Week 2

 

 

I had a bunch of pictures I was going to post today of our trip yesterday into Regina but for some reason I could only download a few before it kind of froze so decided to just put these on now and maybe next week or when I get home, I can post those pictures! We did go into the city for the afternoon yesterday and took Mom around for a change of scenery.

 

So what did we do this past week? Well, I finished the little wall hanging I had started quite awhile ago. I decided to give it to my niece. My sister is in charge of framing it. She's got a frame that will probably work nicely, once it's cut down a bit, so she will be able to hang it up. The fabric is mostly wool and it's hand done. I love doing handwork and the vintage look of these is very appealing to me.  It's one project down, many more to go!

 My Mom is confined to a wheelchair now, especially since her fall several weeks ago. After her fall, she was very sore and found it impossible to get in and out of the car plus she couldn't get into the bathtub any longer for her shower. So they found solutions. Once a week she is picked up by this bus for a day at a seniors center. She gets a real bath and then plays games and talks with other seniors and they give her lunch. She loves that bath!!

 Three times a week she has to go to the hospital for dialysis. Until now, my sister had taken her. Now we've got a van to pick her up each time and take her. She enjoys talking to the drivers as they go.

 Thursday was my birthday. My wonderful husband had flowers delivered to the house. I think they're absolutely gorgeous! I'm here another full week so will continue to enjoy them. Hopefully there will still be a few left for my family to enjoy when I leave. I can't take them over the border.

I did start my batik quilt. I'll post pictures of it next week. The quilt is going to be big, about 116 x 116" for my king size waterbed. The blocks I'm making are only 8 inches square so it takes 14 across each row. There are tons of different fabrics involved in the quilt and I'm looking forward to posting it, hopefully next week. I've got to get it done so my sister's friend can quilt it on her longarm....
So, no weaving here, but enjoying family and doing a bit of work....
Until next week, keep working on projects that you love!
Carol

What WE do with Donations

Several months ago we received a "small" loom donation at the AACC.  It looks like a Reed Cambridge, with a 30 inch weaving width.  (It has some of the loom experts stumped, we didn't think they came in that width!)  There was just enough natural wool warp left on the back beam to weave a rug.

I counted how many warp threads I had to work with and 188, which matched the number of heddles I had on the harnesses, 47 each!  I played a little bit threading the warp through the reed,  I did a little warp grouping in 5 sections spaced evenly across the warp.  I then went looking for fabric in the cupboards.  I found 5 or 6 different fabrics and I was all set to sew them together, but I had a bit of a problem with the sewing machine.  I was packing it all up to take home, (it was almost closing time) when Ann pipes up!  Something about a bag with balls of fabric under her loom.  ( A touchy subject!)

I went to look in the bag and sure enough there were 5 huge balls of fabric strips, already cut and sewn together!  There was also several huge balls of corduroy.  (I vaugely rememberd that they had come in at least a year ago, maybe more!)  I pulled out the fabric, and it was amazing!  Actually it was Psychedelic Baby!!!  I tried to weave with it immediatly, but the colors were lost when the fabric turned the wrong way in the shed.

I  went home totally intending to bring my iron the next week.  Well, I forgot it, and remembered it when I was half way to weaving.  There is a Goodwill not far from the center, I thought I might be able to find an iron that I would then just leave at the center.  They did not have an iron, but they did have a flat iron for hair.  I thought well, why not.

The flat iron worked marvelously, as I first ironed the strips flat, and then folded it in half, and ironed the crease.  I ended up loading the shuttle as I ironed, it just made sense.

 I can just see whoever made these balls of fabric, cutting the strips, some of them only 12 inches long, and sewing them together, day after day.  The fabric is so eclectic!  60's and 70's hot colored fabrics mixed with plaids, Raggedy Ann and black and white prints!  It has really opened my mind as far as what is possible for a rag rug.  I really have to learn to mix it up!

Finally, on tuesday the warp gave way  when the cord broke that was holding the PVC rod to the warp beam, and Marie had to hold onto it while I wove the header.  I cut it off the loom, and knotted the fringe.  It is done!  Next week I will take a look at the rug wool on the shelf to choose a new warp color.  I still haven't even finished the first ball of fabric!

