Cinderella meets Sleeping Beauty…..
This is an amazing blend of Art & Craft and IS a working spinning wheel!!!
Click on this link Andy Paiko Glass Spinning Wheel to see it in action.
It is spellbinding!!!
Alas, this wheel is one of a kind and has already been sold, but if you’re lucky enough to be in Washington, D.C. before 3 Feb then you can see it in the Craft Futures exhibition at the Renwick Gallery.
My Festive Exchange bag arrived today!!
It was made by Brigitte Liebig a weaver from Germany – near the Swiss border.
The ‘walls’ are woven with cotton warp and handspun linen weft and the towers are woven in a shadow weave pattern to represent the very narrow spiral staircases in three of the towers. She used commercial fabric for the sky (blue) and the bottom/base (brick pattern)
Her inspiration came from a visit to Castel de Monte in South Italy. The guidebook suggested taking a photo from the ground of the inner courtyard up to the sky.
October was a sad time with the death of my mother-in-law, Gertrude Margaret Marion Gruber (1927-2012).
Marge was gentle spirit and an amazing fiber person – knitting, embroidery, and sewing many of her own outfits as well an amazing Santa suit, plus so many Halloween costumes.
November was spent on the road with storytelling events and getting ready for the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild Holiday sale so again… not much time to be posting. Here’s a look at the new scarves & purses. If you’re still looking for that ‘one-of-kind’ gift for the holidays…. let me know!!
At the Holiday Sale I had a blast giving a 2 hr felting demo:
If you have group that might be interested in having me come and talk about felting and fibers…. let me know!!
The final days of November were spent making a small bag for the annual ‘Festive Exchange’ with the OnLine Guild. This is something fun for our members to be part of, to show off our love of all things fibre, and especially to get to know a few more members of the guild better since we come from all around the world. This year’s theme is a Bag.
I made a bag for knitter, spinner and dyer (natural dyes) who lives on Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Since she lives on Prince Edward Island and I’m in Michigan, the water and waves of the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes were my inspiration with different shades of blue and the froth of whitecaps. The button reminded me of a compass rose from the old nautical charts.
To make the fabric for the bag I wet felted carded wool fibers and used a variety of wool and synthetic fibers as embellishment with wool yarn representing her knitting and spinning and a bit of red to for her dye work. The bag is long enough to hold knitting needles or maybe even a drop spindle.
The bag that is coming to me is being made by a weaver (floor loom & tablet) and Kumihimo braider who lives in Germany near the Swiss border. I’ve just gotten an email letting me know that the bag is on it’s way here = I’m excited!! I’ll post a photo once it arrives.
And now December begins…..
This is AMAZING!!!
Spider Wranglers Weave One-Of-A-Kind Tapestry
This article has more details
Spider silk at the V&A – A tangled (and exquisite) web they wove