Linda Walsh Originals Blog Pages

Saturday, October 27, 2012

My Needle Felted Daisy Shadow Box Flower Picture



One of the needle felting flower molds I had bought that I was anxious to try was the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each, which is shown below.

After my sister went home from our needle felting adventure I decided to try creating a daisy using the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each I had bought and using the wonderful alpaca roving from her alpaca Sunflower.

Compared to some of the cheap roving I had been using some of which I really think was dyed raw mohair packaged as 100% wool roving Sunflower's white roving was exceptional.  It was beautifully white, fine, free of debris, and just plain exceptional to use.


The instructions and packaging of the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each were similar to the instructions and packaging of the Clover Applique Mold, Rose Design mentioned above so please see my comments on my Needle Felted Pink Rose and Multi-Colored Purple Rose Mini Pictures  post as they would be the same for the Clover daisy mold and all the rest of the Clover molds I bought.

Once again, I had decided to add a stem to my daisy as I wanted to enclose this needle felted flower within a  6" by 6" by 2" unfinished wood shadowbox that I had bought with a 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" opening. I pulled a 6" long and 1" wide piece of the lime green roving that I was using for my daisy's leaves and using the pen style needle felting tool and needle felting mat just kept rolling it and felting the lime green roving until I had a long stem about 5" long and about 1/2" wide that was pretty dense. Using the single needle felt needle I felted the leaves I had created for my daisy to the left and right sides of the middle of the stem with one leaf slightly higher than the other until they were secure and then I felted the top of the stem to the center back of my daisy.

I wanted to create a bright, sunny flower for the end of the Summer and early Fall season so I thought a Daisy would be perfect and envisioned it contained within a bright and cheery sponge painted shadowbox frame.

So, I painted the unfinished wood shadowbox (except the back inside wall) first with olive green acrylic paint and then sponge painted it with a combination of medium brown, dark olive green, yellow, and white acrylic paint.  Then I applied one coat of varnish.

I  cut a piece of yellow felt backing 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" and a piece of 1" of Nu-foam backing 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" and using the needle felting punch tool felted them together.  Then, using the pen style needle felting tool,  I needle felted my needle felted daisy flower with long felted stem in a curved manner to the yellow felt and Nu-foam. Once it was felted to the yellow felt and Nu-foam I used the single needle felting needle to securely felt it in place. After I was sure the daisy was securely felted to the yellow felt and Nu-foam I hot glued this to the inside back of the shadowbox frame that I had left unpainted.


I liked how my daisy turned out and think it will make a wonderful decoration for my late summer early Fall decor.  What do you think?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

How I Made My Needle Felted White and Multi-Colored White/Burgundy Rose Pictures


Since my pink and multi-colored purple roses had come out so well I decided to create an all white rose and multi-colored white/burgundy rose using some of my sister's alpaca, Sunflower's beautiful white roving.


As I was used to the rose mold by now I had no problem putting the white rose together except I was still breaking needles. The needle felting needles do tend to break very, very easily. I ended up going through 2 more needles before I was finished with all my roses. If you're going to embark on a needle felting adventure be sure to buy lots, and lots of replacement needles as you are going to need them.


My sister and I had bought some 6" by 8" unfinished picture frames with 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" picture opening that I thought would look nice when finished with my white rose and multi-colored white/burgundy rose.  Once again,  I had decided that gluing them within the picture frame area and having them projecting out of the frame would be a nice way to finish these roses.

For these two roses, however, I wanted them to appear to be long stemmed roses so I needed to create a long needle felted stem for each.

I pulled a 6" long and 1" wide piece of the green felting that I was using for this particular rose's leaves and using the pen style needle felting tool and needle felting mat just kept rolling it and felting the green roving until I had a long stem about 5" long and about 1/2" wide that was pretty dense. Using the single needle felt needle I felted the leaves I had created for this rose to the left and right sides of the middle of the stem until they were secure and then I felted the top of the stem to the back of the white rose.

I thought my needle felted white rose would look nice with a light blue felt backing and complementary blue sponged frame so I painted the frame first with light blue acrylic paint and then sponge painted it with a combination of medium blue, lilac, yellow, and white acrylic paint.  Then I applied one coat of varnish.

I added the light blue felt backing and a small amount of batting to the 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" picture opening as backing for my rose and then hot glued my rose to the felt.


I was so pleased with the way the white rose came out that I decided to use Sunflower's white roving and some nice  burgundy colored roving I had previously bought to create a multi-colored burgundy and white rose.


