I threw together a small bottle to stitch on our way to Pennsylvania the night before we left. I didn't have time to dye anything so I used Setacolor fabric paint to paint up some silk. I don't know if that stuff is even for silk, but it turned out watery and blue green just like I wanted. My kit ready to go:

I got cracking before we even were out of our county:

I got an amazing amount done before succumbing to car sickness. The neck of this bottle is tiny and gave me fits whenever I sat down to work on it in PA. I finally finished it when we got home. I figured out a simple way to enclose a washer in fabric for the base. (For weight and stability-it also gives the bottle an authentic heft.) I'd been stitching two layers of fabric into a circle, turning it right side out, inserting felt and a washer, tricky to get just right. For this piece I bought a washer just the right size and pulled fabric around it, the gathered extra fabric will be hidden inside.

This solution was inspired by a yo-yo quilt my Mom has on her couch...

I've been planning a partner object to the slim jug I recently finished, and thought another funnel would fit the bill. I don't want to go over the top with my attempts at realism, it isn't necessary. I am really interested in capturing the spirit of the vessels I am inspired by, not slavishly copying every detail. Having said that, I wanted this piece to look like a metal object. Grey-ish fabric then, right? I have had limited success at getting nice greys with natural dyes, and so was especially excited to try the logwood grey from Earth Hues. Logwood has the reputation of giving intriguing colors with a purple-ish cast. The results were just what I was hoping for. As much as I love the satin, I chose to put the shiny side in, the matte side really suits the project better. Here I'm laying out the funnel pattern on logwood dyed silk satin:

 

After cutting and stitching, with one more seam to sew, which will pull this into a tube like form:

 

The tube, with the inner wool felt piece:

 

Next the tricky lining up of seams to pull half the tube over the felt lining:

 

Finally, its starting to look like a funnel. Well, use your imagination, I swear, its well on its way:

    

As promised, here are a couple more images of my new piece. A shot of the neck and finger loop: (all these are kinda blurry, sorry!)

 

Here is the jug with a little bottle that I did as an experiment with fabric I printed a closeup photograph of a sunflower on. The thread is there for scale.

 

I plan to mess around with using my (new!) printer to print on fabric and use this in my vessels  along with fabric dyed with natural dyes. I wasn't sure if I would be able to stitch through the fabric easily, but it worked great. Unlike the iron on type transfers, putting the fabric through the printer doesn't change the hand of the fabric. Here is the neck of the sunflower bottle:

 

This is about as small as I can go working the way I am. I have to be able to fit a finger or two inside of whatever I am working on, and this neck was tricky. I think the wool felt, which gives these pieces their rigidity, is starting to make this tiny thing a bit clunky. It really pleases me that you can peek down into these are see they are empty like "real" vessels are. I don't think I'll do corks for them!

I am glad Katie broke the news of the grant I recieved from the KY Foundation for Women. Its bad enough that I record all my projects here, It feels obnixious to share my big victories too! The project I proposed was to continue work on a series of art work which includes my "bottles", and other fabric vessels.

These pieces are made of a sandwich of outer and backing layers of fabric-muslin or silk, with wool felt inside. I hand stitch through all these layers with embroidery floss. I made up this method of construction after being frustrated with the flatness of the art quilts I had been doing.

Here's the artist's statement for this work which was part of my grant submission to KFW:

I have always loved old things. Not fine antiques per se, but the objects used in everyday life. Who knows how many squeaky doors my diminutive oil can has remedied, or how many pie crusts my lovely battered rolling pin has produced? I set out to capture the spirit of these old objects in my new work, three dimensional sculptures that are crafted out of fabric and thread.

The process of observing an object, making a pattern of it, and bringing a replica of it to life out of fabric, is a satisfying challenge. These pieces are made out of two layers of cotton muslin, with wool felt sandwiched between them. The three layers are “quilted” together with seed stitches of embroidery floss. I see this process as making quilts with structure, a form. It is a labor intensive process to hand quilt the seed stitches over the surface of the piece. The time necessary to do the work by hand is crucial; it serves as a calming, meditative activity, and ages the piece. As the surface gains the texture of many stitches, the piece acquires some of the spirit and patina of old things.

Balancing the many aspects of my life has become a complicated task. I am a partner to my husband, a mother to two young boys, an artist, aspiring yogi, gardener, friend, sister and daughter. The difficulty of finding time for everything recently brought to mind the ancient alchemists who attempted the impossible task of turning base metals into gold. I sometimes feel my own aspirations of domestic tranquility, artistic fulfillment, and a meaningful relationship with my family is similarly unachievable.  I’ve heard rumors about amazing women who do manage to keep all the balls in the air, just as I’ve read accounts of alchemists who were successful in their quest. However wildly unbelievable both of these claims seem, I am hopeful.

Ultimately, I envision composing still life compositions entirely out of my hand stitched fabric sculptures, loosely inspired by woodcuts of alchemy laboratories and the still life paintings of the old masters. These ‘shelf-scapes’ will be a visual representation of my own internal work as I attempt to conjure space, time and quiet for myself.

I am so excited to get the chance to carry out ideas I have been scheming about for months thanks to this grant. The money is distributed by the first of the year, so I am gearing up for major art making after all my christmas crafting is over!

Well, the month is just about over and even before the NaBloPoMo prizes are announced, Laura just found out that she was awarded a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women! Yeah Laura! I don't know all the details and I am sure she will post more soon, but her proposal talked about the realities of  being a mom and an artist and the balance there. Her proposal not only included funds for equipment, space and professional development, but wonder of wonders, child care!! I look forward to seeing her new series of work.