Arts, Crafts & Hobbies

Bark Carvers

Bark Carvings add beauty to our world. You may marvel at how gifted people are. But the truth is, you can learn to create a lovely carving. The easiest way is to join our club so that you have folks who can guide your learning. This particular carving is done using the thick bark of cottonwood trees. The bark is quite soft and easy to work with. The most popular things to carve out of bark are whimsical houses and faces, such as “wild spirits”. Our club has several members with lots of experience and we would love to have you come and join us to learn this fine craft. We meet on Tuesday afternoons, and Thursday mornings in the Artisan Center.
 

Cheer Bears  - Thimblelenas

"Cheer Bears" is the club that makes those little teddies that give hope to children around the world. We are a group of ladies that meet in the sewing room every Wednesday to make the teddies. We have jobs for everyone who is interested in talking to and learning about others, laughing, telling your story and making the presents we send around the world. Please come share your talents with us.

 

We invite you to join Cheer Bears at Sun City Oro Valley.

Club Website

Colored Pencil - Art League

Love color? Interested in exploring patterns and shapes, darks and lights? Colored pencil may be just for you. This is an easy, exacting medium. We will show you some tricks to smooth your artistic journey. You don’t need to be able to draw. The Colored Pencil Club is one of the many groups in the Sun City Oro Valley Art League dedicated to the fine arts. We create art works for our homes, friends and families. Come join us!

Clay/Pottery

The focus of the Clay Club is to promote fun, interest and knowledge in all aspects of using clay from hand building and throwing on the wheel to glazing and surface decoration. We strive to be a welcoming community of helpful people sharing our love of clay with others, growing skills and learning from each other, building friendships and simply enjoying the process. We stress artistic freedom and encourage participation in the work needed to keep a lively studio functioning. Raw clay is such a flexible medium with countless ways to illustrate individuality…and it is a wonderful throwback to the days of mud pies and free play.

Join others as they try their hand at making that special bowl or plate. There is nothing like the feel of squishy mud and the beauty of the creations emerging from the fires. More experience potters are there to teach skills and encourage new members as they discover how to make their own beauties or how to translate ideas into finished product.

To use the clay room contact the club leadership listed in the Tipster.

Club Website

Gourd Carvers

Have you ever wondered what a Gourd is? They are actually similar to pumpkins or other squash. Gourds come in all shapes and sizes. Some are as small as a little bird’s egg, and others can be as large as a big balloon. They are grown, like pumpkins, but they are allowed to dry and get a hard shell-like skin out in the field. Originally gourds were used to make drums and other musical instruments. We have a fun group of residents who love to make gourds into a work of art.
The first thing we do is to clean the outside of the gourd. Sometimes we will cut the top off to make a bowl, mask or a decorative top edge. Then we must scrape out the seeds and other debris. The fun begins when we decide how we want to paint and decorate our gourd. We can use a wood burning tool to put a pattern on the gourd, then we have a variety of different paints or dyes that we can use to decorate the pattern. The final step is spraying a clear finish on the gourd to protect it.
We meet on Monday afternoons, and Friday mornings in the Artisan Center. We love having new members and will work one-on-one with you teaching you what we do. Check out the window outside our room and then come and join us!
 

Japanese Flower Arranging

About the Japanese Flower Arranging Club Meets 2nd & 4th Mondays from 2-4 PM. Catalina Vista/Pusch Room Japanese flower arranging (Ikebana) is the art of arranging flowers, branch materials, grasses and leaves. At its core is the beauty resulting from a combination of color, shapes, and graceful lines. More than simple floral decoration, it is a form of sculpture with plant materials!

Learn from certified instructors at your own pace and make creative arrangements for your home.

Please call Don Marier 825-4878 or Doris Oliver 818-1512 for more information.

Machine Embroidery  - Thimblelenas

The Sun City Oro Valley Machine Embroidery Club meets the third Tuesday of every month at the Desert Oasis during the months of October through April.

The purpose of the Club is to learn and share machine embroidery techniques and projects with like-minded friends. The Club also donates to local organizations in need.

The Club communicates by email, Facebook, and the Tipster. Check out our SCOV Machine Embroidery site on Facebook for pictures and ideas!

The Embroidery Club has a brand new Brother PR1055X 10-needle Embroidery Machine. Brother designs are available, as well as any personal designs downloaded from the internet. The format needed is PES.

Training:
Contact Karin Frohlich (520-204-3874) to set up a training on the Thimbelenas’ Embroidery machine. You must first have Thimbelenas orientation and dues paid.

Club Website

Modelers

The Modelers club has constructed an extensive HO gauge model railroad layout replicating a time in the 1940’s and 1950’s. There is a harbor, farm, small town, logging operation, small town, logging operation, small factories, and a mine. Our club members are involved in building aviation models, ship models, automobiles. The club has an open house during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter that has become popular with Sun City residents and visitors. We have a club meeting the second Friday of every month. A coffee and donut “Mixer” with usually a clinic on modeling techniques that is held the last Friday of the month. On most week days in the morning you will have a chance to meet our club members in the Modelers room as they build or just gather to exchange ideas.

Pet Beds  - Thimblelenas

The club uses donated washable cotton fabric and batting scraps given to them by the other sewing groups because they can’t use them. This is a great recycling effort as these scraps would otherwise be discarded into our landfills.

The Humane Society uses the donated pet beds in their kennels and cat cages and also gives them to each one of the wonderful people in Tucson who volunteer to foster a dog or cat in their home. Fostering an animal removes a good number of the animals from the Humane Society kennels, making room for others that may need help.

The Club meets once a week on Tuesday afternoons from 1-3 pm. They cut up the donated cotton scraps into small pieces, which are then stuffed into washable pillowcases along with fiber fill.

