Tessie Wants to Meet Him....

We went to the Gem Show this morning. We both forgot our cameras, but Walter had his phone. The very first thing we saw was this...He is between 7 and 8 feet tall and very well mannered.

As soon as Tessie got a load of him, she wanted to meet him. He is made of tools, gears and various motorcycle parts of all shapes and sizes.

She seems to think that he would be a great addition to our front yard...I think that the neighbors would run us out of town! Really cool though.

I didn't get too carried away. I plan to go back later in the week.
One of the first, and most original things that I bought were these copper splashes. They are made by dropping melted copper on a flat surface and then hitting them with an acetylene torch at different temperatures to get the colors. The photo doesn't do them justice. I think that I can use them for both miniatures and jewelry work. Irresistible.The ring that Tessie is wearing is one that I got from Walter. I always hit the same booth for rings. It is a lady from China that has hundreds of different ones. It is hard to choose.

I may have to arm wrestle Tessie to get it back.

Here's the rest of the stash....So far. Did I tell you that the bead shows start on Wednesday? I will be forced to go to at least one of the venues for that.

A lot of the things that you see will be used for mini as well as big. I took a little closer shot here so that you can see some of the findings that I got for a dollar a bag.

The white and brown beads to the left are carved bone. I think that they may work for legs on mini furniture.

The ones on the far right are toggle closings for jewelry, but the round ring parts will make perfect picture frames. There are 8 sets per bag. Sixteen mini frames for 2.oo. Not to shabby.

Anyway, as soon as I grapple with Tessie for the ring(and hopefully win) I will have to see what I can do with some of the loot.

I am off to play now.

See you tomorrow.

I Have Rocks In My Head.....

Every year, right around my birthday, Tucson puts on a show just for me....Well maybe not just for me....It is the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. Tomorrow will be the kick off for this year.

I think that the powers that be are just trying to help Walter out with his birthday shopping. It solves all of his problems. He simply coaxes me into the car. He makes sure that my seat belt is fastened and off we go.

I get to pick out something that I like and he doesn't have to figure out what to get for me.

Before we go, I always spend a couple of days pondering what I have purchased over the years and why, supply wise, it hasn't been put to use thus far.

Then I start to feel guilty and madly work on finishing a couple of pieces before I find something else at the show that I like even better.

For the past few years, Tessie gets involved in the sorting out process. She seems to think that, if she helps, she will get something from the show too....She won't tell us when her real birthday is and she has adopted mine. That way we will remember it. Sneaky....But not really helpful. Especially when she sits there with a thread bobbin on her head singing, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend"....Diamonds???

This morning she insisted that we go through the kumihimo thread supplies and pair up some of the finished cords with pendants. The theory being, that will free up space for new stuff....

Here are two of the pendants that we finished. The one on the left is a very old piece of Native American silver/turquoise that I picked up somewhere.

The other one is a bone pendant that I picked up at Walmart, of all places!

That's two long cords and large pendants finished. In all I finished four.

Here are the two boxes of cabochons...Real stone and cast resin. The one that Tessie is holding is cast resin. Yes, you have seen it before....No, I haven't finished it yet. I need to braid a cord or string it on beads or something....Sooner or later I will decide what to do with it...And all of the rest...

The point is....I don't really need more stones. I am just addicted to pretty stones. I even like plain old rocks.

April and Seth go on vacation and they know what to bring back. I always get a rock from wherever they went. That makes me a happy camper.

I did finish one other piece this morning. I bought this "stone" for myself a couple of years ago and a few months ago, when there was a bead show here, I found square wire with an antique bronze finish to wrap it with. All it needed was a chain. I hunted all over creation for chain to match and couldn't find it.

Would you believe that good old Walmart had a six strand, chain necklace in their jewelry department that was the exact match? I tore it apart this morning and used two of the chains for the pendant....Now about the stone....

It is a piece of a fosselized dinosaur bone, cut ground down, and polished.

