Glass Float Temari

This S9 temari was inspired by glass floats, which used to be used to keep fishing nets afloat. Many are found with barnacles attached. This one also has a starfish (or sea star) adorning it.

Side view

 

In reading about the history of glass fishing floats, they were first produced in Norway around 1840 and other countries followed, with Japan starting around 1910. Even though glass floats have been replaced by materials such as plastic and Styrofoam, many of the Japanese floats are still being found washed up on the Pacific coast.

Bottom view

 

Glass floats are netted then secured to fishing nets. Looking on internet, one can see several different styles of float nets. Some are simple and others more complex. There are even tutorials on how to tie a glass float net. That is how I learned to make one for this temari. The netting just happens to be a simple division, with a north and south pole.

Top view

 

The starfish was made after the ball was netted. It is made of some of my hand dyed rayon/wool felt and loosely stuffed with scraps of yarn. The surface is stitched with matt glass seed beads in a pattern that was inspired by pictures of real starfish. The red color for the starfish was also inspired real starfish.

Each barnacle on this temari was machine embroidered on little pieces of stabilizer.  The ends were hand stitched together to create a tube, some stitching over the join was added to disguise the seam and the bottom circles were stitched to the tube to finish the barnacle forms.

Next, the barnacles were pinned to the netted ball along with the starfish. After they were arranged, then each one was stitched into place. A curved needle was a necessity in order to stitch the barnacles to the ball.

I discovered that taking a group off the ball and pinning them to my work surface in the same order helped me to keep them in order and out of the way while stitching each one on. I left all the other barnacle clusters pinned to the ball while working on a group.

This was a good project to finish up on a snow bound day.

Library Temari Display

Beautiful things should be shared, not hoarded or stored where they can’t be appreciated. Temari by their nature are things of beauty: an art form based on geometry. They are artistic interpretations of spherical polyhedron structures, using line and color of thread to redefine the surface of a sphere.

Many of my temari creations have been temporarily freed from hiding in storage, to be displayed at our local library, for others to enjoy.

Three display cases at our local library are filled with many of my temari creation and will be on display for the whole month of December. It took a little longer to set up the display than anticipated since about a dozen people stopped by to ask questions and make comments. They all thought they were beautiful, but only one knew what they were and had made one before.

The display case in the picture above is the one on the left in the first picture. The top shelf has simple division temari, including a temari that measures only 3/8″ in diameter.

The middle shelf also has simple division temari. The three black temari with white thread are marked with simple, combination 8 (C8) and combination 10 (C10) markings with an explanation of markings to go with them.

On the bottom shelf in the front are the stages of producing a ball with written explanation to go with them. The temari behind them are some of my more adventuresome temari which experiment with different materials such as felt, lace, thread scraps as well as altered temari form such as a pumpkin form and a pollen grain form.

The tall middle cabinet houses C10 temari on all the shelves and on the bottom are three kimekomi balls that have temari stitching added to them.

A temari the size of a basketball sits alone on the next to bottom shelf.

The C10s on the top two shelves range in size from a 7″ diameter ball (on center of middle shelf) to a 1/2″ diameter ball (center front of top shelf).

The 7″ temari has a black background on which seven different knot patterns worked in the  pentagons and triangles. This temari is actually a scaled down version of a temari that is three times the size in diameter. The larger version was about 1/2″ too large to squeeze into the case.

The last display case contains C8 temari. The one on the top shelf, left hand side in purple, white and gold was the first temari I made.

Also on the top shelf, in the center, is one of my favorites because of the challenge presented by using several different types of embroidery stitches to create the flowers. Many stitches are difficult when stitching on a ball because it is three dimensional. Stitches that are easy on fabric do not necessarily translate to easy on a ball. In fact, they are usually more challenging. The French knot was a real pain to work on the surface, but worth it for the effect.

With each new temari, there is always something new to explore: a different marking of the ball, different color combinations, different kind of thread, different stitches, new materials, different arrangement of design elements,etc. The possibilities seem endless, so my explorations in temari continues. Who knows, maybe I will have a whole new set of temari for display in a year or two.

 

Production Monkeywrench and Its Silver Lining

It has been a while since my last post on this blog. A production monkey wrench is to blame.

“Production- the making or creation of something.” My productivity has come to a halt, but fortunately my imagination is still churning out ideas for later.

“Monkey wrench- something that causes a problem for a plan or project.” A torn tendon that would not heal lead to surgery on my elbow. Many things have become very difficult and some things impossible, but this is just a temporary set back.

“Silver lining- something that offers hope or benefit in a situation that is generally adverse.” This enforced rest from certain activities has forced me to take time to read and think. Great fodder for creativity.

Note: definitions from Encarta Dictionary.

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