Hobbies! What Do You Do For Fun?

 Do you have any hobbies?  I love crafting.  I am all over the map .. I love to paint. Wood, glass, metal clay pots, gourds, spoons ... anything paint will stick to. I also love fiber crafts. I don't know how to crochet or knit, so I do other things.. I love to weave and make blankets. In 2011 I bought a floor loom from a lady and in conversation with her, I learned that there was a local fiber guild! I made contact with the lady that heads the guild and began attending the monthly meetings in January of 2012... I fell totally in love with it!
 It makes me nervous sometimes because sometimes it takes me longer to "get it". I often do things differently or backwards from others. I am left handed and become so accustomed to the fact that I automatically adapt things... sometimes it DOES matter if you're doing it backwards though! Sometimes I get what I think is a good start on a project only to hit a dead end and have to start over. Sigh. The people that attend the workshops are so great. They are funny are fascinating. Everyone brings something different to the group  and are so generous with their knowledge and techniques. I have learned about many different things that I would never have attempted on my own.  Sometimes I learn that I really love the new project and make more on my own. I totally enjoying growing my own gourds and then drying, prepping and painting them! Other times I find out that I really dislike the project and it comes home and is put away, never to see the light of day again. Beading with seed beads. HATE IT! I am fascinated by the things others can make with them, but one of our projects was a lip balm cover. It was seed beads that when strung made a super cute flower pattern. I kept getting it backwards and having to start over. And those beads are instruments of torture! They are so tiny! Needless to say, the lip balm cover did not get finished. We have done some great stuff. We have learned Natural Dyeing, Drop Spindle Spinning, basket making, weaving and twining. I would show you a photo of my craft room, but it isn't really MINE yet.... I am redoing the garage into my space so I can spread out and not set up projects on the dining table that have to be moved every time it's time to eat! So I'll wait until that's finished. While I have given a lot of the things I have made away as gifts or sold them, here are some things I have made:


These are blankets I have woven with a small square loom.

Wrapped Metal lid Snowmen

Door Knob Key Holder, Painted Grater, Photo Frame, Door Knob
 Key Holder

Recycled DC Snowman, Painted Spoons, 3-D Photo Frame

Springtime Gourd Back

Springtime Gourd Front

Snowman Gourd

Wood Sign From High School Art Class

Paper Mache Egg Basket, Yarn Wrapped Basket, PaperMache
Egg Basket with a REAL Decoupage Egg, Purple Mache Box

Glass Last Supper Plate, Leaf Pounding on Fabric, Painted Kitty
done in High School Art Class, Wooden Eggs

Leaf Pounding Close-up

Glass Plate Close-up

Baby Hat

Stepping Stones Painted for a School Auction

Twining Bag

     Twining was one of the latest things we learned at the fiber workshop. This is one of those things I found that I really love doing. It is a weaving method that the Cherokee used to make bags for collecting herbs, flowers, roots, etc. This is the one i started at the workshop and I am already halfway done with a purple one. I think I'll be making more of these for the girls in our families for Christmas gifts!
     So there you have it. I LOVE crafting and creating stuff. What kind of hobbies or crafts do you do? Do you create to keep or do you give things away? I'd love for you to share!

Baby Blankets

These are some of the baby blankets I have made. I entered the blue one into our County Fair last year and won 2nd place. I do these by hand with a little hand/lap loom. I have been told these are far to delicate for the large Union loom I am working on, but I hope to be able to purchase another loom that will allow me to make more of these. It is a little time consuming to make them the way I do. I love weaving the soft textures and then the overall plushy feel of a finished blanket is just wonderful.

More Projects....

The above photos were taken by the lady I bought the loom from.  

   While I wait (and pray) that the garden will produce something, I've started another one of my projects: The weaving loom. I began weaving by hand a few years ago and found that I love it! It didn't take long for me to start dreaming of own an actual loom. I recently bought an old Union rug loom that was in need of some love. I felt like it was in decent shape and that with some work, it would be great. Of course finding somewhere to put it when it's finished will be a whole new adventure! For now, it is on the back porch.
   I worked on it for just a little while last week but it was so hot I wrapped it back up. Saturday's weather was great. Windy, chance of rain and much cooler that it has been, so I unwrapped it and got to work. I was nervous to even touch it. I have never done something like this and the thought of ruining it terrified me. It's time consuming and dirty work, but I am so stoked! I have rubbed some of the wood with Scotch Brite pads and it is so wonderfully smooth. Most of the metal parts are heavy duty cast iron. They have some rust on them but even that seems to be cleaning up nicely. The rust on the reed concerned me, but even that is cleaning up pretty well so far. I get excited all over again every time I stand back a just look at it! I am very anxious to make progress because I am planning to attend my first fiber guild meeting in just a few weeks. I am hoping to meet others that can help me learn what will be for me, a "new" way to weave.