Felters and Fibre Artist Show). #feltedshawl #wetfelting #felting#wetfelted

The final post of our member spotlight on Elizabeth Stubb @elizstubbs is her piece titled PATRIARCHY. 67”h x 37”w. 12 panels, wet-felted, with added needle felting, stitching, beads and sequins, on purchased cotton backing. Recently shown at an exhibit in Lexington, MA called Free Speech, at the LexArt Gallery.

PATRIARCHY - Artist Statement

Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are held by men. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, June 2023, via Wikipedia.)
As children, most of us are taught to share, to take turns, not to hurt each other, to tell the truth. We learn these basic rules of civility so that we can live together in relative harmony. This is a highly idealized view, of course, but it is a foundation that is taught by parents and teachers to the very young, at least. As children we trust that adults hold these same values. We look up
to them as examples of how to live. In recent years, many of our elected officials have proven to be
anything but admirable. They have normalized behavior that not so long ago would have precluded their election. What could lead them to abandon their principles? How could they have strayed so far from the concept of ‘public servant’? As we read about
increasingly outrageous behavior in the daily headlines, we wonder what motivates them beyond money and power.

In this series of non-specific portraits, I have depicted their motivations in the style of cartoons, not as thought bubbles, but as something more intestinal within them, like hunger. Some of them are humorous, others ominous. This series is only a small
selection; there seems to be an endless number waiting for their turn to step into power.

In the final analysis, it is of grave concern that those in the position of making life-altering decisions do not have our best interests in mind. This is my lament, in visual form.

Elizabeth Stubbs, April 2024

#wetfelted #needlefelted #patriarchy

Next in our members spotlight on Elizabeth Stubbs are some of her abstract pieces. She describes them as follows:

These are pieces I do when I need a break from the disciplines and principles of art-making that I learned in art school and have always tried to bring to my work. I have always had a rather uneasy relationship with abstract and non-representational art. And yet I love color and pattern. These pieces provide some relief from my more serious work and bring me a lot of joy.

#wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #feltedart #feltedartwork

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND? Wet felted, with needle felt, added prefelts, locks and stitching by Elizabeth Stubbs @elizstubbs

Elizabeth made this piece for our guild’s August challenge 2024, Ribbon of Highway project. About 20”h x 24”w. The challenge asked all members to incorporate a ribbon that will serve as the connecting element for all the pieces. The members were asked to listen to the Woody Guthrie song for inspiration. Our exhibits opens this November.

#wetfelted #wetfelting #needlefelted #needlefelting #feltedlandscape

Next in our members spotlight of Elizabeth Stubbs is this piece called “Allegory: The Garden of Good and Evil”. 33”x37”. Wet felted, needle felted and stitched. Various wool fibers, flax, cotton, viscose. #wetfelting #wetfelted

Next in our members spotlight of Elizabeth Stubbs is these self portraits.

The first one was made for a guild challenge inspired by a piece of art we like and the second one is a sample for a class taught by Elizabeth.

Wet and needles felted. #wetfelting #needlefelting #wetfelted #selfportrait

Today we are starting a member spotlight of Elizabeth Stubbs (@elizstubbs) with her wet felted landscapes with needle felted details. Elizabeth describes her felt journey as follows:

When I was a child I loved to draw and paint and make things with my hands. My mother and grandmother taught me to sew. When I grew up I went to art school, majored in painting and eventually became an art teacher in order to support my painting habit. I loved teaching, but it took most of my time. I took a break and became a freelance illustrator for many years, during which time I had my two children.

I sent them to a Waldorf school and eventually became a Waldorf teacher myself. During my teacher training, I was exposed to felt making for the first time and it was love at first sight. The first thing I ever made was a wet-felted ball for a child to play with. The transformation of the huge cloud of loose fiber to a firm, perfect sphere seemed like magic. I made toys for my classroom and many paintings with wool. After nearly 20 years I decided to leave teaching and pursue my own work full-time once more. Now I spend as much time as I can in my studio as well as teaching felt making to adults part time.

#wetfelting #wetfelted #needlefelting #needlefelted #feltedlandscape

Let’s celebrate prime wool month and lovely sheep with #feltuary2024 !

Celebrate with us by sharing a felted piece a day (or few days) with the hashtag #feltuary2024. You interpret the prompt.

#northeastfeltmakersguild

Upcoming @northeastfeltmakersguild Retreat registration alert!

In one week, registration will open on the new website for the April 6 - 9, 2024 Retreat. See the details below.

Registration opens promptly on Jan 3 at 10 AM at https://www.nefguild.org/

Retreat registration will only be available if you are active member of the guild and are logged into the new website. If you have not joined the new website, go to https://www.nefguild.org/ and click on Log In and then Join Us.

You can preview the Retreat information (eg. agenda, location, accommodation options, prices, etc.) in the Events section. https://www.nefguild.org/retreat-information

#northeastfeltmakersguild #feltingretreat #feltingretreats

Farm Fresh Felt Exhibit of @northeastfeltmakersguild at @larac_arts open till November 4, 2023

We conclude our member spotlight of Lise Poulsen @gauchofibres with this stylized Kimono.

