A Little Pie in the Sky

I've just returned from Slow Food Tennessee Valley's 3rd Annual Pie Contest, this year held at the Knoxville Botanical Garden.  I wish I had taken more photos, but I was too busy talking to friends and eating pie.
  There were savory and sweet pies, and some very imaginative ones.  Like Brussel Sprout Pie.  Venison Pie, with the ingredient list starting with Bambi Parts.  My friend Cindy made Daikon Radish Pot Pie and a beautiful pink Prickly Pear Chiffon Pie, made with prickly pear fruit from Tuesday Weaver Pat's garden.  My pie was the apple streusel pie, shown in the photo in the back left.  The other two pies were recipes I was trying for us to sell at the restaurant for the holidays.
  The pie dinner was lovely.  What a great idea, too, an entire dinner of pie.  All of which is to say that I have done nothing of note fiber-wise this week.  I have tied on a second ball of pink yarn to the beaded shawl, and have finished another repeat of that pattern, but you really don't need to see another photo of that, do you?
  I'm hoping that having this coming Tuesday off will make me want to tackle something in the weaving room, but I'm afraid I said that last week, didn't I?  I'll write about it here next Sunday if I do, though!  The rest of you keep on weaving!  Maggie

A Little of This 'n That

  I was at the Museum of Appalachia for a little while today.  There were 250 4th graders wandering over the grounds.  This was part of the Anderson County School Days, and the students were going from one area to another.  Each area had a "Teacher" that had specific set of objectives for the students to talk about.  The loom house was not really on the agenda, but several students came in to see what the noise was all about.  I wove in two sticks and cut off the two rugs that were woven.  Then it was time to start a new rug.

  This fabric is from a roll that I got in one of my loom buys.  It has a muted print and that great selvedge!  I may have to keep this one!  I can almost feel this under my toes!!!
  And, I bet that my kitties will think this is the best rug EVER!!!

  There was a roaring fire in the hearth at the Peter's Cabin next door.  I went over for a few minutes and warmed up this morning.  With my wool wrap, I actually was in good shape....but the fire was nice!

  But, I'm home for the evening, and this warp is going on Parker Pup.  It's a test warp for purse lining for a friend's handspun purses/totes.  My Japanese maple is right outside the window where I'll be working....such a lovely sight.

  This is just a shameless plug for my weaving friends at the Center.  If you are going to be in the Knoxville area next week, November 15-17, you should plan to drop by the show.  The Tuesday Weavers will be right next to Carol's booth.....lots and lots of lovely handwoven items!!!!
  (I'm taking this year off....I just need to recharge my batteries!)

  As it stands, I do need to pull some of the stuff they want to use for the booth....I think it is all still in the tub from last November!  LOL!!!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

All In A Day's Work

Armed with pictures of last year's booth, our fearless weavers started putting together this year's booth on the taped off area of the studio floor.

  They are smiling now....it's starting to take shape, and they can see where the woven goods are going to be.

  Rugs are going to get the CENTER spot....they are not that easy to display, you know?  But, they sure are beautiful.

  Scarves and shawls will be on the left side of the booth.

  I'm sure they will do a wonderful job setting up the booth at Foothills Fine Craft Show.

No sooner than the display pieces started to come down, the weavers were moving the looms into position to get some weaving done.

  We're just lucky we don't have whiplash!!! 

Margi had been at an Estate Sale this weekend, and got some bags with fabric....which Carol went through to see if we could use any of it for weaving.

  And, we have the on-going committee that is measuring the looms to get an accurate footprint for each loom.  Lanny and Allan are on the Building Committee, and they have a big meeting coming up soon!

  Besides getting a thread order together for Yarn Barn, Betsy got her warp tied back on and was ready to start weaving more placemats.


Both Lindas avoided the camera:  one by just weaving away, the second stayed busy cutting blue jeans legs!

  Guess who was quietly weaving with all the chaos going on in the studio????  Carl was content to just weave away on the wonderful old barn loom.  Never fear....he'll do his part at the Foothills show on Saturday.  He'll be demonstrating weaving on one of the Pups.  That is always an attention getter!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Another One Done

With just another week before we have to set up for the Foothills Craft Guild show, I decided to get this warp woven. It's a really nice red, redder than it shows on the picture.

 The black and blue gray in the middle certainly add a lot of interest to the project.

 I'll have my work cut out for me this week, getting the items finished before the show in a week!

Got that baby quilt done too! Yesterday afternoon I was handtacking the binding to the back of the quilt.  Did you figure out the theme of the quilt?

 It's the Berenstain Bears. About a year ago they came out with a couple of series of fabrics with this theme. I have a stack that will end up as baby blankets after I make a twin size quilt or two....but this one's theme is actually more school related, with numbers, alphabets and math and teachers, kids at desks, etc.

 I really like the back.  Every kid likes to play. The recipient of this blanket is about 6 months old now.  He'll grow into the blanket and relate to the games and, hopefully, learn to read the letters and numbers on the fabrics. As a retired first grade teacher, and knowing how nice it is when a child starts school knowing some of the letters already, here's my contribution to that cause!!