I used the other 6" by 8" unfinished picture frame with 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" picture opening that I had bought for my multi-colored white/burgundy rose. Once again, I had decided that gluing it within the picture frame area and having it project out of the frame would be a nice way to finish this rose.

However, I wanted this rose to be more festive for the upcoming Christmas holiday season. So, I decided to back this long stemmed rose with dark red felt and finish the frame with holiday colors.

I pulled a 6" long and 1" wide piece of the dark olive green felting that I was using for this particular rose's leaves and using the pen style needle felting tool and needle felting mat just kept rolling it and felting the dark olive green roving until I had a long stem about 5" long and about 1/2" wide that was pretty dense. Using the single needle felt needle I felted the leaves I had created for this rose to the left and right sides of the middle of the stem until they were secure and then I felted the top of the stem to the back of the multi-colored white/burgundy rose.

I thought my needle felted multi-colored white/burgundy rose would look nice with a dark red felt backing and complementary dark red sponged frame so I painted the frame first with dark red acrylic paint and then sponge painted it with a combination of burgundy, Christmas green, Christmas red, and white acrylic paint. Then I applied one coat of varnish.

I added the dark red felt backing and a small amount of batting to the 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" picture opening as backing for my rose and then hot glued my rose to the felt.


I like how they both long stemmed roses turned out and will probably create some more of the roses as the mold is really easy to use and adding the long stem was just a matter of rolling and felting the roving. Once you get the hang of it that is pretty easy to do as well.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Needle Felted Pink Rose and Multi-Colored Purple Rose Mini Pictures


Before my sister's visit for our needle felting craft adventure I had decided to buy some of the Clover needle felting applique molds I had previously seen.  One of the molds I had bought was the Clover Applique Mold, Rose Design.

While my sister was working on her free style needle felted landscape design I decided to try creating a pink rose using the rose mold.

The mold contained two large front and back sheets with instructions.  The two sheets looked a little cumbersome at first until I realized there were different languages on each sheet.  So, I had to find the English section.  While I can understand the cost effectiveness of doing this it's not the most user friendly approach and makes the instructions seem way too complicated.

One of the large sheets also contained basic punching text and pictorial information for the various sizes and pieces of their molds and how to use them with the roving which I found to be very helpful.

The instructions for using the particular mold were of a text and pictorial nature and once I found the English version they were easy to follow.  They recommended in the instructions using their molds with the Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool and either the Clover Felting Needle Mat Small or the Clover Felting Needle Mat Large.

I soon realized that some of the pieces of the the molds were pretty tiny so only the single felting needle or Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool would work. I had previously bought a large foam felting block but soon realized that the molds did work the best with the Clover Felting Needle Mat Large.

I had no problem putting the pink rose together except I quickly found out that the needles for the Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool break very, very easily.  I ended up going through 4 needles before I was finished with all my flowers.  If you're going to embark on a needle felting adventure be sure to buy lots, and lots of replacement needles as you are going to need them.


I was pleased with the way my pink rose came out but my sister thought it was boring (plus I had used up all the pink roving - bad sister!) so I decided to try a multi-colored purple rose next.


I had bought two 5" by 5" unfinished picture frames each with a 2 3/4" by 2 3/4" opening.  The opening was just slightly smaller than my roses but I had decided that gluing them there and having them projecting out of the frame would be interesting.

So, I painted both unfinished wood frames first with pink acrylic paint and then sponge painted them with lilac acrylic paint using natural ocean sponges.  Then I applied one coat of varnish.

I added felt backing and a small amount of batting to the 2 3/4" by 2 3/4" picture opening as backing for my roses and then hot glued them to the felt.

I like how they both roses turned out and will probably create some more of the roses as the mold is really easy to use, despite the 2 page instructions.  You could make a rose to use as a corsage, to embellish a purse or vest, to decorate a large picture, to make long stemmed needle felted roses for a floral bouquet arrangement, decorate a hat, etc.  I'm sure if you give me long enough I'll have a hundred other uses for a needle felted rose.

If you get a chance please check out my sister's Rock Garden Alpacas Etsy Shop where she sells her alpaca fiber and handmade alpaca fiber products.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh.  Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

How To Embroider A Basic Chain Stitch and Lazy Daisy Flower Free E-Book



I just LOVE embroidering with basic chain stitches and Lazy Daisy Flowers.  Since several of my baby shower e-patterns require basic chain stitches and Lazy Daisy Flowers I thought I'd create an illustration showing you how I do this and add it to my group of free Linda's How-Do-I Series? of e-books.  Enjoy.