Club Website

Photography – Vistoso Photo Club

Offers photographers educational and entertaining programs, competitions, workshops, and field trips. A multipurpose Photo Lab for digital photography is available, complete with essential equipment.  Click here to visit our website!

Sculpture - Art League

Sculpture Club meets in the Catalina Vista Bldg. on Mondays from 9 AM to Noon with the room remaining open until 4 PM. We are very fortunate to have professional Sculpturists living here in Sun City & instructors in our club.

Most of the sculpture pieces are made by brazing metal armatures based on pictures or ideas, cover the armatures with Sculpey clay, sculpt the clay, bake in the club oven, and then patina the piece. Members are available to assist other members throughout the process.

Dates of any upcoming classes will be listed in the Tipster. However, anyone can come in Monday mornings and we will assist you one-on-one. Our talents range from beginner to advanced.

So come join our fun group, listen to music in the background, and get your creative juices working!

Laurie Lichaa, President of the Sculpture Club

Seniors for Kids  - Thimblelenas

Calling all crafters, quilters, woodworkers, toymakers and multi talented adults that just love to have children enjoy their lives. Seniors for Kids is a 501(c)(3) organization that works to supply the needs of children and to keep smiles on their faces. We believe that "Living is Giving and Giving is Living".

For all the joy that we are able to give to the children we serve, in return, we receive the 'busy..ness' that keeps us moving no matter how tired we feel at times. This chance to give, gets us out of our beds and houses daily and gives us the meaning we all need in our lives. If you are looking for such a place, come join. We definitely have a use for your talents and friendship and we welcome you to come and get involved.

Club Website

Silversmith

Dedicated to the art of silversmithing and jewelry making. Beginner silversmithing classes are given three times a year. Silversmith beginner classes are held three times per year and combined with the lapidary.

Our current members have made some absolutely beautiful works or art.

To learn how to use this room, please contact the leadership listed in the Tipster.

Stained & Fused Glass

The mission of the club is to promote interest in and increase members’ skills and knowledge of stained and fused glass and to facilitate fellowship among members. Stained and fused glass classes are offered at various times throughout the year. The studio and equipment is available to all active club members. The only thing needed is your imagination and creativity.

To use the glass studio or for more information, please contact the club leadership listed in the Tipster.

Club Website

Tapestry Rug Hooking  - Thimblelenas

Our group meets weekly on Tuesday morning in the sewing room throughout the year. We welcome all people interested in using fiber as an art form. Currently, most of our members are hooking either rugs, wall hangings, cushion or pillow covers or coasters. Our group provides materials and instruction for those interested in learning hooking.

Fiber Arts includes a wide range of art techniques such as weaving, sewing, crocheting, knitting, felting, knotting, rug hooking, various needle works, and the list goes on. In the future, our group hopes to provide weaving instruction and looms.

Club Website

Thimblelenas

 

Thimblelenas is the “umbrella” group for the 7 sewing clubs: Sun City Quilters, Seniors for Kids, Pet Beds, Fiber Arts and Tapestry, Machine Embroidery, Casa Amigas, and Cheer Bears. Enjoy working on your projects on your own or in a group. These groups are open to all members for personal and group sewing. Find the groups that interest you and sew away. Visit our website here!

To learn how to use this room, please contact the leadership listed in the Tipster.

Thimblelenas is the “umbrella” group for the 7 sewing clubs:

• Casa Amigas
• Cheer Bears
• Machine Embroidery
• Pet Beds
• Sun City Quilters
• Seniors for Kids
• Tapestry Rug Hooking

Club Website

Sun City Quilters - Thimblelenas

The Sun City Quilters club members enjoy making all sorts of quilts, from patchwork to appliqué to modern to art quilts. From September through April, we hold meetings on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays with programs and demonstrations and offer monthly classes on the 3rd Thursdays. During the summer months, May through August, we meet informally. An annual quilt show, held in March, showcases members’ quilts and raises funds for charity through profits from the show. New members are always welcome, whether you are a beginner or an experienced quilter.
Club Website

Wood Carvers

How long have folks been Wood Carving? Probably as long as people have been on this earth. Woodcarving was one of the first, and continues to be, most honored crafts. Across the ages, it has held a special place in every culture where trees grow nearby.
Today, we find clubs, seminars, juried shows, dedicated magazines and hundreds of books on the topic. U-Tube videos are plentiful too. Our club originally started with teaching decoy carving. As time went by, and new people joined the club, all phases of woodcarving have developed. Our club offers beginning carving classes several times a year to allow folks to see if this might be a hobby to pursue.
Check out our window in the Artisan Center and come and join us. We would love to help you learn what we do. We meet on Saturday mornings, and sometimes on Tuesday afternoons or Thursday mornings.
 

Woodworking

The club provides members with a safe, well-equipped facility where they are able to develop and practice the art and skill of woodworking in almost all its forms. The shop is equipped with 22 industrial grade machines, a dust collection system, work tables, paint booth and a wide variety of hand tools. The club also makes training available to residents, both live and on DVDs. Training subjects include safe, efficient machine operation and a wide variety of specialized woodworking techniques.

View photos of members, projects and activities and to read information about the operation of the wood shop and how to join the club on the club’s website.

The Wood Shop, at the Artisan Center, is open to all residents. New members of the Woodworking Club must undergo a safety class or 10 hours of equipment training before being allowed to use the equipment. All Sun City Oro Valley residents are eligible to join whether they are experienced woodworkers or beginners. According to our bylaws,”the objective of the Sun City Oro Valley Woodworking Club shall be to promote interest in the woodworking crafts and encourage fellowship among its members”. All Sun City Oro Valley residents are eligible to join whether they are experienced woodworkers or beginners.

Club Website