I got to spend one night with my new friend and fellow quilter, Debbie Fisher. She and her husband, Jack, have a house way up on a hill overlooking the Cumberland River near Nashville. Debbie invited me to stay with her before flying home from Kentucky. Their house was peaceful and quiet. I loved the wind blowing through the trees.

Debbie’s background is in floral design, but what she does is way more than working with flowers. She credits the man she worked with for teaching her how to turn junk into art but can I just say that she has a whole lot of talent on her own.

Objects that I would (and have) thrown away can be amazing when handled well. Look at this light fixture…

Silver plate holders for casserole dishes, flatware, and the bottom from a pressure cooker combine to make a really great chandelier over her breakfast table. Debbie uses family ‘junk’ most of the time and she knows where the flatware came from.

And the family cheese graters make a fantastic light fixture.

Debbie’s mentor made dolls from junk. Maybe I don’t get out enough but I’ve never seen anything quite like this…

If you have a drill with a ceramic bit and wire, you can do this too. I am not personally a fan of porcelain dolls but these made me smile. If I ever do make one, mine might be creepy on purpose.

Debbie makes junk dolls that are a collection of the stuff you would find in a junk drawer. She builds an armature from heavy wire over a foam cone. There is a doll’s head on top, with a pretty collar. Then she hangs family junk on the doll.

She knows where everything came from and the story behind it.

I wish I had kept more of my family’s junk but I still have some and I am going to make at least one of these. Not with a doll’s head (again, creepy) but something else on top.

But wait! There’s more! Why oh why did I make the silver plate ice bucket we got when we got married go away?!

The table was Jack’s dad’s work bench, cut down to fit the kitchen. And the rolling pins are perfect below it.

I used to hang plates on walls. Why did I stop? Who knew that more could be better? Could it be that I’ve made too much stuff go away? Maybe I need to go antiquing!!!!

Lastly, the fairy garden in an old wheelbarrow. I have one of those and this could happen in my yard, soon-ish.

There you go. You have now been inspired by Debbie too. Thank you, Debbie, for sharing your art with us all!