I had Seth along to help me pick it out. He has a degree in geology. He's a handy man to have around when you want to know about stones. Thanks Seth!

Anyway, I cut down a bit of the inventory and now have a few nooks and crannies for new rocks. Now I have an excuse to stock up.

See you tomorrow after the rock fest!

The Last Step.....

This morning I had to go to MVD and get a renewal on my driver's license. They ask for at least two forms of ID including the old driver's license and one other such as your certified birth certificate.... They took the old license and never once asked to see anything else. I guess that the ugly photo that they took of me last time does look like me after all!

Oh well...To celebrate,(I passed) I went thrift shopping and to the antique mall after I finished.

First I have to tell you about finishing the chair...Then on to the important stuff.

I measured the inside of the chair bottom for the cushion. It was exactly 1 3/4" square. I cut out a piece of foam core in that size and rounded two corners for the back.

I glued two thicknesses of quilt batting to the board and trimmed the edges to match.

Then I cut a piece of fabric, that Tessie picked out, about 1/2 to 3/4 " all around. I centered the fabric over the fuzzy side and wrapped it like a package around to the back and glued it all around. I nipped here and tucked there on the corners so that there would not be much bulk.

I then took 6 one yard lengths of the thread and put a knot in one end. I pinned it to a pillow and braided the whole thing.

This is the edging for the chair. It goes around the top, the seat and the bottom.

The top goes from one end of the arms to the other, covering the ends of the wires. The center one goes from the edge of the wicker on the front, around the side, back and other side. It is cut flush with the edge of the wicker on both ends. You must put some white glue on the back of the braid before you cut it, so that it won't ravel. The bottom one starts a the center of the back edge. It goes all of the way around, following the edge of the chair. When you get back to the center back again, glue and cut it to butt up against the beginning.

I used some of what was left to go around the cushion. I only had a small piece left after that. It takes a lot of braiding.

Here it is! I hope you like it.
And the horse? I found it at the 22nd St. Antique Mall. It's a Brayer. I'm not sure if I spelled that right. Anyway, I thought that it looked like a perfect starter horse for Tessie....

She saw it and the first thing she said was, "Tell Cordelia that she can have the stupid chair! I am taking the horse to sit on. He Rocks!!!"

I think that there was a pun intended in that one.

I now have tiny hoof prints on my tables.

I have to show you the rest of the loot.

I found all of it at a tiny little thrift shop that I had not been in for a long time. I'm glad that I stopped. I spent all of five dollars and made out like a bandit.

First there is a punch needle(with fine point included) for 50 cents!

Then there is a puce tin with a window in it. Tessie may get to spend time in there if she keeps being a brat.(1.00)

The white thing behind her is some kind of carrying case made of fine even weave nylon mesh. I am going to use that for needlepoint. I know it will work because several years ago, I found a men's kit for toiletries for Walter. It had an inset of that and rather than leave it plain, I embroidered his initials on it.

The pile that you see down front is a 28.00 fine cross stitch kit that was never even opened. I got that for 3.00! The fabric is fine even weave. I haven't measured it, but it looks like about 28 or 30. There is enough thread to cover the whole thing....That's a LOT of thread.

I have several back up patterns for rugs that I have designed, but not yet stitched. Here we go again....That piece of fabric will make quite a few rugs. I can't wait to get started....The kit even included the needle.

First I need to corral Tessie and the new horse... I heard her telling the horse, "Casey will make you a saddle and bridle. Bare back is uncomfortable....Yes. A saddle with lots of padding and a nice fluffy horse blanket..." And so on and so forth....

On second thought, I am going to go hide instead of looking for trouble.

See you tomorrow.

Almost There.....

OK. Here we go on the upper chair. Start where you started the bottom, in what is now the left hand corner...Yup. You heard me right. Once you turn the chair right side up. That's where it is. The two thread ends should be in the same place.

Straighten the wires as much as you can. Then start working from the outside as much as possible. You may have to work some rows from the inside, but it is much easier to see what you are doing from the outside.

