Crafting For Obama

And Also There Was A Potholder

From a couple of weeks ago, fulfilling a request for a block w/background by (for reasons only known to my Inner Workings), turning it into a potholder.

 

Please note the Perfectly Mitered Corners. hee

Getting the Anansi Bug on this one was a pain because I couldn't stitch it in the way I normally do. Since a potholder is a practical item the Anansi Bug couldn't go in the lower corner in floss or thread because it wouldn't last long in daily use. So I came up with a different version using the B/L zig setting, one that would also serve to tack down the handle of the potholder. It was weird making an Anansi Bug that doesn't look like an Anasi Bug, but then I thought considering what Anansi is, that morphing is okay.

The what, you say?

The Anansi Bug! For as long as I've been making things, every single thing I make, somewhere on it I put an Anansi Bug. Of all the pantheons in all the world, Anansi, thought to be from the Ashanti, is my favorite. Here's an extreme close-up of the Anansi Bug on the black purse. (In stitching terms it's a riff on the algerian eyelet.)

Yeah, I know that spiders have more than five legs. Sometimes the Anansi Bug has eight legs, sometimes it doesn't. Strictly depends on mood at the time of stitching. I once made an AB with 13 legs. To this day I have no idea why.

Lettering in the handwriting of H.P. Lovecraft, brought to you by the fine folks at the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. They also do really fantastic radio plays. Go check out their website.

Elsewhere, we are working on turning the HPLHS' font into a stencil because we ever so desperately need it in order to pull off a giant project for something else. That project should take one year, and it is the only thing we plan to sew in 2009. We have so far failed in our attempts to turn the Society's font into a stencil, but we're going to keep trying for a little bit longer before finally giving up and sending them an email asking Dudes! How much to make me a LovecraftBlock stencil? We are delaying making this request because the attempts to figure it out on our own are highly amusing so far.

I love his handwriting. His cursive is unreadable, though.

Speaking of Lovecraft, The Dread Cthulhu Pincushion:

Gone! (temporarily) Blue Lattice

Kona cotton, regular wash, regular dry. Bonus pic of the straps for this one being made, which was fun. More blues are on deck for the next set.

Pricing and purchasing information.

Gone! (Temporarily) Blue Regular

Kona cotton, regular wash, regular dry. This one has already been claimed, but I'm posting it for the record. There's another blue available in this set, and two will appear in the next. If you want one for sure, drop a note.

Gone! Red Regular

Kona cotton, regular wash, regular dry. This one has already been claimed, but I'm posting it for the record. There's a slightly different red available in this set.

Pricing and purchasing information.

Gone! Dual Purple

Confession! I came very close to keeping this one for myself. Two years ago, for a project elsewhere, I dyed a bunch of canvas light purple. For some reason one batch came out with coolio dark purple & blue speckles all over it. I don't know why that happened, and to date have not been able to replicate that happy accident. 

Cotton canvas and linen. A One Night Only because I only had enough of the accident canvas left to make one body. 

This is the last purse from the first batch.

Pricing and purchasing information.

Gone (temporarily)! Blue with Clouds

This style of blue will be a mainstay offering. It's Kona cotton.

Pricing and purchasing information.

Update! This particular one has gone to a good home, but six more are on deck, so I'm leaving it in the 'available' category for now until I finish & photograph the new ones.

Gone! Multi-Green

The cloth for this one was originally napkins dyed and woven by a woman's collective in Ghana. Since I had just enough left from a massive project completed over last year to make one purse, it's a One Night Only. It's thin cotton with barely-visible patterns woven into the base cloth.

Pricing and purchasing information.

Update! Gone to a good home.

Gone! Mudcloth with Quilted Logo

In the early beta stage, I quilted the actual logo along with the body. While I like the way that made the arch pop out, for various reasons I stopped doing that, preferring to let the logo stand unmolested. All three of the other quilted logo versions have been given away to consultants and friends. This is the last of the quilted logo style. 

Am rather pleased at how I managed to just about match the wavy lines on the back of this one when binding.

Update! Gone to a good home. There are other mudcloths on deck, but in different colors and patterns.