Three Warps Full

  YES....three warps came off the looms today!

Linda cut off her very FIRST warp! 

Shirley also took the scissors to her warp...not her first!

And, that scarf warp of Lanny's has come to the end!!!!
(He's clapping with great enthusiasm!)

  Don't you just love that feeling of coming to the end of a warp?  Time to celebrate!!!!

Ann & Allan

LouAnn

 

Shirley

  And, while all that weaving was going on inside the Studio, we were caulking on the Annex in that wonderful Fall sunshine.  Eiko and Sharen lent helping hands, also!

  Painting the trim will hapen another day!

We just want to keep out the rain during the winter months.

  We did take time out to oohhh  and ahhh over Marie's knitted vest.  It can be worn short or long, depending on how you put it on.  LOVE it!!!!

  LaDonna, Eiko, and Ms. Ila at their looms.

Shirley and Marie

  If you look closely, you can see Carl's head back at his loom. 
  And, Andy will be ready next week to start weaving in the warp as weft on her next wrap.

  Since the Tuesday Weavers did so well at the Museum of Appalachia last weekend, Carol has decided we get to order the second Pup for the Studio.  (That will give us four Pups....then we'll have a pack of Pups!!!!)
  Pat is getting excited about her brand new loom that she is ordering....she'll have all the cool features she's always wanted!

  And, Judy is filling in her wish list.

Just to keep our energy level up, Ann made her Nurturing Bean Soup (YUM!) and Eiko made little cookies.  I didn't get pictures of the other delicious goodies that were brought for lunch today....but it was a tasty Fall lunch for hard working weavers!!!!  Thank you to ALL!

Enjoy your Fall day!!!!
LouAnn

Best laid plans...

The past week has been full of typical week before a show activities. Everything I did was laced with a level of panic! DH met the husband of another person getting ready for the Guild Fair and was told that his wife was at the same level of panic as I am.

It's typical. We all want to get more done than we have time for. The weaving I do is just part of the job. There's alot of finishing to do, serging, cutting, repairing, washing, cutting, serging and then assembling on the machine before handwork, handsewing and crocheting happens to my pieces. I always have a stack of work to do by my chair but right now it's a couple of baskets full.

So the looms are empty. Doesn't he look sad? Nilus is my workhorse. I guess he's taking a much needed rest. Next week I'll put another warp on him. I'll probably do another black warp for vests before switching to do some rugs. So many ideas, so little time. I'm also planning to fill more of my looms now that the rush of production will be over for several months! There is the Foothills Craft Guild show in a month but I'll have plenty for that too. Probably will weave some new things as well but the pressure isn't as high for that show. In Asheville at this show I have to also send things over to the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. They are low on my things and this is a busy time of year for them. I like to have plenty for people to pick from up there! 

 

I had also planned to take my camera along yesterday when it was my turn to help out at the show we did at the Museum of Appalachia. Right. Didn't think of it again til I got there! So much for my blog idea.  Andy had a camera but I think we were both tired and I didn't pick up on getting her to take some pictures. She'd done another show on Saturday so was glad to sit for awhile and make her square pieces that will become purses or potholders, depending on what she uses. I had a vest I was working on too. Got it finished between customers!

Some pictures have been posted of the outside of the log cabin that we were in. Inside there's a bed and a couple of other pieces of vintage things, a cradle, some chairs...and lots of things on the wall, pictures, a really old mirror. We had a nice fireplace with a rifle over it, a fiddle hanging nearby. You know the look. It was awesome. It was chilly yesterday morning so we ended up having a little fire in the fireplace but then it got warm and we let it die out, except maybe it took a bit longer than we'd have liked for the bits of wood to turn to ash.
What I found interesting was all the guys that came in, totally, I mean, totally ignored our things and just were looking at the walls, how the building was assembled, at the rifle over the fireplace, etc. It was like we weren't even there. It was so funny to see!!
We enjoyed the show, met some really nice people, have a few potential new students and have plans for next year. LouAnn, Tina and Linda will continue to help them fix the old barn loom so that maybe next year it can be used and we'll take a wolf pup along to demonstrate, now that we know how the space works. It's going to be a nice booth space next year!