This time you loop the thread around the first arm(leg)post once. You will have the thread coming out between the arm and the first wire on the inside if you did it right. Now go around the arm again and start looping on the outside towards the back of the chair. Go all the way around and when you get to the other arm, do a plain weave back across to the first arm. When you get there, do a second row of loops. This is officially your third row. Since you are now on the right side at the end of the row, that means that you do nine rows to get back to the starting point, where the thread is attached.

Always keep your starting point in mind. That will keep you on track. Next, you repeat the first three rows. Loop row. Plain row. Loop row.


Now for the fun part. This is the arched back section. Work six rows of plain weaving. Then, starting back across, go to the first spoke after the center one in the back.

Loop around it and go back to the first one on the other side. Loop around and go back across to one more on the other side. Keep doing one more stitch on each side until you reach the corner posts.

Then complete the row.

Weave back to the center +1. Loop around and do the whole series once more. Now you should have a nice arch in the back.

Now continue on and weave back to the starting point.

People are going to be seeing the chair from the inside, as well as the outside from here.

Sometimes it is nice to have the loops on both sides of the wicker. Inside and out.

It makes for a more lacy look, and is a handy method to know, even though you won't want to use it all the time.

Do a row of loop stitches going in one direction and then instead of doing the straight weave back, simply go around the arm post and do a row of loops from the opposite side.

Do the same thing a second time. That is the first row of double loops that you see above the curved back.

Go back to plain weaving for 8 to 10 rows and then do the double line of loops again.

After the loops, for the open area, do a line of wrapped wires that are five wraps each, starting with the front post. Be sure to wrap the thread so that the excess going from post to post is on the back of the chair.

Now, starting at the side that you end the wraps, do two of the front and back looped rows.

You can finish with eight rows of plain weave and then a row of loops, plain weave and loops.

On this particular chair, I went back to the center back and did the arch method all the way out to the fifth wire on each arm....That is, five more passes than the original arch. You only have to do it one time this time.

This gives the chair a bit more height. Lastly, I finished the top edge with a row of loops, a row of plain weave and a row of loops... Put white glue on the top edge of the last row of loops so that the thread won't slip off of the wires when you cut them.

If the thread does slip, just push it back on. This area will be covered......Tomorrow.

As soon as I got this far, the chair disappeared. Tessie zapped it to the front porch of Cordelia's house.

She says that I can have it back to finish when she gets done trying it out...

Mind you, there isn't even a cushion yet and she has a perfectly good, brand new rocking chair.

I am going to go try to pry her out of it so that I can show you how to do the trim and the upholstery. Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

Larger Than Life....

I am not sure why these photos came out so big, but as they say, "The better to see you with...."

When we last parted, I had just threaded all of the wires through the seat and glued them in place.

I couldn't get Tessie to leave the chair, so you have to put up with me.

To start the weaving, I glue the end of the thread between the first two wires on the left front of the chair.

Then I bring the thread around the front of the first wire and over the back of the second one. I keep doing the same thing until I get to the other end of the front.


I want all of the loops to go in the same direction, so I do a row of plain weaving back to the other end. When I get there, I go over the end wire and back under to get in the right position to do the loops again. Only the end loop will be different. The rest will be done the same as the first row.

I flip the chair over and I do a plain weave back and forth across the front wires, bending gently as I go. When I get the weaving even with the bottom of the seat piece, I start looping at the right front corner, facing me, and go around all of the wires on the bottom with two rows of loops. This time you won't have to go back. Just keep moving forward until you have two rows of loops all around.
After that, start weaving plain for 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. With the thread that I was using, that was about 8 rows. You can count the number of rows by looking at two, side by side, columns in the weaving. I will not hold you to that exact number, but make sure that you go all the way around to your starting point or your weaving will be lopsided.

It is easier to see on the inside. You can clearly see my eight rows at the bottom, next to the seat board.

Next, do two more rows of loops.then work down for two rows of plain weaving.

Now comes the hard part. I am going to make a point at each corner of the front and sides and straight weaving across the back section....One step at a time.

I forgot to take photos, but I think that I can talk you through this. You should be starting at your right front corner. All of the rows should start and end here. Refer to the photos to see what I am talking about. take one loop around the next wire and then weave back to the first wire on the other side of the leg. Loop around that one and reverse. Weave over to the second wire on the other side of the leg and loop. Come back, with plain weaving and loop around the second wire on the front. Keep doing this, turning around when you get to the next unused wire on either side of the leg.

You should do this over five wires. When you hit the fifth wire in the center front, turn and keep going up to the leg, down to the unused portion and continue weaving plain until you hit the THIRD leg. I will be the back right leg, facing you, if you turn the work as you go.

Now for the two back legs. You are going to do the same thing that you did for the first leg...Only you are going to have plain weaving across the back( see above photo). Loop around the first wire following the third leg. Reverse and weave back to the left back leg and loop around the first wire beyond that. You will be on the same side as the first leg that you worked.

Now turn and plain weave across the back to the second wire beyond the leg. Loop and reverse.

Weave back to the second wire on the other side. Again, keep going until you hit the fifth loop on the left side. Reverse and plain weave until you are at the last, un-worked leg in the front. Do this one the same as the first one.

When you finish the last leg, simply work your way back over to the right front, starting point and the points and the back panel should all be about the same depth.

Next, do two rows of loops and finish where you started.

If you wish, you can stop here. Or you can go on with more plain weaving and two more rows of loops.If you want to do something a bit more challenging, you can try the wrapped open section that is shown in the photo.

I reversed the looping. Starting with the leg, I wrapped the thread around the leg three times and then moved to the next wire with the thread behind. You do this by wrapping your thread from right front to left and around. Keep doing this all the way around.

Then pull the thread back to the front and do two rows of loops to finish off.

The first leg can be wrapped and a bit of glue put at the bottom to hold it. Wait until it is completely dry to cut it close. The other legs are worked separately, gluing the end inside the bottom and working to the end of the foot. Glue and cut.

It is not necessary to cut the wires at the bottom yet. I just did it so that the photo would be more easily readable.

Turn the chair upside down and put some glue on the bottom two rows of loops to keep them from coming off of the wire when you do cut.

I forgot to mention wire cutters in yesterday's post. You will need them for cutting wires to start and for trimming at the end.

OK...I am stopping here for today. Next comes the top of the chair.

Some people like to do the top first. I do it bottom first because I find that, if I do the top of the chair first, I am more likely to mess it up while doing the bottom. Just a personal quirk....I seem to have a lot of them.

I am off to play with the top of the chair now.

See you tomorrow.

It Is a Rocker After All!

I finished the rocker this morning. It was meant to be. I made it too short to be a regular, run of the mill, chair.

Tessie is pleased with the finished product. She posed for the photo and then ran for her sign making supplies. The first one says, "No sitting in this chair....MINE!"

I will take better photos later, but I had to get to work on the beginner's chair and supply list.

Several years ago, I ordered the book "Wicker Furniture for the Dolls' House", by Sheila Smith. It is an English book and out of print now.

I just wanted to see what other people were doing. It is very basic and I often recommend it to people just starting in wicker.

I have never used her method or the supplies that she uses, because I like to work with finer thread and walnut or cherry wood for the bases.

She uses mat board( Mount board in England). I decided that, since everybody has access to this and not all have access to hardwoods, I would try it and let you come along for the ride. I am designing the chair myself and it is not intended for resale.

I wouldn't really recommend it for pieces that you want to last, but for first timers it would be a good way to start without a lot of expense. Feel free to upgrade to basswood, walnut or cherry if you want it to last. No balsa wood PLEASE!

Anyway, here's a list of what you need. I am using all of the other materials that I usually use for showing beginners how to do this.

1. #10 crochet cotton and a scrap of mat board or illustration board.

2. fabric covered floral wire in two sizes....#22 or 20 for legs and #26 or 28 for the spokes. It all depends on what your local stores carry.