To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view our free e-book. Then just download our free .pdf e-book by clicking on the down arrow in the top center.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.CLICK HERE.

To Make A Two Ribbon Combination Loopy Bow Decoration Free E-Book




I just LOVE decorating my presents and gifts with wonderful wired ribbon bows.  Several years ago I learned how to make an amazing wired loopy bow that I use on just about all my presents and gifts.  I even use it on some of my holiday and seasonal decorations.  There are just so many different ways to use it.

If you've never made a wired ribbon loopy bow and would like to know how to make one my e-book with it's step-by-step illustrations will show you how.  Enjoy making your loopy bows.

To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view our free e-book. Then just download our free .pdf e-book by clicking on the down arrow in the top center.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Needle Felted Flower Garden Shadow Box Tray Picture Free E-Pattern




For my last needle felted flower creation I decided I wanted to create a flower garden scene using a combination of the dark blue and dark green 100% wool felt 12" by 12" needle felted sheets I had bought felted to a backing of Nu-foam.

My flower garden picture was going to have a blue sky with white clouds, green grass, and brown soil.  To create the soil I decided to use some of the wonderful medium brown alpaca roving from my sister's alpaca, Ivy.  For the white clouds in the sky I decided to use some of the wonderful white alpaca roving from my sister's alpaca, Sunflower.  All of this I was going to enclose in a 8 3/4" by 6 1/4" by 2" deep unfinished shadowbox tray sponge painted with lively spring colors.

I decided to create the needle felted flowers using stainless steel flower cookie cutter molds that I had. The flower cookie cutter molds came in a 3/4", 1", and 2" and larger sizes.  I also decided to use a 1" leaf from a set of stainless steel leaf molds that I also had.

I also wanted my flowers to be combination of multi-layers of petals and a single layer of petals.  I wanted the flowers and leaves to be different colors and for some of the flowers to have stems.  I decided to use medium blue, dark blue, lilac, purple, pink, black, apricot roving, white alpaca roving from Sunflower, and medium brown alpaca roving from Ivy.  Lime green roving and sage green roving would be the colors for the flowers leaves.

I was pleased with the way my needle felted flower picture turned out and decided to create and e-pattern out of it so you could create a needle felted flower picture of your own.

My pattern includes tips for needle felting, step-by-step instructions for completing my flower picture, a colored flower picture instruction steps sheet so you can see what piece belongs to what step, and a colored flower picture layout sheet that is approximately the size of your needle felted flower picture. 

Designer - Linda Walsh Originals 

I hope you like my needle felted flower picture and hope you decide to create one of your own.





To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-book. Then just download my free .pdf e-book.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Deb's Southwestern Needle Felted Shadow Box Tray Scene



After my sister and I had gotten a feel for the roving from our Dimensions snowman and penguin needle felting kits we decided we wanted to create some free style needle felted pictures. I decided on a conservative, less challenging winter snowman and tree scene while she embarked on a daring landscape scene the beginnings of which is shown below.


My sister wanted her free style needle felting picture to be some sort of mountain scene with trees, sun, mountains, grasslands and a moose which she's working on in the picture below.


She worked on her scene for quite sometime while I was experimenting with some of the flower molds. All of a sudden I notice out of the corner of my eye that she was ripping felting off her picture. That's the beauty of needle felted crafts if you don't like something just rip it out! So, she did. Rip! Rip!

I didn't realize what she had ripped out until I heard whimpering and then saw the following on my work area:


It was the baby moose. She had ripped the baby moose out of her free style needle felted scene. The poor guy! Just ripped right out......

I really felt bad for him and asked her what happened. She replied that she didn't like it so out he came! Poor baby moosey.....

He was still whimpering after she finished her scene with flowers instead of a moose. Poor baby moosey....

I could see that she was pleased with the flowers and how her scene had turned out. I had to admit it was nice, but poor baby moosey.....

We wanted to use some of the unfinished wood trays we had bought as shadow boxes for our pictures and after trimming her scene a little the medium sized tray worked like a charm as you can see from the picture below:


So, she left it for me to sponge paint and moved on to another free hand style creation. This time it was a gingerbread man that she made using her alpaca, Ivy's, wonderful medium brown roving.
.

She worked on it for a while until she got it just right and was pleased with him when she was finished.  He had really turned out quite cute so she decided to take him home with her.  In fact, he had a place of honor in the passenger seat for the ride home.

