29 June 2007

posy

flowers from a friend's garden in a vase I threw, gouged and glazed






Here are some books that will be in my travel bag with yarn and fabric and paper and pencils and indigo powder: New Eyes for Plants, Dear Jane, Classic Knits and Natural Dyes.






Have a happily busy summer!

25 June 2007

butterfly

finger-crocheted cordMy son Bruno taught me how he learned to work "butterfly stitch" to make a two-color cord at school. I'm hoping these photos Bruno took say a thousand words or at least enough to help you figure out how to make these, too.

Begin by making a slip knot with one of your yarns (perle cotton is nice for this, too) and leave the loop on your right index finger and big enough to slip your left index finger through to pick up a loop of the second yarn. Pull the second loop of yarn through the first and pull on the tail of the first yarn to close that first loop around the base of the second loop (you'll catch a glimpse of the butterfly's wings when the two loops are the same size). Keep alternating yarns and fingers, picking up, pulling and tightening as you go using the photos below as a guide. This is two finger-crocheted chains worked together. Here are alternate directions, though I prefer the method Bruno taught me because your hands work together.






08 June 2007

june bug

the Dear Jane quilt block called "fleur de lis"




Jane fever. Jane forever.

03 June 2007

bazaar

The Art Star Craft Bazaar was a breezy place to be yesterday morning. I picked up this fantastic little vessel from Penelope Rakov of Spot-On Designs. The handle is definitely the punctum for me.













I also drifted into the orbit of Pushmepullyou Design, Chloe Le Pichon Ceramics, Foxy & Winston, TADworks, Lemon Cadet, Red Mailbox Press, Mandy Gerth, jezebel, 1Girl 1Boy, imogene, artgoodies, Yasha Butler, pinecone + chickadee, The Black Spot Books, mogo, pistol stitched handbags, and giant dwarf. And at the Art Star Gallery I saw and coveted in real live person two small quilts by Amy Karol including "You're Not Going to Get Far in that Thing".

01 June 2007

horizon

calling Philadelphia area crafters and artisans
The Waldorf School of Philadelphia is accepting applications from crafters and artisans for their 2007 Holiday Fair on Friday November 16th and Saturday November 17th. Do you spin, knit, embroider, dye yarn, make books, throw pottery, take photographs, pull prints, copy masterworks in kitchen cotton,* etc.? This is a great venue for your work. Contact me at cbshiffman (at) gmail (dot) com for details and a scan of the application form.

* Georgia O'Keefe's Sky Above Clouds IV, 1965, Art Institute of Chicago as a dishcloth by me, 2006, private collection.

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