So, this week. I've got my list of last minute things that I have to do but tomorrow evening we pack the van and Wednesday morning head over to Asheville to set up for the show. It's a 4 day show. DH comes over to help me set up the lights (any excuse to drive over the mountains!) but then I'm on my own til time to take down when he's back to help.
It's going to be a long week in many ways and yet it'll fly by.
Until next week.
Carol

Weaving Global Friendship

Three years ago my daughter got involved with a wonderful organization called CISV. CISV was established 61 years ago by a child psychologist by the name of Dr. Doris Allen. Dr. Allen believed that in the post WWII world the potential for peace in the world was in the children. She started with camps or villages for eleven year olds. She believed that at eleven children could deal with the separation from families but that they had not yet let stereotypes and prejudice define their understanding of other peoples and cultures. She brought together children from 12 different countries to live together in community for a month and created opportunities for them to play together while discussing real world - hard issues.

DR. Allen's idea has blossomed and grown to 60 different countries on six continents. There are 100s of programs every year for children ages 11 to 111. At each different level there is an opportunity to interact and come to know, really know, individuals from other countries. The International Peoples Project is for adults. IPPs are focused on a specific issue while creating an international community.

My daughter traveled to Graz, Austria in 2011 and to Sao Paulo Brazil last winter. These opportunities have been life changing. Through these experiences she has made friends in 20 plus countries. Last month she had birthday greetings from friends on 5 continents on Facebook. A symbol of these friendships are her friendship bracelets - braided string or ribbon or leather tied around her wrist. These precious mementos went to prom and a formal family wedding. Mid summer she had 34 bracelets on all four extremities.

Holding hands with a child in Brazil

As many of you know, two months ago - while still 17, she moved to Japan to live for 11 months. She is attending high school in Japan through the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. As she prepared to leave for Japan, she was told that Japanese schools have very strict uniform policies and that she would not be allowed to wear her bracelets. This was huge for her - cutting off the bracelets was traumatic. What would she/could she do with them to continue to honor these important relationships?

All of her bracelets

My husband came up with the idea of weaving the bracelets into a scarf. By the night after the bracelets were cut there was a new warp on my loom and in two days she had a scarf to carry with her to Japan. I think it is lovely if I do say so my self.

Bamboo scarf embellished with friendship

Close up including coins and beads

This past weekend CISV USA held its annual convention. I donated a "yet to be woven" scarf for their fundraising auction. When I showed the photos to one CISV mom she said "I'm speechless - who would have thought that you could make something so beautiful out of those nasty strings." I look forward to the opportunity to "Weave Global Friendship" into many more scarves.

Be well,
Ann

MOA Today!

I don't have much to share with you yet.   I picked up the money box from Ila last evening, and for a day full of school kids, they did pretty good!  I am ready for today's  crowd and I will also work on Saturday!  Then I will pass the money box off to Andy and Carol.  They will work Sunday morning and then several of us will show up in the afternoon to help take everything down.  I will do the cash box every evening, but I probably won't have a computer print out til late next week.  (I will be flying out to Colorado for a business trip with Dear One!)

You can see the outfit I picked out for the Museum, I had fun putting this outfit together, but I must say it is not flattering at all!

If I get a chance I will post some pictures this evening, but don't hold your breath!

Lou Ann and I getting her signed in to use the credit card swiper thingy!

Here are Lou Ann and I again, outside our cabin! Joyce was taking the pictures!


Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Here I Sit

Sharen insisted that I have a picture, too.

No....I'm not at the Peters' Cabin at the Museum of Appalachia this morning.

  I'm in my kitchen making a list of all the things I need to do.

  Linda, Ms. Ila and LaDonna are at the Museum this morning.....they should have the fire in the fireplace going by now.  We had a Frost Advisory this morning, and I bet the cabin was a little chilly when they arrived.  The good news is that it is a beautiful sunny day.

  Linda, Carol, Tina, Sharen, Christy and I took all the totes over to the Museum yesterday to set up our booth for the Homecoming.  The "Porch Musicians" were inside the cabin by the fire, so we couldn't do much except put up the table and store the tubs under the table.  The Museum had visitors roaming around the grounds, so we didn't feel like we could really put things out.

   Linda and Sharen did attempt to put up the pole for displaying the rugs.  That will be a colorful sight for folks approaching the cabin!

  I made a dozen Straw Loom Kits Tuesday night to take for the weekend....I'll try to get more made today.

  I also have some tote bags that Carl and Bonnie wove at the Center that I need to finish up on the sewing machine.  And, that's my job for today!!!  I'll take them when Tina, Joyce and I head out in the morning.  Sadly, they are calling for morning rain showers.  The good news is that it won't be as chilly.
  And, now it's time for me to get down to the sewing machine and finish up those totes.  The serger is working like a dream, so all should go smoothly.  I'm sure Tina will have lots of pictures to share tomorrow of our display!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Four's a Crowd

 I'm not one of the Tuesday Weavers displaying and selling this weekend, so I had a peaceful weekend of weaving in my now-crowded loominaria.  Bella found a square of uncovered floor to "relax," though Bella is always on guard.
  I started a new shag rug on Jennifer for Mom's new house, in her favorite colors.  She declared this week that she is "a beige person," something I disagree with, but will go with on this occasion.  I see her more as a red person with beige accents, so this rug will be a combination of both.

If you've never tried a shag rug, and you have a sturdy four-shaft loom, I urge you to try it.  It seems like it's taking a long time to weave, with all the hand manipulation, but before you know it, you've got four inches done and it's time to cut the loops.  You can't resist running your hands over it every so often, and well, it just makes you happy!  And then, wait until it's done and your toes get to dig into it!  Bliss!
  On Monday, I got lost in the rhythm and design of it, and wove almost 20 inches.  It's 30 inches wide, so I want it to be at least 48 inches long, though I'm already running out of the brick red and brown.  It's all pile fleece I bought on sale at the end of last winter, and it all looked like a lot when I started!  I can't get more of the exact colors, so the scarcity will make the design.

Another part of the design is Weft hair on the back of the warp.  It's one of his favorite napping spots, and it shows.  Most of it collects against the back of the heddles, some makes it as far as the reed, and a slight amount is in the rug.  It just makes it a little fluffier!
 
I've returned to the huck lace curtain warp, too, for a change of pace, and it's coming along well.  I've fixed the warp tension problem and am plugging along on it.  I need 32 inches of curtain before the border, and I need two per window.  This is the first one, so progress has been slow thus far.  I need a naked loom soon for the Center challenge shawl, so I need to get this one in gear!

 I haven't woven on Tootsie yet.  I've decided to unthread and rethread the warp that's on her, and am not up to the challenge yet.  I do, though, have a warp started for her first project of mine.  It's carpet warp, natural for the warp and many colors for the weft.  Lots of experimenting with 8-shaft twills for kitchen towel gifts.  Can't wait!

Outside, even though it's turned chilly, the Angel's Trumpet has started to bloom.  The blooms weren't nearly this big last year!  It's huge!  Just the stem leading to the blossom is almost a foot long!  There are many more buds, but I don't know if they'll have time to mature, with the chilly week ahead.
  And the climbing rose I planted in July is blooming its heart out, climbing up the walls of the back porch.  The Clematis I planted near it have intertwined through it and are setting blossoms, too.  How lovely that will be next year!
  Bundle up and stay warm this week!  It's only a taste of what's to come, if the high squirrel activity this week is any indication.  Good luck and lots of sales to my Center friends this week!  Everyone else:  Happy Weaving!  --Maggie

We're Getting Ready!

                  We're almost there!                                      

 We ordered our aprons through Shirley, and she got them all embroidered just in time.

Ms. Ila made dresses for herself and LaDonna.

Some of us made trips to Good Will for long skirts.

Tina was busy today getting items logged into the master list and packing the tubs to go over to the Museum tomorrow.

  Ann returned to us today from her vacation in Michigan....back to work on her Log Cabin rugs!

Carl tied his warp to the front, and he was busy weaving while all the commotion was going on in the rest of the studio.

  Andy, too, just kept on weaving through it all!

  Eiko treated us to the view of another pair of tootsie socks.  She gets these in Japan!

  


  Sharen got her woven items tagged and inventoried for the big weekend!

  As promised, Ann brought us some smoked salmon from Michigan.  What a treat!!!

 Judy got to be with us today and wove for a bit on the black warp.
Cindy patiently hemmed her napkins.

And, weaving continued on the table looms!

  Marie took a look at Davison's book...it's hard to believe that so many different patterns can be woven from a straight draft!  Just change the treadle pattern!


  We'll meet tomorrow at noon to load up our cars and go across the highway to set up our display.  It will be a busy four days for the Tuesday Weavers!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn