Have A Boll

Did ya know that Tennessee is known for it's cotton crops. According to a local publication it one of the nations top upland cotton growers, providing up too 95% of the US cotton production. 

The southern part of our state has many farms that still grow this staple.

A few weeks ago I discovered cotton roving,ya know the stuff they make thread from. I had never actually seen it until now. It looks just like the cotton you pull from your medication bottles. Except its is brightly colored ,a little more soft and comes in really long skinny batts (actually this is how you find it in the medicine bottles too..ha..ha..).

From left to right the colors are Pansy Gardens,Blue Waves and Meadow

From the feel of it I knew that it would felt differently than regular wool roving or fleeces.It had no poof like other wool, which makes sense as wool roving/fleeces is hair from an animal and this was plant matter.

This picture taken from cover of'
Tennessee Home and Farm  Fall 2013' magazine

It almost does look and feel just like what you see in this boll. Except of coarse that the black seeds have been removed ,the cotton has been dyed.& processed.

It needle felted flat. Which I think will make interesting landscape pictures.

It also, kept its puncture marks where the needle(s) went in. Regular wool will re-poof and close back up. It will be interesting to see how it felts with other types of roving/ fleeces. 

Typically, it is sold as cotton roving to make yarn/thread through spinning. But I like trying interesting products in my fiber art , you never know where a wonderful gem will turn up. This could be it. I have some new colors ways on order, and plan on making a couple of landscapes before adding it into my purse making. 

My supplier did note that that it is not colorfast(colors may bleed when wet), so it probably wouldn't work well in my clutches unless I can fix this issue. 

If your looking for a new product to try , give this one a shot. I purchased it from 

www.robinjedmundson.etsy.com

As always have fun, and  Be Unique...Be Inspired... Be Yourself

-TNfrmgrl