Something Smaller

A pretty fabric, chosen especially for the dusky pink and cream flowers on black ................ cut into strips and started to work into a coiled fabric bowl.  After working just a couple of inches I realised that there was too much cream and I really didn't like the effect but what to do?  Discard and use a different fabric but then what to do with all the cut strips?  Overdying the strips would fray the fabric a lot hmmmmm ............ carry on .....................

and then dye the finished bowl ..................

to end up with something else to cross off last years list .............

I think that's probably it for this week.  Thankyou for all your lovely comments on my blind.

Enough Birds I Think ........

These bits only really came about this week due to me looking through my bags of scraps to see how I could minimalise it a bit and found two partially cut out birds (again from Nellie's pattern ) .....


and enough strips left over from bowls to make some mini ones (handy to keep by the sewing machine) ,,,,,,,

My husband seems to think that it would be a good idea to make more of these to keep handy around the house for dropping threads into rather than them falling to the floor - good idea in theory maybe but in practise ................... !

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Thankyou for your lovely comments about the bag in the last post - am really pleased with it.

Accessorising

The dust and paint fumes got to my respiratory system and caused havoc for the best part of a month. However, this past week I have started to feel better so it's time to get on with some accessories for the living room. Here is the first cushion .............


I love the texture and shabby chic essence of faux chenille quilting even if cutting the channels through all those layers is rather hard going on the fingers.

Another coiled fabric bowl - this one's for keeps!

Back to Bowls & Pots

I hadn't planned to do another post about the coiled vessels right now but on catching up with all the blog reading have just noticed a comment from Bethel of Bethnia posted back in November! It has also come to light that I am not getting all the email notifications for comments so can only guess that our provider is filtering them out as spam.

Here's another one made before Christmas which I still have (there were some that I forgot to photograph before they were given as gifts) ..........



In reply to your comment Bethel .............


Yes, mum did like! She said that my brother had admired it too so asked me to make him one for Christmas which I did - not purple with "flowers" though!
I haven't had any problem with the tension at all. Here is the type of polyester washing line that I use together with a picture of the first bowl that I did. I try to keep the coils snugly fitting as I stitch and try to hold the bowl at the same angle for each complete turn (I just use a pin on the inside to mark the start point). I realise that's it's some time since you commented on these but if you have any further questions then do please ask - only to happy to help!

Some Presents .............

It's ages since I blogged ................. not much to tell really. I haven't been doing much stitching but I don't seem to be have been doing much else either - the garden is crying out for attention but the weather being so warm for this time of year means the mining beas that have taken up residence in the flower bed are still a nuisance. I did add a little decoration to one of the bowls for mum's birthday .................



And I've been doing some folded patchwork which is quite fun but I won't show all of it as it's for Christmas and the intended recipient just might see it ............

Picking Oakum?

I tried making a coiled handbag (somewhat similar to this in shape) but it didn't work out. I forgot to take a photo but it started to get a hood at one end (something like this)! One can't do much else but think whilst spending 5 hours undoing 6 hours of machine zig zag so was it therapeutic or more akin to picking oakum albeit I was in my own home and had the luxury of cottom materials? Anyway, I now have a lovely purple bowl and pot ..........





Many thanks for all your comments, encouragement & suggestions. In a way, I think you are all right. Yes, a clay type fastening would be more in keeping - I had thought of other materials but (if I'm honest) was being too lazy to go searching out other things and trying to use what was right next to me (slapped wrists!). Yes, simple might be best and, yes, I probably am being too hard on myself but then I suppose I wouldn't be me if I weren't would I? I'm trying to forget it for a bit as the more I look at it, the more I see that the binding around the top is very uneven on the inside ?????

One Finished ............

I'm very pleased with the bowl ............




but I'm not sure that I'm happy with the pot as a "finished" item ..............


All/any criticism welcome please. This is the second attempt at adornment - the first was button beads all around the top which didn't work out either. I quite liked the idea of machined cords but needed something to "tie" them together and now I'm not sure about it at all - I was really hoping to put these two "to bed" before starting on another. Not being in a class situation or in touch with like minded artists does have it's disadvantages at times.

On a different, more positive note, I am delighted to see that I've got a mention on Sharonb's "In a Minute ago" - that is exciting!

A Couple More Bowls

Continuing to play around with shapes, quite a large bowl which I am really quite pleased with. My husband has tried claiming it as a fruit bowl this morning but it's not really my colours so we shall see!



I tried experimenting with a different sized stitch for the smaller pink/purple batik one but it's a mess and wish I hadn't used that fabric up now - still you don't know until you try do you?


Aside from these two bowls I don't really know what I've been doing since my last post. I did spend nearly a day wrestling with the sewing machine and cheap thread before finally admitting defeat and a day helping my mum with housework since she is recovering from a major operation but apart from that ............. time management springs to mind!


That chicken fabric that I bought the other week had a little too much print to wrap easily - still it's a bit too pretty to cut into strips really!


Thanks for taking the trouble in look in the chandlers for me Chris, I shall keep a lookout for other suitable materials whilst out and about and perhaps do a bit more experimenting!

Shopping

The finished bowl ........




I'm impressed too (it is actually more circular than the angle of the photograph shows) considering that I never removed it from the machine from start to finish - so much so that I've been and got some more "line" (+ a small wallpaper seam roller that will be handy for working sprinkles of dye into fibres for microwave dyeing) .............



I've invested some of the Christmas present fund in some fabrics so I will now have to justify my purchase of them!

Coiled Fabric Vessels

In a round about way, I came up with the idea to make some coiled vessels as Christmas presents. Being unable to source the cotton clothesline recommended in the book locally, I thought about experimenting with some cheap poly. stuff .........



Even though I haven't used anything else to compare it with I think it works really well - the bowl is well formed and not at all floppy (only problem being I broke one of the little pegs which attaches the extension table by leaning on it - still it's not the first time and they don't cost much thank goodness) ..........


As this one is something of a trial piece to see how things work and to estimate the lengths of cord and fabric required etc., I may just do a row or two more to finish it off - it would be a handy little bowl to keep by the side of the machine to house threads/feet etc. to save them falling to the floor during projects.