Me and Laura back together again

The day after we got back from New Mexico my friend, Laura, arrived here from England via NYC with her daughter. Laura is going to hang out with me for a few weeks before heading back home. We love spending time together because she loves to sew while she's here. We both put on our audiobooks and move on to do whatever we want. We do stop periodically to chat and eat. Here's some of what we've been doing.

While she was in NYC, Laura bought this really pretty water bottle. Coincidentally it also holds a whole bottle of wine and keeps things cool for 24 hours. The bottle is beautiful and she wanted to make a cover for it. The print reminded us of Shibori so that's where we searched for the fabric.

Doesn't that complement the bottle really well? It's padded to provide more protection.She used this Instructables tutorial.

She cleverly modified it to add a locking strap.

The she made a short strap.

And a long strap. She's good to take this bottle anywhere.

Meanwhile the most exciting thing in my studio this week is the arrival of this cart. You know I bought a wet saw (for glasswork) a few weeks ago. It's just a little too heavy and awkward for me to move it in and out on my own. I decided that I needed a car that I could wheel in and out. But I also needed a way to easily wash it down and trap all of the ground glass so that I don't end op with piles of ground glass in the grass. I remember how the drain in the glass studio at VisArts was set up so I decided to do something similar.

I started by drilling 1 1/4" hole in both shelves of the cart. 

Then I had a large bin and a bucket and drilled holes in them.

This is how it works. As water pours from the top shelf (where the saw will sit) it will drain into the bucket. Most of the glass bits fall to the bottom of the bucket. As the water level rises it seeps from the holes near the top and that water runs into the big bin. Any glass bits that run out of the bucket will settle in the bin so that the water running out of the bin is safe to let flow into the bottom shelf and out the hole (drain) in that shelf. When I'm done I can let the bucket and bin settle more and the pour water off the top and let the bottom evaporate outside and dispose of the sludge/glass dust safely later.

I know this doesn't look like much but I'm really excited about it. I can bow easily roll my saw inside and out.