Cold Weather Works

Frigid valley temperatures have given me the opportunity to work on lots of new projects.  New crocheted totes, wrap bracelets, and a batch of Valentines Day stones for the Arts Center Shop.

  I love working on these, but am looking forward to getting outside.  It's so cold I can barely finish a 40 minute walk.  In another week we'll be back in Arizona and southern New Mexico for some sun and golf.  More pictures to follow of a couple other projects in progress!

Memory Crafts

A few years after my sister's husband passed away, we began to think about making some "memory crafts" from the many shirts and other clothes he left behind. 

(It's something that some girlfriends and I had done many years back when we made pillows out of some wool jackets that were left after a loved one's passing.  Back then we thought we would create a business, and call it "Memor-ease"....that never happened.)

Anyway, I gathered a selection of dress shirts, and began to design things.  I made various pillow covers, and when a new baby arrived in the family, I designed and made him a quilt with shirt fabric from the grandfather he would never get to know.  I also created some aprons, and covered a small box with shirt fabric and buttons.  

Small sewing box covered in shirt fabrics & buttons

                     Apron constructed of three different shirt fabrics

I copied the doggie patterns from some baby p.j.s that I bought, drew patterns and cut all the pieces.  Then, ironed on and machine-appliqued each piece.

THE FINISHED QUILT, minus a bit of personalization that I added at the end.

The shirt fronts make great backsides for pillow, complete with button closure

This was a flannel shirt; the red and blue appliques came from other solid-colored shirts.

 I originally started this post almost two years ago, and found it as a draft in my list of posts.  I remember now that I didn't want to post it until I had given all these gifts to their recipients.   I decided to go ahead and post this now, hoping to inspire you to re-purpose materials  that will always spark memories of someone dear.

A couple more bags.  The day I took the gray one into the shop at the Arts Center, a man came in and bought THREE bags for his college-age daughters!

Large tote, greens and browns, lined with fabric from a vintage Hawaiian style shirt.  The cell phone pocket in this lining is the original shirt pocket....lucky placement!

Another rather large tote.....lined with vintage cloth napkins that I found while cleaning out an inherited house.  Good find!  Will be using other vintage linens in future bags.

 During these waning days of a gorgeous fall, I am torn between working on projects and spending as much time as possible outdoors.  Even tho the temps are in the 30s and 40s, it is still golfing weather!!
I have five more bags/totes in the works, then I'm moving on to something different...stay tuned.

TWO NEW BLANKETS

WEDDING GIFTS FOR FRIENDS

NEW HOOKY PROJECTS

AFTER spending two wonderful weeks in the Napa Valley with my sister, I am home again and picking up projects that need to be finished!!  Today is chilly and windy, so I'm happy to be inside, letting the creative juices flow.  As I finish this collection of crocheted bags, I'd like to credit Lucy of Attic 24 (http://attic24.typepad.com/) for giving me MUCH inspiration!  She just did a trip to Provence to lead a group in a crochet project while they toured the countryside of France....I would LOVE to have gone!!

Lining of bag above, from a vintage house dress

Lining, paisley with denim cell phone pocket

Embellished with flowers and buttons, lined with vintage upholstery fabric

The first bag in crocheted collection, along with two little hand-painted Columbine boxes.

Back at it!!

Wow!!  It's been a while since I posted.  I got through the Christmas Fair, sales were pretty slow; small town fairs just don't have the volume to do big numbers.  Oh well.  I have lots of inventory, and have been getting my Etsy shop in order.  Takes longer than I had thought to photograph, label and post each item.  Check out the shop if you have time:  RioFrioStudio on the Etsy website.


Meanwhile, between little trips to warmer climes to play golf, I continue in my "Fiber Frenzy" mode:  knitting and crocheting anytime I sit down to watch TV.  It's amazing how much you can accomplish using those bits and pieces of time!  Here are some pictures of works in progress (I can NEVER work on just one thing.....I need the variety to stay interested!)

A BABY BLANKET IN "BOBBLES", SOMETHING I LEARNED FROM A PINTEREST POST

I call this one OREO, another blanket, baby-sized

Been going on this one for a while, it will be a bedspread...HUGE!!  A ripple pattern I learned on the Attic24 blog, one of my favorite places to get "hooky" inspiration

The beginning of a junior-sized blanket in fall colors

Medium sized blanket, done in a "Granny Ripple", a pattern also found on Pinterest

A selection of bits and pieces of granny squares and Japanese flowers.  Can you tell I'm trying to use a lot of yarn from my stash????

Also, I got a nifty new machine that scans old 110, 35mm film and slides, and I've been working on the OLD Mexico pictures.  I pulled out my journals from our first two trips in the 70s, and all of it should make for an interesting history/picture book.  


That's it for now.  I'm looking forward to a few weeks in Florida, away from the cold and snow.  I'll leave all this artsy/fartsy stuff behind and focus on my golf game.  I'm not NEARLY as good at golf as I am mastering the fiber arts  :-(

CHRISTMAS FAIR CRAFTS

 All summer I have been working on crafts

for the annual Christmas fair.  I think

I might be ready!!!

A mountain of mittens (64 pairs) made from felted sweaters (and my lavender toenail polish...sorry).

A pile of pincushions with beaded pins.

A closet FULL of aprons (45!)

Love this one,made from vintage flour
sack material with recycled tee-shirt trim.

A tree full of ornaments.....shell-studded orbs, crocheted stars,
woven fabric stars, painted & papered & jingle-belled wooden shapes
and beaded icicles.

Pendants, hand-painted onto washers.....I saw this in Australia at a craft fair,
so I used a lot of the Aboriginal dots for design.

A riot of painted rocks, something for ANY occasion.

A NEW INTEREST: ZEN TANGLES

I  was introduced to this new, fun activity by a friend, then I did internet research and found a mountain of information on this art form.  It's basically "doodling with a purpose".  You can check it out by googling the title.  My friend carries a notebook and pens with her all the time, and spends any "waiting" moments creating her tangles.  It reminds me of the "scribble art" we did in grade school:  we would draw some scribble lines on paper, then color in the shapes.  In Zen Tangles you create about a 4"x4" scribble, then fill the shapes with patterns instead of solid colors.