Getting things lined up

Sometimes you just run into fabric that you know is going to go with a lot of other fabric you have in your stash and sure enough it did!   I don't remember when I purchased this fabric with the swirls but I pulled it out of my stash recently and cut a couple of aprons out of it and combined it with a couple of other fabrics to make some stunning aprons which I will sew up at a later date.  I had this piece left over that was aprox. 14" wide and 30" long.  Just looking at the fabric I could tell it was going to make a STUNNING fabric bowl.  The narrow stripes that one uses to wrap around the clothesline to make the bowl has to have  some give to them to wrap properly and unfortunately there was only 14" left from the width of the fabric once the apron was cut out of it.  Also, to get the full effect of the changes in the color of the swirls I wanted to cut them in the proper direction.  If I had not discovered the joys of glue (see blog entry http://www.newenglandfiberarts.com/node/163) The 14" strips probably would not have been long enough to bother with.  But with the use of glue there is so much less waste do to not having to over wrap when you add a new strip. I decided to go ahead with using the shorter strips.  Normally I just cut out the strips and start wrapping, not bothering to line up the strips in any particular order unless I am making a rainbow bowl but on the first bowl I made, I kept the strips in the order that I cut them in and I really liked the result.  The subtle change from one swirl color to the next was very pleasing and set up a very interesting pattern.  I combined this fabric with a blue and purple small check and the basket with the handles is the first one I made.  The changes from one swirl color to the next set up it's very own subtle striped pattern.  Since I had some of this fabric left and really enjoyed the looks of the first bowl I thought. hey, why not made another one and make the striped effect even more dramatic.  This time  I lined up the strips  from all the same colored swirls and wrapped one color all at once and then went on to the next color.  I then put a light fuchsia stripe to separate the swirled fabric from the check.  Though the picture does not show this, that second bowl (bottom right) is much smaller that the bowl on the left.   I have named these two bowls "shades of blue".  

Yesterday I dropped in to visit a friend of mine who is a painter.  She is now living in a retirement community and is 92 years young.  I took a few of the latest bowls I have made so we could have a little show and tell.  Doris is such a delight and she has always been a one woman cheering gallery for my work.  As I was leaving, we ran into a friend of hers out in the hallway and Doris insisted I show her new friend Hazel my baskets and bowls.  Hazel fell in love with the smaller shades of blue bowl and bought it off me right on the spot.  I had jus finished that bowl the day before.  What can I say, there is nothing like instant gratification!