More Wooden Spools

(Above:  Ancestor spools in progress.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Although I've finished several pieces using old, wooden spools, I'm constantly working on these tiny gems.  They are fun to wrap with wool yarn and fun to stitch with assorted embroidery threads.  They are my favorite project while riding in the car on trips. 

(Above:  Ancestral Cradle, 17" x 24" x 18".  Click on image to enlarge.)

My first grouping of spools included thumbnail reproductions from family photo albums.  I put them into fiber vessels and called them Ancestors I and II.  I made so many wrapped & stitched spools that they filled two vessels.  There was a time when these two works were both in national juried shows ... at the same time ... in different parts of the country!

Later, I decided to wrap a couple hundred spools without adding the family photos.  Why?  Well, I love the old paper thread labels.  The first grouping covered up all the labels ... all the "vintage" letters and ancient price tags.  No one would really know that these were, in fact, OLD wooden spools.  So, I created Spool Cradle and then Spool Cradle II and finally Spool Cradle III.  All these were stuffed with wrapped and stitched wooden spools that still sported vintage ends.
 

(Above:  Ancestral Cradle, detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Once you start a project like this, people start to know about it.  Generosity kicks in.  Donations are made, and I end up with dozens more wooden spools on which to work.  Lately, I decided to turn the newest batch of wrapped & stitched spools in more "ancestors".  One of the reasons for this is the fact that I now have about three thousand more digital images from my Grandpa Baker's slides, 1953 - 1968.  Thus, I have plenty of material for thumbnail photos.


(Above:  Ancestral Cradle, detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

So I decided to make enough new spools to fill one of my cradles.  This piece and Bundles Of ... have been submitted to curator Joetta Maue's for her upcoming exhibit Down to Sleep.  I hope she likes them!

(Above:  Fiber vessels filled with wrapped and stitched wooden spools.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm continuing to make even more of these spools.  I've got at least another one hundred to go!  Although the cradles are in "storage", the wooden spools actually sit inside fiber vessels here at Mouse House.  I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays" blog featuring other "works in progress".


(Above:  The Cemetery, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt.  Click on image to enlarge.)

One more thing!  The Cemetery was accepted into the 34th Annual Contemporary Crafts national juried exhibition at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ. Jan. 25 - Mar. 31, 2013. I'm excited!