Two woodsy ones-

and two fairy houses-

*okay- they are all in my Etsy shop now*

Now, onto the girls, who have been waiting very patiently.

This was the first one I got started on. The blue-green swirl glass was obviously perfect for a water scene, but the clear cup was a challenge to design around.

This second one is made on a cup I found at the Goodwill on Wednesday. Liz and I went there after the meet-up. Now, I know that you need to approach thrift shopping with an open mind. If I am looking for something in particular, I can be sure I will never find it. Something else wonderful, but never that thing I “needed”. As I walked into the store, I said to Liz, What I really need is some more teacups that don’t have flower designs because I am working on water scenes. Well, that should have killed any chance of finding what I need. So, imagine my surprise when I found not one, but two of these pretty celadon cups with a goldfish embossed into them. Perfect, and a thrifting miracle!

And one more-

These are going into my shop now.

One more tiny world done-

Another meet-up this morning and it was fantastic! Thanks for showing up ladies- Liz, Crystal, Louise, Linda, Lisa, and Kerry! Next one is April 14. Hmm, the day before taxes. Wonder if anyone will show up?

And, a book report. I bought myself a book about the circus. It is gigantic!

I’m not sure how I first discovered it. Maybe an Amazon search? I discovered that one local library has it as a reference book so I went to look at it. I literally gasped when I opened it. 600 plus pages of inspiration. But… wow, it cost SO much. It took me over a month to decide to buy it. First I thought I’d wait to see if I lost interest. When I didn’t, I checked out all the used book sites, watched on ebay, and then discovered there is another book of the same name by the same author but smaller… That was when I finally decided to just go for it and buy it on Amazon. I am not sorry.

and like I said, 600+ more pages!

And another book- this one I got out of the library, but I think I’ll be looking for a used one online.

Someone posted about it on their blog a while back- sorry but I don’t remember who. When I saw the book, it brought back a flood of memories. This book was the one I was using back in 9th grade when I made this sampler-

It is so much fun to page through the book and see how it influenced me. It is inspiring me once again – this time I am using the stitches on my tiny worlds.

This one is in a demitasse cup-

I have one more done, but it was a special order and I’ll wait to post the photo until it is received.

And, I’ve got a bunch more started.

This bag was totally worn out. “Make a new bag” has been on my list since the New Year. When it suddenly turned out that I am going to New York, that was the push I needed. Trip = new bag it seems. This is the second bag I’ve made from this fabric- the first one is here.

the inside-

and stuffed-

Part of the problem with making bags on a two year interval is that I can’t really learn from my mistakes. I forget everything I learned in all that time. This time I had a problem with my inside fabric stretching- I’d be sewing along and end up with puckers. Arg! The other problem is the difficulty of finding just the right hardware. I was looking for something in particular but couldn’t find it so ended up cutting my old bag apart and reusing the hardware. Not exactly what I wanted but I need the bag finished for Tuesday. I took it out on a test run and it works just fine!

The winner is, #38, Katie Agnew! Congratulations!

When I hear back from her and she picks her prize, I will put the rest of the available fish into my Etsy shop. I will update this post when that happens.

*Update* She picked this one. The other 8(!) are now in my Etsy shop.

In the mean time, the pattern is ready, available, and in my shop- right here! And, I have started another flickr group for posting finished fish. It is so much fun to see what people create with my patterns- really, I get all choked up when I see the wonderful creations. Check out the other groups- there is some amazing artwork.

And, 2 fresh fish-

Here is the fish I worked on for the pattern-

It is a very rare breed of snow fish. And I asked my friend from next-door to model for me-

What a cutie!

It looks like I might get to go to NYC next week- Tuesday and Wednesday probably. Just in case anyone wants to meet up or has some great suggestions. I hope to get to the Jane Austen show at the Morgan Library. Alicia had so much fun last week, I might be doing some of the same things she did!

a nice interview with me here at Hand/Eye.

Meet-up this Wednesday at Starbucks in Davis Sq., Somerville, MA. Starts about 10 am.

And, I made 2 more fish. I wanted to try the pattern in cotton fabrics- this one has repro barkcloth for its body, a corduroy head and the fins and tails are made from cotton knits.

This one is made from quilt type fabrics- all woven cottons.

I’ve gotten started on organizing the pattern and I want to make it as accessible to as many people as possible. I am trying the design out in cotton because it it so much more available then wool. And, some people find the thickness and stretchiness of the recycled wool to be a challenge to work with. Is there anything else I should be exploring? If you were going to make a fish, what would you want to make it out of?

Cotton vs wool-

The pile is getting big!

I called up my neighbor and asked if I could take some photos in her much cleaner, whiter, brighter house. That was fun!

And she took a photo of me with the fish-

The fish in the top photo got finished before the light ran out for photos. The 2 in the next pic aren’t done quite yet.

These fish are so much fun to make. Firstly, they almost completely done on the sewing machine. My finger tips are grateful and healing from the tattoo man embroidery. Secondly, I am using sweaters and fabrics that I like, but some of them were never going to find a place in a doll- like that black and white grid and the wide stripes of the first fish. Thirdly, they are not fiddly at all. I have been concentrating on colors and shapes.

Several people have asked me about a pattern. I will give it a shot. I am also thinking about trying out the design in quilting type cotton and also recycled cotton knit fabric- like t-shirts or kids clothes knits. And, I’m going to go check out Google images for flounders as soon as I finish this post.

Yep, I’m off on a tangent here. I am sure I will get back to those tattooed men and the bunny pattern. Soon. As soon as I am done with these fish. Okay then.