Playing Catch-Up

  We had a successful show at Homecoming, and it's time to get caught up with the chores that were ignored for 4 days.  I admit that I did not want to talk to a soul on Monday....and I was rather quiet on Tuesday.  You might say that I was all talked out!!!!
  But, we all need to get ready for the Foothills show in November, so rest time might be over.  Carol has given me a challenge.....a lady had this purse at Homecoming, and my job is to recreate it.
  It converts to a backpack!  Cool design, right???
  Carol provided three different views, and I worked out a diagram that I'm playing with at the moment.  We'll see if I'm successful.





  I just so happen to have a placemat warp already on one of the Pups, so I thought I would use that to play with.  The example is woven with cloth strips, but I don't have any cut at the moment.  I thought this chunky yarn might work, but I'm really not liking the way it looks.  It might be time to get out the rag cutter.
  While I have it out, I need to cut more strips for the placemat warp at the Museum.  I timed that warp just right...the last six mats were supposed to be finished by Sunday evening.....but I ran out of weft!!!  I'd like to get that woven and cut off the loom.  It will be too chilly to weave out in the Loom House in just a few weeks.  I have about twelve inches to go.

Southern Weekends

  A few weeks back, the crew from Southern Weekends visited the Museum of Appalachia.  Molly spent some time with me in the Loom House.  I finally got to see the clip this morning on the news.


  Now....back to my challenge project!!!!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

The Aftermath and Potluck

 

  Yes...we did have some weaving going on in the Studio today.  The Ladies were at their looms, which gave them a chance to chat with the ladies from the Crossville Weavers' Guild.  Those ladies drove over to visit with our group and have some lunch!
 
  We got our cars unloaded this morning....display pieces were put back in storage....stock was returned upstairs in the shop....and woven items returned to their weaver.  Marie handed out checks to the weavers who had sales during Homecoming.  I guess that means we'll be busy weaving the next few weeks getting ready for the Foothills sale.

 



  Our visitors gathered around Betsy as she cut strips for her newest rug.  She's using some wool we had in our stash.

  Anna, Frieda and Harriet used the lull in activity to share what they had going....we always have some project either starting or stopping or hatching!!!!

  Meanwhile, Irene was going to start dressing the Pup with another painted warp.  OH-NO!  There is a terrible tangle in the warp!!!!
  You can see the chain laid out on the carpet....it's probably a warp for 3 or 4 scarves!!!  This is where a lot of patience is a real virtue!!!

  Karin had a special cake made for our Potluck lunch:  a woven cake!!!!!  (Can you just imagine trying to describe that to a baker????)
  Not only was it beautiful, but it was delicious, too!!!!











  


   Now....this is a beautiful sight!!!!  Not only do we weave very well....but there are a lot of great cooks in this group, too!!!

  Then it was all hands on deck to share the feast! 
  Our visitors brought some of their woven items to share with the group, and before we knew it, it was time for them to leave.
  Next week we will be back in full production.....and we'll work those tangles out of that scarf warp!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Success!

Yesterday I spent all day at the Museum of Appalachia, helping with our Tuesday Weavers booth which is in the Peters House. It's a cool log cabin that was moved to the museum years ago. It's so nice to be in here. This year they added lights so we had much better lighting on our sale items and that probably helped us have a successful show!

This cabin is a big one. We're in the big room and my back is to the fireplace. A long porch lets you walk under protection outside to the next room which is the kitchen. There are steps from the outside to two rooms upstairs. Pretty luxurious for the times! 

We have this one room and our things were nicely displayed by our weavers. Harriet was busy working all Sunday morning. Sorry I didn't get a picture of Anna who also helped a bunch.

Outside on the porch Tina was spinning. She did this for four days. By Sunday afternoon she was tired of sitting but not spinning. She was spinning the finest thread you've ever seen. Took forever to get close to filling her bobbin. The lady she's talking to bought one of Bonnie M's shawls. It was multicolored orange, yellow....just a beautiful painted warp.

Oh, there's Anna on the left talking to a customer. Check out the walker in the back. We make bags that fit nicely on the walker so that whoever is using it can put their magazines, phone, etc in the pockets and take important things with them as they move from place to place. The people who buy them tell us how much the recipient enjoys having a bag for their things.

