Wednesday, October 31, 2012

More fabric bowls

I have just begun!  But I wanted to share more... here are the 3 I have completed so far:

 I love the shape of this one... it's a wider diameter at the bottom, and I made it taller as well.

I'm almost done with this one using Christmas fabric, but I'm about out of clothesline, so it will need to wait until I get home from the store later today.  I learned yesterday that it is possible to splice the clothesline... I trimmed the frayed ends, then using a heavy duty cotton thread and needle, I stitched and wound to anchor both ends together before wrapping with the fabric.  Another thing I have learned... DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE CAP BACK ON THE GLUESTICK, SILLY!  They do tend to dry out if you leave them open... duh!
I must admit that I am totally smitten with making these, and my brain is working overtime to come up with other color combinations I would like to use.  If you are wondering why I suddenly veered off into making fabric bowls from my multitude of other projects, maybe this will help you to understand:

This is just part of my accumulation of fabric that is threatening to take over my studio and the guest room next door!  I have to do something with it, so why not these wonderful bowls?  More to come...

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Fabric Bowl

Thanks to Sherrie Spangler's blog post, I tried my hand today for the first time at making a fabric bowl:


I really love how this came out, and it was not too difficult!  I had one or two things I had to overcome, but Sherrie's tutorial was very clear and easy to follow.  This one is 8" across and about 2 1/2" high... not huge, but a nice table piece, and it was just right to help me learn the process.  I will definitely be making more of these, especially since I have an ever-growing stash of fabric that I really must find a way to use up!  I have loved fabric bowls for years, and just never found good instructions for making them.  I can see making a lot of these in the coming months... especially during the winter, when my studio calls to me!  Thanks, Sherrie!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Artists' Holiday Marketplace

My next show is Saturday, November 3rd... can't believe it's almost here!



If you're in the Flagstaff area, I hope you will stop by and say hello!  It will be at the Elks' Club on North San Francisco Street...

Friday, October 19, 2012

Nook Cover

After my post here about my new Kindle Covers, I got an inquiry from someone about a Nook cover... naturally, I had to give one a try!  I had to adjust some of the dimensions as the Nook is longer than the Kindle, and I think a little thicker.  I made a prototype, and got over to Barnes & Noble with it yesterday. I was allowed to try a real nook in it to see how it fits, and I think it will work!
I made a little gusset on the top holder to allow for the Nook to slide in a little easier, but I actually don't think it's necessary.  The facsimile I made up of foam board was squared on the corners, and the Nook's corners are rounded, making it easier to slide in top and bottom.  At any rate, I think I'm ready to make up a few more of these, hopefully in time for the Artists' Marketplace coming up on November 3rd!
Here's a shot of it closed:
I put 2 sets of Velcro dots on this one to ensure it would stay closed, and also widened the spaces between the covers and the middle to accommodate the additional thickness of the reader.  So glad I got a chance to try it on a real reader!


Sunday, October 14, 2012

A little Fall Foliage

This time of year, I really crave fall foliage!  Considering that I spent most of my life in Southern California, where we all know the sun shines 360+ days of the year, I can only blame my early childhood for this phenomenon... I lived in Northern California for the first 10 years, mostly in the far north of the state where we did have changing seasons.  Here in Northern Arizona, we do get the Aspens turning, and several other native or compatible species that turn colors, but in our yard, we don't have that many trees that do.  I have several small Gambel Oaks, a Poplar that is just my height, and a couple of Amur Maples that really don't scream 'AUTUMN!!!' the way I would like!  So here is an art quilt I made several years ago... it will just have to do to satisfy my craving for Autumn Leaves!

And here is a batik 'Autumn Leaves' I did a couple of years ago:

Okay, now I feel better.... 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Tie dye project pictures

Back in April, I posted this about a special order I was working on: 80 dyed drawstring bags, 80 golf towels, and fabric to be made up into 80 golf cart seat covers.  The order went out the door sometime in late May, and I didn't give it much thought until I got a picture from the customer the other day... I had not seen the seat cover installed on a golf cart, and she sent me this:


My friend Joyce made the covers out of fabric I dyed... aren't they great?  About half of them were dyed as a single swirl, the other half were doubles.  I can only imagine how colorful the golf course was on the day they had their Ladies' tournament back in June!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Kindle Covers

As a followup to my last post, I have 9 Kindle Covers in various stages of completion, mostly from purchased fabrics.  But I did make one from another of my ice cube dyed fabrics as well, seen in front in the photo below:
The white rectangle in the middle is a piece of foam board I cut in the dimensions of a Kindle Reader and it's about the same thickness.
Here's a shot of the back:
I decided to leave the short flap squared on this one rather than cut it at angles... didn't want to cut away any of the fabric!
I'm anxious to see if these sell at my next two shows... I really like how these go together, and hope to have them as a regular gift item in my inventory.  Great way to use up my stash, don't you think?