3. Aileen's Fast Grab or Tacky

4. Pin vice with two bits to drill the two different size holes. If you don't have that, a needle tool will do in a pinch, but it is much harder to work with, especially for the big hole.

5. Ruler

6. Pencil for marking.

7. Bee's wax! This is very important for keeping the thread smooth and under control.

Note, some people use waxed linen thread. It is very expensive and hard to find. If you want to use that after you learn you could probably find it on the net. The cotton is just a personal preference.

I am just using what I have on hand. I would recommend a harder thread than this. The Coats and Clark balls of # 10 are pretty good. DMC Cebella, like I used on the rocker is better, but more expensive.

OK. To get started, cut a 2" by 2" square of mat board.

Round the two back corners. I go two squares in and two squares down and then draw a curve between.

I put two holew in the front corners for the front leg and inset the back legs to the end of the back curve. I do ten evenly spaced smaller holes on the front edge, between the legs. Then twelve smaller holes on either side following the curve at the back. Last are seven small holes in the center back section.

Now I cut 31 four inch lengths of small wire and 4 four inch lengths of the larger wire. Then I cut 10 two inch pieces for the front.

As I said a couple of days ago. Start with the leg pieces. In this case(regular chair), mark the legs at 1 1/4" and insert them so that the mark is at the top of the base at the hole. Put glue around them on the bottom of the base. Set it upright on the table to see that it is level.

Let this dry.

Then do the rest of the wires, Pulling them up about an eighth of an inch shorter than the legs, so that the chair will be sitting on the legs. Again, put glue around the wires on the bottom side of the base. Make sure that you wipe some of the excess off if you get messy. You will be wrapping thread around these and you want it to look neat.

I am stopping here. That will force the drying time for the wires to lengthen to 24 hours.

Tomorrow Tessie will start teaching the weaving part, if I can get her off her rocker...No wait....That didn't sound right. She is already off her rocker....I should have said get her out of her chair...One of us will continue the lessons.

See you then.

A Mind of Its Own.....

As you probably already know, when I do wicker pieces, I just start working and let the piece talk to me as I go. Once in a while I sit down and sketch something, but not often.

As I am working on this chair, it is telling me that it doesn't want to be a rocker. So I tried, but it is rebelling.


I worked on it all afternoon yesterday and more this morning. It argued with me until I decided that it wanted to be a more modern, low slung easy chair.

Once I let it do what it wanted, we got along just fine.

Pay no attention to the date on the bottom of the chair...As I said, I sometimes cut a bunch of forms and drill them all at once. That way, when the mood strikes, I can just jump in and do the fun part.

I took the photo of the upside down chair so that you could see that the sides and back go straight down from the seat.

Here's the front. This is how the front roll looks.

When I get down even with the bottom of the seat piece, I do a couple of rows of loops all of the way around. That puts a finish at the top of that area.

I went down a ways with plain weaving and then did it again. In order to get the corners to point down, I started at each corner and worked out over one more stitch on each side of the corner until I got to the middle of the side.

Here you see the side arm section. I am doing the curves one section at a time to fill in the scallop.

I have decided that as soon as I finish this chair, I am going to do an easier, step by step rocker so that people that are interested can follow along and learn. So, if you can hang in there a couple more days until I finish this one, I will get to that. For people just starting out, I would recommend size 10 thread. It is what most people use at that stage. Size 20 takes a lot longer to do and is more difficult to work with.

Back to the chair at hand. Tessie curled up in it last night and slept there. I guess that she approves so far.

When I asked her why she did it, she replied, "I'm just protecting what's mine!"

I have finished filling in the scalloped area and now I have to go on to finish the arms, one at a time and then the back...This is done with one continuous thread.

I am not a fan of tying in new threads and using a lot of glue.

Anyway, I will at least have all of the weaving done by tomorrow. Maybe I will even get to the upholstery, if I can get Tessie to go sit somewhere else whilst I do it..

Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.