While making all those clothesline hotpads, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could adapt the technique for use in art quilts.  What if I wrapped the fabric strips around wire or pipecleaners?

I had to try both.  The fabric wrapped pipecleaner is on top, the wire one on the bottom.

        

I prefer the pipecleaner version.  It’s easier to sew and has more substance to it.  My pipecleaners were green, and the color shows through the lighter sections of the fabric.

I intended to create branches, stems and vines, but now I can see grass, hair and even spaghetti.  I love that I can bend and shape them so they stick out from the background fabric. 

I am obsessed lately with adding three-dimensional elements to my quilts.  The idea won’t go away.  These are perfect.  I already know where I’m going to use them. 

One block finished.

Another block started.

I’m on a roll!

In response to my post about how I’ve never used Asian fabrics, Wendee sent me some of her unwanted stash.

I love these fabrics!  Silly me for never looking at them in the quilt shops.  I will post later about how I plan to use them.

Total Added YTD:  39.05 yds

Total Busted YTD:  20.25 yds

The days grow shorter.  Today we have balmy weather and tomorrow frost.  My body craves sleep in response to sunless gray skies.

I look at my paints.  I unfold a finished quilt top.  I open a box and touch all the UFOs inside.  Inspiration lies elsewhere.

With the change of seasons I’m drawn to handwork.  I want to sit in my favorite rocking chair and lose myself in the rhythm of needle and thread passing through fabric.  I don’t care what I make or how long it takes.  I simply need to stitch.

I started prepping another Dresden block because I’m close to finishing the last one.  I always remove a spoke or two so the block lies flat.  There’s a reason no one finished this quilt in the last 60 years.

I couldn’t find the baggie I use to store the extra pieces.  While digging through my project bag, I found these. 

I have a vague memory of an Ebay purchase.  I didn’t bid for the blocks, I bid for the fabric that came with them.  Some of it is feedsack.

I must have put them with the Dresdens to remind myself I bought the fabric to make more spokes.  The envelope’s postmark reads 2003.  How many years have I been appliquéing these blocks?

I didn’t remember I had the log cabins or the strips.  I really need to quit buying things.

So goes another evening in the sewing room.  Interesting, yet unproductive in a wandering without a purpose kind of way.  Understanding will come and bring movement in a new direction. 

Until then, I think I hear my favorite chair calling.

I made what I think is the last of these for now.

        

I’ve had a few comments from readers interested in making one.  The book is called It’s a Wrap:  Sewing Fabric Purses, Baskets and Bowls by Susan Breier.  The author calls what I am making “plates”.  I didn’t buy the book.  A friend let me look at hers at retreat a few weeks ago.

If you don’t want to buy the book either, check out this online tutorial to make a bowl.  To make the hotpads, just continue around flat instead of turning up the sides.

In making three of these I learned a few things not mentioned in the tutorial. 

Batik strips do not work as well as other fabrics.  The tight weave makes it harder to get a tight wrap.

If you have problems with the bobbin thread breaking, loosen the top tension one number.

I bought my clothesline at The Dollar Store.  Some quilt shops sell it for about twice as much.  Friends told me Walmart doesn’t carry it, but I never looked for myself.

One hank of clothesline made three hotpads with some left over.  Mine measure 9.5, 9 and 7.5 inches across.

Prints create a more interesting look.  I liked the stripes I used in the blue one and the green/white floral I used in the green one.  I also preferred a monochromatic color scheme.

The first one took me a couple hours to sew, plus the time to cut strips.  The last one took a little over one hour, including the time to cut the strips.

I have some ideas for adapting this technique to fit a project I set aside months ago.  More on that later.

Only nine more weeks left this year?  The holidays must be just around the corner.

I didn’t buy any fabric this week.  I went to the quilt shop and Joann’s, but only walked out with thread.

I used 3/8 yard of fabric making another one of the clothesline hotpads.  This one will live in the kitchen.  I’ll make one more for the plant in the sewing room, then I think I’m done.

No matter how many scraps I use for theses, the pile never seems to get smaller.  They must multiply when I’m not looking.

Total Added YTD:  36.8 yds

Total Busted YTD:  20 yds

I finished making the October blocks today.  They sewed up much easier than the September blocks.

I finished the September blocks.

To say these gave me a hard time would be an understatement.  They both came out a little too big.  I didn’t square them because I may remake them.  I’m debating if I really want to go there again.

The October blocks are going much better, so far.