This morning I'll pack up both quilts and ship them to the recipients. The boys are cousins and here's hoping they'll like to drag the quilts around with them as they play and then lay down to nap!

That's all I"ve done work related this past week. This week I'll try to finish up more things and we'll see what I find to blog about next Monday!
Until then, weave on! My loom's empty right now and may stay that way for a week but after that, it's going to be rugs! Looking forward to that and doing some stash busting!! It's either that or buy a storage shed. Guess what DH is hoping for?!
Carol

Happy Birthday, Joyce!

 

 

Yesterday was my mother's 80th birthday!  My sister and I started planning  a surprise party for her this past summer when I was there for my birthday, and let me tell you, it was difficult to keep it a secret that long.  My brother Hugh came from Phoenix; my cousins Cathy, Annette, Cheryl and Jimmy came from Yakima, Atlanta and Oahu; friends came from all over the place.  My sister did the bulk of the work, since she lives around the corner from Mom, but I spent all day in the kitchen baking cakes and pies. 

My sister gives mean noogies!

  When everyone showed up, Mom was certainly surprised.  Hugh came Friday, and she figured that was the whole surprise, but when the cousins all came into the back yard, the surprise was complete.  And she was pleasantly surprised. 

Lots of food, beer and sunshine

Liz, me, Mom and Hugh

  She was feted the whole day, with friends and gifts and food and family.  We all had a great time, seeing folks we seldom see, some we've never seen, some we'll be friends with from now on.





and she liked her coverlet!

Happy All Hallows Eve

From ghoulies and ghosties,

And long leggedy beasties,

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

.....Scottish Prayer

***Just for the record, cats are NOT like dogs.  They do NOT stay on command.  Therefore, my elaborate set up for her photo shoot did not happen.  And, you can tell from Sweetie's face that she was not amused.

 Despite the wet weather this morning, it is looking more like Halloween with the fall colors finally making an appearance.  

  I had some visitors from Scotland at the Loom House yesterday, and we had a lively conversation.  They agree that East Tennessee has a lot in common with the Highlands of Scotland.

That includes the Highland bull that is out in the front field!

  Since the weather is changing, that means there will be a wee chill in the air by Saturday....my son's wedding day.  

  I did what any good weaver would do....I threw a warp on my loom for a shawl to match my dress.  This yarn is self striped, and I was looking forward to seeing how it wove up on the loom.

I really like how the colors slowly change and play with the stripes.  And, it's been quick to weave so far.

  That will be my project for the rest of the day....after I get home from running errands, that is.  It's going to be a busy next few days!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Need Room?

  This is how the left side of the Studio looks when we come in on Tuesday morning.

  You can see Carl's loom in the background, and Ann's Rocker loom is partially actually hidden behind the warping mill. 

  See the Pups all lined up down the aisle?  And, there's Bertha on the right...she's six feet wide, you know.

  Now, we've panned to the right of the Studio.  There are more little looms stored in the aisle between the back of Bertha and the front of the looms that Tina and I are working on.  Then, you can see the backs of two more looms.  In that little walkway, there are tubs of partial cones to be used in projects.

  Do you think we could use a larger studio space???????
  There's a building committee looking into expanding the whole Center...maybe we just need to plead our case!!!

  So, we just keep doing what we do best....weaving.
  Carl and Carol spent some time conferring on a project that Carl is weaving on at home.  It's an 8 shaft lace weave, and it's not working the way it should.
   Great minds.................

  Ann got to the Center early to serge the rugs that came off of the Rocker Loom.

The rugs on the right are from the burlap that was hand dyed from natural materials.  Liz stopped by later to choose the one she wanted to keep.

   Pat got right to work on Maggie's coverlet warp. For just a minute, she thought she was doing it wrong, then realized that she was seeing the reversed side.

  We also welcomed a new weaving student, Bonnie.







Table space is limited right now, which means that Teresa has been setting her loom on the counter.  She can see the whole room from there!!!!

And, Karin cut off her latest project from her table loom.

  You might think that today was "Support Your Favorite Project" Day. 
  Cathy is a Tennessee fan.  Marie's shirt says "Keep Calm and Weave On" while Karin's shirt is from SAFF.

  Lanny's shirt proclaims ALABAMA.  Enough said.....

Betsy was hard at work on the back row...it was rather quiet back there today.

And, Shirley and Allan conferred on the slight color difference for the weft on the scarf she's weaving.  Someone is always willing to help out!!!

  Pat's been playing on her loom at home.  (She's also using up her stash of thread!)

  And, Ann shared the throw that she finished weaving for her nephew.  There are a few more of these on the loom.  It is soooooo soft!!!

Yes.....Ann's hair really does swing nicely!!!  Truthfully though, she's just making a quick move to start the new chart for the Foothills Fall Show in November.  She's very good at keeping us organized and on track.  It looks like the mock up for the booth will be next Tuesday.  (Can it already be time to do that????)
  There's nothing like throwing the new weavers right into the middle of it all!
So....do you think the Tuesday Weavers need a larger studio???
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn