Artisan Guild Tour

The Thanksgiving Tour is over for another year.  My sales this year were the best I've ever done for this tour, so in my opinion the economy is looking up.  I decided to post a few pictures of the shop taken on Friday morning before the sale.  I've posted pictures of my studio before, but never the shop.  This is mainly because its been a mess for the past few years.  It took weeks to clean it up and get ready for the tour, but was definitely worth it.  This picture came out a little blurry, but note my toy sewing machine collection on the top shelf.  The pottery in the middle of the shelf is Dan's and the baskets on the shelf and table are by Deb Finnegan.
 The bird carvings and decoys pictured below are by David Farlow.  Deb, David and I have shared a space for the show for the past 4 years.

They were also very pleased with their sales.

This is a view of the other side of the shop and that's the door to my studio in the center.  

And this is "behind the counter" with a view of the Passport Prizes. (Not the quilts hanging on the wall, they are mine).  The prizes were donated and represent all of the artists participating in the Tour this year.  We will have a drawing in the next few days to find the winners.

I am now trying to get back into a regular routine.  I have a number of Christmas presents to make for family and now that the shop is cleaned up, its time to start cleaning my house!  

Only Two Weeks Until Thanksgiving!!!

I just looked at the calendar and had a moment of panic.  Thanksgiving means cooking and eating and family and friends to all of us, but for me its also the weekend of the Artisans Guild Studio Tour.  I will be opening my shop/studio this year and will have two guest artists with me.  What this means for me right now is finish projects and do some CLEANING.


In order to fill the shelves (most of my work is on the wall), I decided to make a few pillows.  First I quilt the design on cotton duck with a backing and batting.  Then I paint the design with textile inks and paints.  It reminds me of coloring when I was a child, my favorite past time next to reading.

 Here are some crab pillow tops waiting for me to add the backing and stuffing.  On the Eastern Shore of Virginia anything with a crab on it sells.

These are my poppy pillow tops.  I did orange to match the fabric that I will be using for the backing.

I'm giving myself the rest of this week to sew, then I will be forced to start the cleaning.