Back to work!

After coming back from Canada last Sunday, it always takes me a few days to get back into the swing of things. This time it's taken all week. Being gone a month meant having to reorient myself here at home!

Saturday I asked DH if he'd like to come with me to Gatlinburg to deliver some handwovens. Sure, if we'd go to Mel's Diner for breakfast. So we left quite early. That's the only time one dares go to Pigeon Forge. We got there by 9 before the crowd hit. It's a silver metal building, just like a diner should look like. Food was good too and they didn't mind that we split a meal, just like at Cracker Barrel!

 Then it was on to Gatlinburg to the Arrowcraft shop where they sell my clothes.  I love this building. It's right there in the thick of Gatlinburg but it's different from all the other buildings. It has character and the best quality crafts in the area! The shop is also in front of Arrowmont, another gem hidden there in Gatlinburg. Arrowmont is  a craft school where I went years ago to take classes on weaving. I went there again in spring for a weekend when South Eastern Fiber Forum had their conference there. When you're at either place you don't even think about all the touristy things Gatlinburg has!

We headed out of town and through Pigeon Forge by 11am. It's a good thing because the traffic going toward Pigeon Forge was heavy!! It really is best to get in early and out just as quickly!

 I haven't touched my looms this week. It's time tho!!! First, I had to go through the boxes we brought back from Nashville that had convention stuff in them. I always organize everything before I pack it up, including making a shopping list for next year's convention. That way I don't have to spend extra time trying to remember what we have to replace. That's all put away for the season! I also vacumned my loom. It sure needed it after my weaving several warps on there before July!!
The other thing I needed to do before I could think about weaving was sew binding on some quilts. Here are the 2 quilts I sewed in March when I was at my Mom's. I left them there for my sister's friend to quilt on her long arm. So yesterday afternoon I machine stitched the binding around both of them. I like to hand tack the binding to the back. That will happen, hopefully, this week.

 Sometime in spring I'd sewn 3 baby quilt tops. I'm really low on baby quilts to give to friends. I'd layered and pinned the tops ready to machine quilt a couple of months ago. The 2 tops with the small squares is really a cheater top that I added sashing to and then spent time machine quilting them this week. The other quilt top is very much like a quilt I made earlier for a friend and found that I could manage to make another one. I had to piece the backing but was glad that I had enough to get it done. Even had to piece some of the binding before I could sew it on and each side is a different color binding.

So I'll take these upstairs to my chair and if I end up relaxing in the evening, I'll have a stack of things ready to grab and work on.
Today I'll pull out my list of projects that need weaving and get started on a new warp. I also plan to tie my placemat warp back on. I'm afraid that all of this warp will have to be woven with the solid weft, natural and white placemats. Pretty boring but great wedding gifts. While I was gone we got an invitation to a shower (which I missed but need a gift for). So, I guess I will need to weave 16 more of these placemats so I have a few extra. I'm not sure there's that many left on the loom but I'll weave all I can, then put another warp on to play with more colors. I had hoped to have some done for the show in November to contribute to our group booth but I'm afraid  I won't have anything for the booth. Getting my own booth ready will be a full time job.

That's it from here!
Keep Weaving!!
Carol