#felt #feltingwool #feltingwork #felting #felted #wetfeltingwool #wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #wetfeltingwork #handmade #feltedwool #nunofelt #nunofeltingfashion #nunofeltingclothes #northeastfeltmakersguild

Two more stylized Kimono’s from Lise Poulsen @gauchofibres.

#felt #feltingwool #feltingwork #felting #felted #wetfeltingwool #wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #wetfeltingwork #handmade #feltedwool #northeastfeltmakersguild #nunofeltingclothes

We are continuing our member spotlight of Lise Poulsen @gauchofibres and her Stylised Kimonos inspired by the elegance of the traditional clothing.

Wet felted from merino top, embellished with silk fabric & fibres, handspun yarn, and other fibers.

#felt #feltingwool #feltingwork #felting #felted #wetfeltingwool #wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #wetfeltingwork #handmade #feltedwool #northeastfeltmakersguild

Today we are starting our member spotlight of Lise Poulsen @gauchofibres.

Lise’s stylized Kimonos are inspired by the elegance of the traditional clothing.

Each rice is Wet felted from merino top, embellished with silk fabric & fibres, handspun yarn, and other fibers.

Each kimono is approx. 30” high and cut from a 6’ length of felt, so that the back is as patterned as the front. Vintage kimono silk pieces are used for the undershirt.

#felt #feltingwool #feltingwork #felting #felted #wetfeltingwool #wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #wetfeltingwork #feltedwool #northeastfeltmakersguild

We conclude our member spotlight of Debbie Penley @curly.n.crafty with this post, in her own words:

And here's where we come full circle. Animals are still my passion. But I don't like to stay within the confines of known, existing animals. And the techniques one can use with wet felting to create interesting textures and shapes allows me to think outside of the box. I started creating make-believe animals a couple of years ago to challenge myself with a new felting technique each day for a month. This idea has remained in my head ever since, and I look forward to creating more detailed, intricate pieces in the future.

#felt #feltingwool #feltingwork #felting #felted #wetfeltingwool #wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #wetfeltingwork #handcrafted #handcrafts #handmade #feltedwool #needlefelting #needlefelt #needlefelted northeastfeltmakersguild

Next in our member spotlight of Debbie Penley @curly.n.crafty is her wet felted vessels. Debbie describes her work as follows:

It took me a couple of years before I dared try my hand at wet felting. Needle felting seemed intuitive - just another form of sculpting but with wool instead of my usual - clay. But wet felting was a mystery to me, and I wasn't interested in clothing, hats, or scarfs. It wasn't until I started seeing sculptural wet felted pieces that I decided to finally delve in. Once I made my first basic bowl, I started taking classes from well-known artists such as Pam de Groot, Fiona Duthie, and Gladys Paulus, as well as scouring any books I could that showed various textural and sculptural techniques, even if they weren't in English. The orange piece is one of my first that I created before the classes, and still remains one of my favorite. Simple resists and spikes were all it took to create something that brings me joy every time I look at it. Pods are also a favorite (among many wet felters!) and I still love the crater effect. And I still appreciate making a simple bowl shape, now that I'm not afraid of mixing water and wool!

#felt #feltingwool #feltingwork #felting #felted #wetfeltingwool #wetfelt #wetfelting #wetfelted #wetfeltingwork #handcrafted #handcrafts #handmade #feltedwool #northeastfeltmakersguild #feltedvessel #feltedpod #feltedpods #feltedvessels

Continuing our member spotlight of Debbie Penley @curly.n.crafty are these pieces described by Debbie as follows:

Despite my playful side, I also venture into animal realism. I seem to particularly enjoy when I can get small-scale versions of an animal that are quite accurate (the gorilla, for example, is only about 3 inches high.) Some of these pieces take several days, and the monotony of working on small details can be tedious at times. The end result, however, is always worth it.

#northeastfeltmakersguild #felt #felting #needlefelting #needlefelt #needlefelted #feltedanimals #feltedanimal

Next in our spotlight of Debbie Penley @curly.n.crafty is her two dimensional relief work which she describes as follows:

Though I struggle with 2 dimensional renderings, I do venture into relief work. Using traced images to needle felt in a way similar to paint-by-number, I find that I can still bring pieces to life in a way to satisfies my sculptural soul.

#northeastfeltmakersguild #needlefelting #needlefelt #needlefelted #felting #feltedreliefs #feltedrelief

Today we are starting our member spotlight of Debbie Penley @curly.n.crafty. Debbie describes her pieces here as follows:

I began my foray into wool sculpture with needle felting. I started off with animals, usually "cute" version or animals with human characteristics. Wool was a medium that naturally lent itself to animal creations and I still smile every time I see an animal personality emerge from my work.

#northeastfeltmakersguild #felt #needlefelting #needlefelted #needlefelt #feltedanimal #feltedanimals

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