First Back Quiver!

[Capn Cohen]

I'm an archer who just finished his first back quiver. Over 40 hours of labor (maybe closer to 50; I stopped keeping exact tally at 38). It's my own design, an adaptation (mutation?) of a very basic Al Stohlman/Tandy template, which had no carving or overlays. This project was a lot of self-education about tools, cutting, carving, stamping, dyeing (including mixing and shading), leather characteristics, hardware, problem-solving, and finishing.

The close-up of the dragon carving was taken before I dyed the rest of the quiver. I got the dragon, by the way, from the web, imported it into Photoshop, manipulated it into a line drawing, scaled and printed it, traced it, then transferred it to the leather. I'm really proud of how it turned out, especially since I don't consider myself much of an artist.

The overlays took a total of about 10 hours to cut (had to be a bit wider than the quiver to make up for a little extra circumference, especially over the straps), stamp like dragon scales, dye, and sew by hand (had to do that as I curved the quiver, otherwise they wouldn't lie flat). But they were worth the effort. Of course, I hand-sewed the entire quiver and learned how to keep my diamond awl sharp.

The Tandy plans called for a 24" strap from the bottom. After sewing, I realized that this was way too short. So I had to improvise, sewing on an extension in a non-visible way.

This was my 6th leather making project ever, though many times more complex than the others (coaster, archery arm guard, change purse, wallet, and uncarved and pre-dyed hip quiver).

I really couldn't have made this quiver, however, without the comments I found at this site. Thanks to both the pros and novices who wrote about their experiences.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Capn Cohen