All the while this was going on I could hear whimpering in the background.  I had moved baby moosey to a different spot so she couldn't throw him away.  I just felt so bad for him.  Poor baby moosey....

After my sister went home and I had finished with the other needle felted free style pictures I was creating I decided to sponge paint all the unfinished frames and shadowboxes we were using for the needle felted crafts we had made.   I sponge painted my sister's scene with a dark brown base with burgundy, light brown, green, and light gray sponged highlights.

I really liked the way it turned out (which is shown in the picture below) and thought the shadowbox tray really enhanced her free style picture.  I hope she does, too!


I had put all the sponge painted projects I had completed on my dining room table over night so I could take pictures of them the next morning.

After setting up the backdrop for my pictures and setting up my camera I put my sister's southwestern shadow box tray on the counter and this is what I saw through the lens:


It was baby moosey. He had found a way to be part of her scene after all.

If you get a chance please check out my sister's Rock Garden Alpacas Etsy Shop where she sells her alpaca fiber and handmade alpaca fiber products.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Blanket Stitch Free E-Book


I just LOVE embroidering with blanket stitches.  Since several of my e-patterns require blanket stitching I thought I'd create a blanket stitch illustration and add it to my group of free Linda's How-Do-I Series? of e-books.  Enjoy.

Basic Blanket Stitch


Step 1)  Starting at Point A bring your needle up from the WS (Wrong Side) of the fabric along the edge at Point A.


Step 2)  Insert the needle in at Point B on the RS (Right Side) of the fabric and cross over your thread.


Step 3)  Pull the thread to tighten along the edge.


Step 4)  Pull to tighten along the edge at Point B and reinsert your needle in at Point C on the RS (Right Side) of your fabric and cross over your thread along the edge.  Pull to tighten along the edge and reinsert your needle at Point D on the RS (Right Side) of the fabric.  Continue in this manner until your edge has been covered with your blanket stitches.


To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view our free e-book. Then just download our free .pdf e-book.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.

However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.

Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.

Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

The Needle Felted Flowers


In anticipation of my sister's visit and our needle felting adventure I had decided to buy some of the Clover needle felting applique molds I had previously seen. 

While my sister was working on her free style needle felted landscape design I decided to try creating a pink rose (shown above) using the Clover Applique Mold, Rose Design (shown above).

The mold contained two large front and back sheets with instructions.  The two sheets looked a little cumbersome at first until I realized there were four different languages on each sheet.  So, I had to find the English section.  While I can understand the cost effectiveness of doing this it's not the most user friendly approach and makes the instructions seem way too complicated.

The instructions were of a text and pictorial nature and once I found the English version they were easy to follow.  They recommended in the instructions using the molds with the Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool (shown below) and either the Clover Felting Needle Mat Small or the Clover Felting Needle Mat Large.

I soon realized that some of the pieces of the the molds were pretty tiny so only the single felting needle or Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool would work. I had previously bought a large foam felting block but soon realized that the molds did work the best with the Clover Felting Needle Mat Large.

I had no problem putting the pink rose together except I quickly found out that the needles for the Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool break very, very easily. I ended up going through 8 needles before I was finished with all my flowers. If you're going to embark on a needle felting adventure be sure to buy lots, and lots of replacement needles as you are going to need them.

I was pleased with the way my pink rose came out but my sister thought it was boring (plus I had used up all the pink roving - bad sister!) so I decided to try a multi-colored purple rose next.


I was pleased with the way both of my roses came out and pleased with the Clover rose mold, despite the 2 page instructions.

After my sister went home I decided to try creating a daisy using the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each I had bought and using the wonderful alpaca roving from her alpaca Sunflower.  Compared to some of the cheap roving I had been using some of which I really think was dyed raw mohair packaged as 100% wool roving Sunflower's white roving was exceptional.  It was beautifully white, fine, without bits and pieces of non-roving materials, and just plain exceptional to use.


The instructions and packaging of the Daisy Needle Felting Applique Mold By The Each were similar to the instructions and packaging of the Clover Applique Mold, Rose Design mentioned above so please see my comments there as they would be the same for the Clover daisy mold and all the rest of the Clover molds I bought.

I was pleased with the way the daisy came out and decided to use Sunflower's white roving to create a pure white rose.


Since the pure white rose had come out so well I decided to use Sunflower's white roving and some nice  burgundy colored roving I had previously bought to create a multi-colored burgundy and white rose.


My sister and I had some unfinished picture frames that I thought would look nice when finished with my felted flowers.

