Card weaving & more

I have wanted to make woven wall hangings since I first saw some back in the 70's... some dreams never die, they just take awhile to come true!  I recently came across a book, "Weaving Off-Loom" written in 1973, which is a great resource for weaving techniques using non-traditional methods, and I have begun the process of learning.  I completed one hanging, and I'm working on or thinking about several more.  Here is the first:

 

I love these because they incorporate various materials, not all fiber.  I have deadwood, beads, dyed scrim, wool roving and a variety of yarns in this piece.  There was no formal plan for how this would turn out, only inspiration from some of the photos in the book.  I made a "loom" from a piece of foam board, strung the warp using crochet floss, and just started playing... great fun, and the results convinced me I will be doing more of these!
On another topic, I have made several "Thread bowls" using scraps of sewing thread, embroidery floss, and other fiber or yarn scraps.  I was recently invited to enter one of my bowls in an upcoming exhibit at High Country Conference Center here in Flagstaff, and I had just finished a large bowl, so it will be in the exhibit:

This one measures 10 3/4" by 3 1/4"... the largest one I have made so far.  I have plans to make something a little different soon... more of a sculpture item than a bowl shape.  Love using up these thread scraps!

Coming up soon is the 21st Annual Flagstaff Open Studios Tour, August 25-26, with the Prelude Exhibit opening at Arts Connection Gallery at Flagstaff Mall on Saturday, August 4.  So I am busy preparing for both events, and look forward to another fun August!

Enjoy the rest of summer, and stay tuned... will post more soon.

Time to play!

It has been my custom over the last several years to reserve some time between the end of one craft show season and the beginning of the next, to experiment and play with new techniques, try out ideas for new products, and just let the creative ideas flow.  This year will be no different, and I have already begun to play with some ideas that have been fermenting in the back of my mind for some time: thread bowls!  What on earth is that, you ask?  Well, here are a few I have finished:

These bowls are more delicate than my coiled fabric bowls, but I love how they look!  And I love that I can use thread scraps as well as Angelina fibers and other fiber scraps... lots of possibilities here!  I learned the basics from a tutorial I found online, written by Wendy Hill.  I later ordered her book 

"Fast, Fun & Easy Incredible Thread-A-Bowls: 2 Techniques-5 Projects-Unlimited Possibilities", which describes the process and suggests several projects.  

I have also been working on creating some tree ornaments for the Arts Connection Gallery Holiday Tree:

 The birds above are fabric fused on timtex, a double-sided fusible heavy interfacing; the edge is a dense zigzag stitch.

The cactus are fabric stitched to a batting.  #1 has a soft green covered with a lacy overcoat embellished with sequins; #2 is the soft green fabric, with beaded "light strings" hand stitched on both sides; #3 is the green fabric, overlaid with Angelina Fiber.  I'm not big on making seasonal items, but decided to do what I could to add to the holiday decor.

I also took a brief foray into making a couple of bowls from heat-moldable double sided fusible interfacing - geez, that's a mouthful, isn't it?  Anyway, I've seen some examples in quilt stores of items made with this product, and decided to give it a try.  The jury is still out on the product... it's a pretty arduous task to use it, so I'll try again over time.  Here are my first results:

These don't photograph well as bowls, and in truth, they are fairly shallow.  I think I will do some research to find what others have done with this product before I try any other projects with it.
Well, that's my story!  I will post further over the next couple of months as I dabble in this and that... meanwhile, happy Election Day!