The Spinster-Self Portrait

Do you remember the dried apple doll head craze from the 1970's? Well, I resurrected that craft to show off the wool I will be selling online as doll hair. The hair is pretty darn close to my real hair, unfortunately! :?}

Remember this old pile of spinning wheel?

Restorer Rick has finally gotten my 200 year old spinning wheel spinning. Hours and hours he spent taking off 5 layers of paints and varnish and shellacs, sanding, staining, varnishing, fashioning new leather parts and 2 new legs...
It will take LOTS of practice for me to get good at this! I entertained myself for about an hour this morning and found myself hilariously uncoordinated!

Rick is a romantic, and practicing his carving. He will get better, but just the thought of his putting my new Art From The Heart logo on my wheel...he gets big points for that!

And, though hard to believe, I will have a quilt or two to show and tell on this blog by the end of the week. I AM quilting, really I am! (in between needle felting lambs and wool purses-wait til you see those!)

Quilting Blog? Really?

     I started this blog to share my love of quilting, show off my quilts and some quilty-arty pieces, then my hand-dyeing of cotton needed to be seen-and then I dyed wool. Hmmm...      Next I got a drum carder and Rick started his spinning wheel restoration part of this addiction. Then he bought me a niddy noddy, so I had to try and learn to spin on a borrowed drop spindle. Now I have actually made wool into something resembling yarn, and enough of it, to try out the niddy noddy! I watched a tutorial, for the second time, and followed her movements as we went along. It works! I made my first skein of wool yarn. Paint me pink and call me piggy! This is so much fun!!!
And every day at the Weber's is almost better than Christmas! FedEx, UPS and/or USPS brings boxes from all over the world bearing wooly gifts in the form of spinning wheel parts and pieces. Today's offerings came to us from Estonia and Wallace, ID.

Estonia first;

Translation, anyone?

Unfortunately lacquered...

Hand carved! Hand carved spindles! And hand carved lumpy center part!

Hand forged metal, as in anvil! Too cool!

The Box from Wallace, Idaho was pretty intriguing!

How much do you think I could get for the stamps?

Mismatched, abused, cobbled and beautiful!

Hurry, Spinmeister Weber! I want to see this child's wheel* restored!

*Further research on this wheel. The design suggests it originated in Norway. The small size doesn't necessarily indicate a child's wheel but more likely a boudoir wheel, especially with the rosemaling fanciness.

Natural Progression...

Ebay Treasures Arrived Today!

With all that wool I am dyeing, and then getting a drum carder, you know it was only a matter of time 'til the spinning wheels came to live with us! There is not a nail or screw any where in these hand crafted dears. See the wooden pegs below, left? And those 'stripes' on the legs are not paint-that is inlaid wood! And the hand-turned threads that screw one piece onto another...

CNORTHRUP gave us a clue. Online I found Charles Northrup did many things well, and one of them was making spinning wheels, mid-1800's perhaps!

OLDER than the Northrup we think, but we don't know yet how old...Rick thinks perhaps Colonial!

Pieces and parts of two very old and abused spinning wheels. We love them!

My very own 'Mad Spinster'!