What the New Year will bring...

Happy 2014 everyone!  I was really hoping to have a comprehensive post ready to go for the first day of the New Year, but I have been busy... just doing!  And I have a few year-end tasks I do for my biz and getting ready for the tax man.  Today, I updated my inventory list and started my physical inventory... it will take a few days to get that wrapped up.  Then this morning, I got busy and cleaned out the fridge... always a fun task, but one that needed to be done!
Craft-wise, I did finish a bowl with a lid that I'm very pleased with:

I used the same fabric as the oval-shaped bowl I posted about recently, and found a wooden bead to use as a lid handle, which just happened to match a button I found in my stash to finish off the round circle on the front of the lid.  I know there will be more bowls like this in my future!

On the experimental front, I have decided to give felting a try, although I don't have all the necessary materials on hand yet.  Here is a picture of my first attempt, using some woven wool-like fabric as the base, with some roving and other bits and pieces:

It's nowhere close to being 'felted', but I am liking the appearance.  I hope to get some felt for the base soon, and will post more when I have something to report.

As you may know, I am a Resident Artist on the blog "... And then we set it on Fire" which is a really neat spot to find posts on various Surface Design Techniques.  This year sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun, with some new Fiber Artists participating, and some format changes that I think visitors will enjoy... if you are not familiar with the site, check it out!

As for 2013, it turned out to be a really great year for me - I participated in 5 shows this year, including one that I helped organize and produce, and had good to great sales in them all; I worked hard to improve my bowls and "Shabby Chic" scarves, which have become my 2 best sellers, especially at the Artists' Coalition of Flagstaff Art Gallery;  all in all, it was a good year for me creatively, and I hope that 2014 will be just as good. So stay tuned, and I will continue to keep you posted on what I'm up to... right now, I need a nap!

2013 Quilt Shop Hop!

My friend Joyce and I made our annual pilgrimage yesterday to 5 Quilt shops between Flagstaff and Prescott to spend money, bring home lots of fun treasures, and have a "girls' road trip"!  We took off around 8am, headed down to Camp Verde to get some English Toffee flavored coffee, then proceeded to the first shop in Prescott.  Participants in the Shop Hop purchase a "passport" at one of the stores, then each store they visit will stamp the passport, and you get a free gift - usually a fat quarter of fabric - and a 10% discount off regular priced merchandise.  Then you turn your passport in at the last store you visit, and it goes into a drawing for prizes.  There was one store that is too far away for us to make it, so we won't be eligible for the grand prize, but might still win one of the lesser prizes!  At any rate, after a lovely day including lunch in Presott, here is my haul:

As you can see, it mostly consists of fat quarters - some purchased, some gifts from the stores for participating.  My big purchase, and one I'm thrilled that I found, is the book "It's a Wrap II", by Susan Breier.  If you have been following my posts this past year, you know I have been making coiled fabric bowls from my fabric stash, and I love making them!  Plus, they are selling well at the shows I have participated in, so it's a win-win product in my opinion.  This book is going to help me broaden my horizons by teaching me how to make different shapes and create my own designs... woo-hoo!  Christmas in July for me!  Stay tuned... I hope to have some new items to show off soon.

 

Busy week!

Last Saturday was the Artists' Coalition Spring Marketplace, and I had a good day:

I decided to add this shirt to my wardrobe...

A shot of my booth

My friend Cinde, showing off her purchase - a 'cairn' made by fellow ACF member Dudley Bacon.

Cinde and I both did well at the show.  Next, I got an order from a friend for a t-shirt with the 'Neon Graffiti' batik pattern I used for my mounted batiks... 

I'm still working on making a shirt board large enough so that I can stretch the shirt over and not need spring clamps to make it taut... probably will need to get some more foam board and cut larger than the ones I currently have.  But I did make some nice inserts for the sleeves this time, using regular corrugated cardboard. 

Finally, I made another coiled fabric bowl yesterday using some african batik print fabric I bought years ago in the downtown L.A. fabric district:

I should take a picture of the fabric as it is before I cut it out, so you can get an idea of the beautiful patterns, but even cut into 1 inch strips for the bowl, I love the rich variety combined with solid black and some hand dyed muslin in palomino gold.

This one is about 10" across by 3" high.  I'm starting to make them wider at the bottom, so I could make them higher and wider at the top, but this is a nice size for an accent piece... never get tired of making these!

Other than that, I've been watching my seedlings sprout in the greenhouse... no pictures yet, but I'm pleased with my progress so far.  I have lettuce, carrots, scallions and cucumbers sprouted, and  planted radishes and basil this week.  Still waiting for my bell peppers to poke through, and before you know it the weather will be warm enough for me to transfer them into the raised beds outside!  I promise to post pictures soon...

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...