So what was LouAnndoing all this time? She was in the little house that you can see in the background of Tina's picture. It's the Loom House. She has truly resurrected the old loom out there. It shines with pride as she weaves placemats on it. The warp has been planned for 12 placemats and she'd cut off the first six. Now she was working on the last six. Shortly after I took this picture, she ran out of her weft, the strips of fabric she was weaving with. She was on the last placemat, too. It's disappointing but she'll cut more strips at home and come back to finish weaving the last one.

At 6pm we were glad to pack everything up, LouAnn, Tina, Marie and I loaded the cars and tomorrow morning we'll bring everything to the center, put away the displays, carry the items back upstairs to the shop and figure out what we need to weave for the next show...in a month. You can get a lot woven in that length of time, you know. Should be interesting to see what else we can accomplish before the Foothills Craft Guild show.

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Tired But Happy

Another Museum of Appalachia Homecoming has come to a close.  The weather was wonderful, and I though many times about 2 years ago when the rain just would not stop!  Our booth did well by our estimates, we will know with more precision on Tuesday when Marie will give a report.  Many thanks for all those who gave a hand manning the booth Marie and Christy who also helped with set up, Karin, Pat, Joyce,Bonnie, Harriet, Anna, Irene and her husband. We could not have done it without you! (I hope I didn't leave anyone out!)

On Thursday we had 29 bus loads of kids come in, and it was just as busy as you might expect it to be.  Most everyone was well behaved and we sold out of  all the small stuff that we had made just for them, in fact we could have used more!  (Make a note for next year!)  Friday, Saturday and Sunday are mostly adults with kids sprinkled in families as they usually are.

I spent 4 full days spinning wool on the porch of the Peter's Homestead Cabin. I usually try to spin wool that comes from Sheep Shearing day on the porch and I was able to go almost the full 4 days of Museum wool, but today I had to pull out my reserves.

Over the first 3 days I was able to spin 6 bobbins of white wool, which once it is plied will give me 2 really nice sized skeins of 3 ply yarn (to add to the one I already have, )that will be good for many things including hats, scarves, or a sweater.







Like I said before, by this morning I had to pull out my reserve wool.  I had brought one of my Jacobs fleeces that I had gotten from a friend of Betsy's a couple of years ago.  I had washed the wool and separated out the 3 colors that were in the fleece.

 I hadn't decided how I was going to spin it before today.  I knew that I wanted that empty bobbin to last me all day.  In order for that to happen I knew that I had to spin lace weight yarn.

I started spinning with the darkest of the colors, and I was spinning just as fine as I possibly could.

It is not exactly frog hair, but it is really fine!  Much finer than the white yarn I had been spinning.  By the end of the day I had used up 2 of the fluffy bumps in the above pictures and had filled  maybe 2/3 of the bobbin.  Mission accomplished!

Lou Ann was in the loom house those same 4 days, she finished 5 placemats and ran out of weft or she would have finished the sixth and final placemat for the year.


We get many visitors at the museum, and every year we see relatives of Aunt Cordelia, who lived her life in the cabin that Lou Ann and I call home when we do demonstrations at the museum and the Tuesday Weavers get to use it as a booth during the Homecoming.  This year was no different, first there was a family that had just learned this year that they were related through family tree research, and some that thought that they might be related.  Then yesterday we got a real treat,  Aunt Cordies great grandson showed up with his granddaughter!

They went all over the cabin, and he told me that he had spent many nights in the upstairs bedroom above the kitchen.  He said that we had the girls room and the boys room upstairs switched, and that Aunt Cordie's spinning wheel was in that same upstairs bedroom above the Kitchen, that was where she would spin.

It was such a treat to get to meet him, I asked if I could take his picture!

We are all exhausted, but happy!  We will take a few days to catch our collective breaths and take an inventory of what we have left  and  then start getting ready for the show in late November, just before Thanksgiving.

Until next week, Happy Resting, Tina

It's A Go!

  This is a well deserved rest after loading up all the "stuff"--unloading all the "stuff" and setting up all the "stuff".  But, I have to say...we're getting pretty good at it.

  Yes....it's Homecoming at the Museum of Appalachia!  Thursday morning, more than two dozen school buses will unload students for a fun filled day of music, activities and touring the grounds at the Museum.  The Tuesday Weavers are set up at the Peter's Homestead House (Tina will be spinning on the porch while I'm weaving next door in the Loom House.)
  On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we'll see lots of folks who come back year after year PLUS lots of new faces.  It is just like a Homecoming.






  We have lovely shawls at the front door.












   We love using the chicken wire screen...it really is versatile.

Just look at all the items you can hang on it just using clips and S hooks. 