Since I was having such luck with the roving I was using and with the molds I decided to use a combination of the rose design petals upside down, the daisy design leaves, and the floret and berries berries to create a red Poinsettia.

I had to play around with the shapes a little and improvise here and there with my Poinsettia, but overall I was pleased with the way it turned out.


I decided to write separate blog posts for my flowers and tell you what I had to do, the problems I ran into, and what I was thinking as I went along. My posts will be following so please return to find out how I finished all of the above. I think you'll be a little surprised as to how they all came out.

If you get a chance please check out my sister's Rock Garden Alpacas Etsy Shop where she sells her alpaca fiber and handmade alpaca fiber products.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Needle Felted Church Shadow Box Picture Free E-Pattern



One of the free style needle felted pictures that I wanted to create a couple of years ago was a needle felted church scene that I made using the wonderful white roving that my sister had given me from her alpaca Sunflower.  She and her husband are the owners of Rock Garden Alpacas and Rock Garden Alpacas Fiber.

I thought it would be nice to create a mountain type church winter scene with a church, evening stars, mountain range, evergreen trees, and oak tree and then create a free e-pattern so you could create one of your own.


At the last minute I decided to add the Dimensions Needlecrafts Needle Felted Character Kit, Snowman that I had created and blogged about and reviewed in a post entitled Dimensions Needle Felted Snowman Kit as I thought he looked cute with the scene.

However, my free e-pattern does not include directions for making the Dimensions snowman. You will have to purchase the Dimensions Needlecrafts Needle Felted Character Kit, Snowman yourself if you want to add him to your needle felted picture.

My free e-pattern includes tips for needle felting, step-by-step instructions for completing my church winter scene picture (minus the snowman), a colored church picture instruction steps sheet so you can see what piece belongs to what step, a colored church picture layout sheet that is the actual size of your needle felted church picture, and pattern pieces.

Designer - Linda Walsh Originals

I hope you like my needle felted church picture and hope you decide to create one of your own.


To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-book. Then just download my free .pdf e-book.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

Please respect My Terms of Use:  All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.

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Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The 1st Placemats I Ever Made



The other day when I posted about my Delightful Fall Decorations I failed to tell you that two of the pictures showed the very first place-mats I ever made.  I made them some 42+ years ago for my Mother for her fall decorating.

Back then I liked to decorate her dining room table with a Fall floral centerpiece.  I didn't have any money to buy something and they didn't quite have the kinds of silk floral back then as they do today so I fashioned something I may have gathered from the woods.  Pine-cones, bark, acorns, ferns, pine needles, etc.

Well, one year after Thanksgiving I decided a set of eight place-mats and a little runner would be nice and thought they would make a nice Christmas present.  So, I made them for her and gave them to her for Christmas.  Of course, she had to wait a year to use them.  So, what's a few months.....

I thought for sure my sister would notice the place-mats in the pictures. I know my Mother would have noticed.


They were my first attempt at sewing linens and I made them out of quilted fall fabrics. There were eight of them in a diagonal shape. I tried to get them to all be the same size, but some were a little bigger and some were a little smaller.


I put them out now with my Fall decorations as they are the perfect color for my dining room and because I know my mother would be pleased.

They All Have A Different Needle Felting Use!


In anticipation of my sister's visit for working on her websites and learning all we could about roving I decided to add to the tools and supplies I had from a few years ago when I had done a small amount of needle felting on a penny rug picture.

If you don't know what needle felting is it is basically using a single or multiple needle tool to mesh the fibers of roving into itself to form an object or shape, mesh the roving into another piece of felted roving to create an object, or mesh the roving into a piece of wool felt to create an object or picture.

You can freely shape the roving yourself using needle felting tools or use needle felt molds or cookie cutters to shape the roving into the desired object.

In looking at needle felting it seemed like there were a lot of different tools and supplies needed to do needle felting. I wondered if I needed them all and soon found out I did as they all have a different use.

I already had a medium size Clover felting mat but wanted a larger one so I bought a Clover Felting Needle Mat Large.

What the mat does is it allows you to place a mold or felting surface on top of it and then felt the roving by using one of the different types of felting needles and just inserting the needle in and out until the roving is felted in a manner that is pleasing to you. It provides the hardness and resistance you need to mesh the roving either by itself or to felt the roving into a small felting surface without breaking your needles.

The felting mat is good for small molds and small felting surfaces. It is not good for larger felting surfaces. If you want to felt larger areas of roving or want to do some free style felting of pictures, etc. then you need to purchase a larger 8" by 9" felting foam mat like a Colonial Needle Felting Foam, 9 by 8 by 2-Inch, which is shown in the picture below:


What I discovered about this felting mat is that while it is big and allows you to cover a wider felting surface it isn't any where near as hard as the Clover Felting Needle Mat Large so you tend to leave a depression in the surface if you're punching hard, have been punching for a few days,  or you've used the same area over and over. If you're using this for molds and the surface has any kind of depression in it already it will affect the felting of your roving.

One of the most important things for felting is not only the quality of the roving, but the felting needles. When it comes to felting needles there are all sorts of different types - each with their own use. Here's what I discovered:

The first thing you need to understand about the felting needles is they are very, very, very sharp and can easily prick your finger drawing blood. As a result I would not recommend this as a craft for young children. If you prick your fingers the needles really HURT!

The Colonial Needle Felting Needle Tool II (which is shown in the picture below) is a great tool for felting large surfaces, for use with the Colonial Needle Needle Felting Foam (shown above) and for felting thick felted objects to other felting surfaces or to a any felting creations that you are backing with Nu-foam.

I found that despite the fact that you can reduce the needles down to one or two this tool wasn't as good for use with felting roving into small molds. It was just too cumbersome for me. Also, it wasn't as good for use with roving that you are trying to felt in your hands as the needles are really way too long and sharp and you can easily prick yourself. If you're going to use this tool be sure to buy plenty of replacement needles as the needles tend to break easily.


The felting needle that provides the most control and which you're less likely to prick yourself with is the purple or blue grip single felting needle. It's very easy to control but does require more work when felting a larger area. When felting a thick felted object to another felting surface or to a felting surface backed with Nu-foam it works the best of all the needles to achieve the result you want. Plus, this is the only type of felting needle that never broke on me.

I bought the Dimensions Needlecrafts Feltworks, Felting Needles & Foam Block, and is shown in the picture below:


You can also use the Colonial Needle Blue Grip Felting Needles, 36, 2-Pack which works just as well and are shown in the picture below:


I also like to use the Clover Pen Style Needle Felting Tool which can hold from one to three needles and is very easy to use and provides good control. However, the needles tend to bend or break easily with this tool especially if you're using molds for your roving. So, if you're going to use this tool be sure to buy plenty of needles.


I also like the Clover Felting Needle Tool (which is shown in the picture below) for punching free style felting pictures and for felting large surfaces. It has a protective retractable cover for the needles so it is not good for use with small molds.


If someone asked me what the weakest needle felting tool was I'd say hands down the needles.They just break way too easily. And, the replacement sets only come with 4 - 6 new needles which is no where near enough.

If you are going to create free style needle felted pictures that you are mounting to a cushioned surface then you need to buy Fairfield Poly-Fil Nu-Foam Pre-Cut, 14 by 14 by 2-Inch (which is shown in the picture below) and which I used for providing backing to some of my free style needle felted pictures. The beauty of the Nu-foam is that you can felt your roving into it so that it holds and you can remove it very easily if the thickness isn't right.


As far as molds are concerned there are lots of them out there. Some specifically for needle felting which work great. However, you can also use stainless steel cookie cutters as molds for your roving, like the ones shown below, and they work just as well.

If you are needle felting with a mold or cookie cutter you want to felt along the outside of the mold and work towards the center of the mold. The depth of the object is achieved based on the amount of roving you use. If the object is not as deep as you want just add more roving and felt it into the felted object you've already created.  If you want less depth or less length just keep needle felting the roving until you achieve the desired results.

As far as the roving is concerned there are lots of people selling roving so it is plentiful. However, there's really good roving and there's crap roving that is packaged as 100% wool roving and is nothing more than dyed raw mohair.  Definitely not roving. So, be careful when choosing your roving. You want roving that is free of debris, finely woven, and packaged in bulk (like the alpaca roving from Rock Garden Alpacas Fiber that is shown in the picture below:


Basically, felting is achieved by pushing the needle in and out of the roving at a straight angle whether it’s straight up and down or straight side to side. You keep doing this until your roving is the shape, size, or desired object you are striving for. The more you puncture the roving with the needle felting tool the more meshed the roving becomes. When to stop felting depends on your design and desired outcome.

Needle felting is a lot of fun. Just be sure to get the right tools for your needle felting needs as they all have a different use.

Just remember this is an art form so there is no right or wrong way. The idea is to have fun and let your imagination run wild. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder or in this case, the eye of the needle felter.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns, and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.