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!

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...

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!

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.... 

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!

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?

Remember this post?  I've been looking at these fabrics periodically, trying to come up with ideas for how I can use them.  Well, I went back to a project I did... was it last year, or maybe the year before?  I don't remember!  But at any rate, I'm trying to add some inventory for the last two shows of the year, and made this up yesterday:

These go together fairly quickly, and they make nice gifts.  I really love this fabric, and have plans for other projects... first thing I'm going to try is a Kindle cover.  I have a friend with a Kindle, and we were e-mailing about what she would like... she described one that I saw a freebie pattern for, so I'm going to download the instructions and try it on scrap fabric first to see how it goes together.  Might end up being a new item in my inventory if I can get going on it soon enough!

Meanwhile, I had an order recently for some hand dyed sun visors, and I ordered a couple of extras in case I had one that didn't come out.  Ended up with one dyed and one un-dyed, so I will probably put them in my shop as soon as the second one is dyed.  Here's the first one:

I used a foam brush to apply the dyes, and it worked out pretty good!  I'll have to get some more of these next year when the weather starts getting warm again.

Meanwhile, I have been experimenting with using thickened dyes to paint with, and posted about it here

and here where I have been invited to join as a Resident Artist!  Each month, one of the members or guest artists posts about a fiber arts technique, then the rest of the group experiments with the technique and posts about their experiments.  So far, I have tried sugar syrup resist and painting realistically with thickened dyes.  Sometime next year, I will be contributing articles about techniques that I choose, so stay tuned and I'll point you over there if you are interested.  Meanwhile, I have a pile of silk and silk/rayon scarves to dye up for the last two shows I'm in this year, coming in November, and a fridge full of dyes already mixed up that I need to use up... so much to dye, so little time!