The other side is great for displaying scarves on hangers.

  We love using this rack for all those beautiful dishtowels that our weavers produce.  (I'm sure Karin will make this arrangement even more appealing!)













         The lattice rack is great for showing off those lovely scarves.
   These tri-fold shelves give us just the space we need for placemats, table runners and napkins. 
  Yes...that's a walker!  We've been weaving bags for walkers for the last few years.  It's nice having a place to put your things when you need to hold on and walk!!!!

   We've got the rugs in the corner, and more placemats by the window!  This space really works for us. 
  All that's left now is to get a good night's rest before all the fun begins!!!  If you're in this neck of the woods, come on by and say, "Howdy!"

LouAnn








 

Get Set!!!

Frieda knew that we would need an energy booster today, so she made us a pumpkin spice cake to keep us going!!!  YUM!   So...why do we need an extra boost???
















  Just ask Carol!  Some of the last minute woven items that were finished up from last week needed to be tagged and added to the inventory.  There were also a bundle of scarves from Frieda's loom, as well as Linda's Steeplechase scarf that got finished just in time.  Anna brought her fantastic turned twill towels for the sale, too.  Tina and Marie went up and down the stairs pulling inventory from the shop to take to the Museum.  Of course, those items have to be inventoried, too!

 Carl and Karin spent the morning on their looms getting a little more weaving done.











  You can get a better look at Karin's towels here.  These will be ready for the Foothills sale in November.








  The Ladies stayed on task, too.  (I think they were on their phones earlier....but, I missed that shot!!!)  These scarves will be ready for the Foothills sale! 

 Irene got her items for Homecoming tagged, and she was ready to get some weaving done!

Meanwhile.....Molly is still threading her towel warp.  That's a picture of her towel on the loom bench:  this is going to be amazing!!!!



  The straw loom kits are ready for the kids tomorrow:   thank you, Pat!  I think we are ready!  Tomorrow is set up day....I'll get some pictures for you when we get done. 
Stay tuned...........

LouAnn

Monday, already?

Where did the week go? Seems like the week just slips by but I did get some warps woven. 

The last painted warp is woven! They take more time because of the skeins having to be wound, painted, then wound back into balls. It can take quite awhile but the results are so awesome. The picture is a bit deceptive, but the colors are bright and cheerful. Just the thing to wear on a dreary winter day!

Since the bamboo is done, I got back into weaving cotton. This first warp is jungle green, royal blue, purple and red. The picture doesn't show that on the right is another stripe of the green. Woven with black, the stripes are subdued somewhat. However, this will be a cheerful garment that will have accent squares on point sewn at the bottom near the hem. It's got to be washed before I assemble the pieces, probably next week.

I wound a new color block warp yesterday and will be putting it on the loom this morning, between loads of laundry.

There was a question last week about what pattern I use for my pieces. Well. Sorry to tell you, but I don't have one. I have a lot of weaving books. Since I've been around for so long I even have those boxes of patterns for handwovens that Interweave put out years ago. They're good for inspiration and sizes. When I decided to weave clothing, I knew I'd be selling to people of many shapes and sizes. I needed something that would fit a lot of bodies. The best way to do that was to have simple lines. So, they don't have a lot of intricate seams or darts. I basically use a rectangle. For a jacket, I know how long to weave the fabric. I serge the 2 ends and wash it in the machine with warm water. Hang to dry. Then I cut off enough for each sleeve. I learnt how much by measuring from shoulder to wrist. Each of those, I fold In half lengthwise and taper a bit for shape. Then the  body of the jacket. I find the middle and mark it  with a lot of pins. I cut out the neck and cut up the front for the opening. Serging all the raw edges is a must. Most of the time I put a tuck at the shoulder to get rid of what you don't need at the top but is nice to have at the bottom of the jacket. Again, it's a matter of marking with pins and then sewing it. I crochet around the jacket 3 times because I crochet openings for buttonholes. Think simple. I don't want to put stress on the fabric so think of ways to create things that look good but are fairly easy for me to do. I always have pieces waiting to be crocheted by my chair. Oh, yeah. Another thing I do is once I've sewn the seams, I go back and open the seams with my fingers, then whip stitch them down so they stay open. It makes the inside look as good as the outside of the garment and will help lengthen the life of the piece as well. I hope that helps. I do special orders on occasion for both larger and smaller people. 

Well, I'd better head down to the studio and get some work done. That warp won't go on by itself!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol