Studio Saturday - clear workspace, new fabric pots

One morning this week, settled on the sofa with a cup of coffee, I stitched a little pot -

One evening, Tom came to fix a pipe outside the studio window and the table and sill had to be cleared pronto. What a lovely clear space -

All the stuff that was on the table is still hanging around, but I've been using that miraculous clear space to fabricate some more pots, using synthetic organza, wrapped shibori-style around ... well, what's small and light? I can't find any plastic pipes, just a bit of (thick) cardboard tube, a little glass, and an old film canister -

This is my steamer, a big deep pan with an inch or so of water, and a piece of cloth with the corners tied -

In use, the cloth dips in the middle, but hopefully not into the water - it's meant to be steamed not boiled -

The corners need to be kept well away from the gas, ie on top of the lid. It's best to lay the cloth on the counter, put the wrapped fabric onto it, add the lid, gather the corners on the lid, and put the whole thing onto the pan. Let it steam for 25 minutes or so.

Here they are, untied and restitched and almost ready for dipping -

The tiny clothespegs are holding a roll of fabric that will be couched down; they, rather than pins, happened to be on hand. However this bit of serendity has unleashed a stream of ideas on combining the fabric - or ceramic - with other materials.

Add in a bit of woodblock cutting, and within hours the clear table has been transformed into something quite other. A scene of creative activity.

For the first time in ages I'm enjoying going into the studio. There was a focussed 15 minutes during which some boxes were sorted, and lots of the contents ended up in the bin, which was emptied immediately.

Having an empty wastebin encourages me to ... hmm, what ... throw out more? keep less of the current project's detritus ("oh we can use that somehow" - no, not in this lifetime!)?