IN THE WOOD SHOP

I hollowed out the bowl

 and then moved right into the sanding and finishing!

I am happy to see it now completed!

7 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Bradford Pear, half log

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

Another Bradford Pear bowl.  No drama on this one!

I leave some of the bark on the bowl--I love the texture it gives it;  if I wanted a perfect wooden bowl, I could buy one at WalMart!

Today, I will hollow out the bowl.  

 I will be making a beautiful mess!

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

The second Black Walnut bowl is completed! 

 It's about 5" across the top.

I had originally thought it was done when it looked like this but it didn't please me so I remounted it on the lathe and I like it so much more now!  Sometimes an idea just doesn't work; gratefully this time I could remove more wood and find what I liked after all!

 

MAKING SAWDUST

I like the look of the remade bowl-much cleaner lines!  The bowl on the right, the black walnut one is so smooth and pleasant to hold!

I loaded the other half of the chunk of wood and I am making a banana shaped bowl from this piece of wood.  It fell into shape pretty quickly;  it is so nice to be able to work in a comfortable wood working area!

I have this side sanded and sealed and am ready to turn it and hollow it out today.  I am glad to say, I don't have to get up and out of the house first thing this morning!  It has been a week of appointments but that's over and I am glad the week is behind me! 

 I will piece the last star blocks and put that top together. And I want to finish the last few rows on the QOV on the frame and load up something else from the pile!  It will be a good day!

 

WOOD AND FLOWERS

This little bowl (4" wide and 3" high) is almost finished, I will be removing the tenon on the bottom and sign it first.

I do love the beautiful grain and deep color of this wood;  it is from a little chunk from a tree my sister cut down at her home in NY and I rescued it from the firewood stack!  

This is going to her for a thank you!

And the 'odd' flying saucer bowl I made last week has had a bit of work done on it;  I cut off the flange 

and  I like the way it looks a lot better.

A bit chipped off the side where there was a knot and I just smoothed off the dip and like what it adds to the look! 

I took a little tour after filling the bird feeders and enjoyed the flowers--your hibiscus,

blackberry lilies,

Passion fruit vines,

and even a fruit from the vine, 

Crinem, 

and one of the many pagoda plants!!!!

 

A PLAN B BOWL!

So the beautiful knobs and knots on the tree were 'freed' from the bowl when I began hollowing out the center.  I was so disheartened.  It took me a few days to get back to the project.

The bowl is pretty on its own

 even if my original goal was a bit skewed.

I love the grain and the smoothness of the wood. 

 I was able to keep the bark on the top rim,

 (called live edge) and the oval of the bowl is unusual.

The new bowl now holds my green rocks 

which go with my new woven table runner. 

 Sometimes you just have to get used to a new idea 

for it to be appreciated!  

The bowl is 12" long and 7" wide, oak.

A DEEP CLEAN

I thoroughly enjoyed a day of play and fun all day.  These are the first Rain Lilies to open!  If we get a good rain, there are many other areas of deep red that will bloom, too.

In betweent the major cleaning jobs, I played with the bowl on the lathe.  

I had some more CA glue work to do--you can bet I was geared up!  Most of the pithy wood was turned away so the bowl was all solid wood inside!

I worked the outside edge first and then hollowed out the center which is left to help keep the spinning bowl (500rpms) balanced.

  It worked well and I was excited to see the bowl emerge!

I did have some cracks along the edge that needed a bit of filler again.  I let it harden overnight and will do some sanding today.  I hope to get the first layer of finish on it even!

I ended the day with a major clean-up of the floor!  There are a lot of wood chips when turning a large bowl!  The hickory is very dense but yields beautiful work!  

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

This is a very large bowl--the piece of wood was so heavy, Bill had to carry it and put it on the lathe for me!  The wood is very complex but it is very hard and so it means a LOT of sharpening of the tools very often!  The wood did have a very large void that went deeply into the bowl so it would be a problem when I had to hollow out the inside.

So I mixed up some Terra Cotta colored two-part putty and filled the cracks and holes so that I can sand the outside, put on some finish and then turn the bowl about to hollow out the inside! 

 It feels good to be standing at the lathe again!  

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY!

I have had this bowl on the lathe for too long--I kept having trouble with the tenon chipping and letting the bowl go.  I took it off and rearranged the bottom and then carved out 

the scoop of the bowl!  

It felt good to work at the lathe again!  I then sanded it inside and out and put on two coats of the SealCoat.  Today, I will be putting the final finish on it and take it off the lathe after I remove the tenon.  Here's hoping for a successful finsh all the way around! lol

We had a T-storm roll up tonight so I sat and played with the Diamond Dotz and made another coaster!

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

This bowl kept having problems;  I kept finding solutions.

But it won yesterday when the tenon I had formed on the back fell apart and threw the bowl off the lathe!

It chipped it in one place and cracked an inch off the other.  See the metal bit in the center?   That is where the wood screw that held it on the lathe for the first part severed.  

I had the last word.  Yup--it was fuel in the fireplace and warmed up the room nicely so I could knit in peace watching it burn.....!

Yesterday, woman visited our quilting group and brought this for show 'n tell--it is done in single crochet stitch by colored stitch following the chart you see peeking on the middle left.  This was truly amazing and looked like a woven blanket!  (I would say it is most like intarsia in knitting because no yarns are carried along the back!)

She came back later on and dropped this off for me--a beginner's pattern so I could try it!  This might be my 'new' stitching skill for the year!  

 

INSTALLATION DAY!

A new quilt is on the frame-it is the last of the small quilts I've made earlier this year.  As soon as this one is done, the QOV on the design wall will go on the frame!

After loading the quilt, there were more shelves to be made!  Now four are finished and we will head to church to install them today.  Bill is going along for the muscle! lol

While I was waiting for different coats of stain or polyurethane to dry, I decided to play on the lathe! 

 This is a new bowl from a chunk of Magnolia! 

 The grain is amazing!  

I have the outside done and the inside will be hollowed out next. 

 Probably not happening today.

These potholders were made by my sister-in-law many years ago.  Tunisian crochet with cross stitch to add the design.  I wash them and lay them flat to dry and they look brand new every year!  Isn't is nice to put out old favorites each year for Christmas decorations:?!

 

GETTING THERE!

Ahhh, the piecing of the clamshells is completed and I am staging some border colors.  I will be appliquieing the top and bottom rows over the border but keeping the sides straight. 

 I'm not sure of the progression of color on the borders 

but I will make a decision and start piecing today.

Only two more rows needed on the star quilt 

so it will soon find itself bound, washed and dried!

And wood?  I finished the second bowl in a satin finish this time.

It turned out lovely for an old, dried piece of Maple wood! 

 The bowl is 8' across and 4" deep.

Here are the two halves of the log I split to be able to turn them on the lathe.  These will make a nice bowl on any table to hold fruit, yarn or ornaments!