 We love getting donations at the Center!  This time it was 2 donations, from different Weavers made a couple of years apart, that combined to make a one of a kind rug!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

As It Should Be

It is way past time......

She hasn't had a warp since the early 1940's.......

  Ester is finally getting a new warp.....just two harnesses, but a warp, none the less.  I have learned a lot working on the Rocker Loom at the Museum of Appalachia, and after replacing the heddles on the LeClerc harnesses I found on eBay with twisted wire inserted eye heddles, I think I'm ready.  I wound a warp for a few rugs to start her out......this should be fun.

  I am using the raddle that came with the loom, but I will not be using any of the reeds that came with her.  I know how hard I beat when I'm weaving rugs, and I'm not going to take any chances.

  I cut the last two rugs off of the loom at the Museum last Friday.  Biscuit gave them the official okey-dokey, so I'll need to knot the fringes.  (I don't understand it, but my kitties LOVE rag rugs!) 
 
  I've got several lengths of decorator fabric in the dryer to be joined and cut into strips for more rugs.  Some will be for Ester, and some for the rugs at the Museum. 

  I have learned that I need to cut off the rugs after I've woven two....winding them up on the cloth beam just encourages dampness!  But, I enjoy having a rug on that loom for folks to see.

  Tina is going to help me wind on the new warp for the Rocker Loom tomorrow.  That probably means she'll be spinning on the porch while I thread the heddles. 
  That also means that we'll get to talk with lots of folks who stop by the Peter's Cabin and Loom House.
  If you're thinking that this warp isn't too long, you would be right.  With all the dampness we've had this summer, I don't want too much thread wound up on that warp beam.  This will work just fine.

  So, two new warps for two OLD looms.........that's just as it should be.

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

The Annual Festival of the Anniversary of My Birth

 This past week, I was in Chesterfield, VA, visiting my mother and sister.  It's an 8 hour drive, so to break it up, I stopped at a wonderful place, Black Dog Salvage, in Roanoke, VA.  Have you seen the show Salvage Dawgs on DIY network?  http://www.diynetwork.com/salvage-dawgs/show/index.html 
Well, I am a big fan.  I even followed their trucks through my neighborhood--some call that stalking--when they were salvaging stuff from an old house on Washington Pike, here in Knoxville.
  I brought Bella, because they have their own dog, Sally, and the place is pet-friendly.  Two of the main guys in the show, Tay and Ted, talked to me and Tay took Bella's and my picture.  It was so fun!  The store is fun, too, full of great stuff salvaged from old houses and buildings.
  The day after I got to Chesterfield was my birthday, but I didn't quite get the princess treatment.  Mom had just had her second cataract surgery, so she was the royalty in the morning.  We went antiquing after lunch, then came back to Mom's to make the celebratory dinner. Yes, I made my own cake, because I'm just too critical to let anyone else do it.  Alas, my mother's baking tools are primitive, and I faced some challenges.  I will remember to bring my tool box in November for the 80th anniversary of someone else's birth.
 


So, the cake was a little...rough.  Yummy, though, and Liz grilled steaks.  We had fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to go with it, and I made way too much dip for chips.

 The next morning, Bella and I had coffee outdoors at day  break.  Bella kept a keen eye out for the Gang of Five, a bold band of deer that roam my sister's neighborhood looking for delicious gardens.  Bella completely missed the one that was only feet behind me, but no one got up the driveway!

And what would a visit to Mom's be without a yarn excursion?  We hit two stores in one hour on Cary Street in Richmond.  The first one was not that nice, with not that nice people working in it, but the second one is always our favorite, The Yarn Lounge, http://theyarnlounge.com/.  I love that place!  So much selection, such nice folks working there, and always a few people just sitting and knitting.  I bought the fuchsia yarn at the not-so-nice place, but only because I fell in love with it!  The green, which didn't photograph well and is actually a beautiful shade of sage, I bought at the Yarn Lounge.  I also found a bead store and started the cover project on the latest issue of Knitting Traditions, one of my favorite magazines.  If you go to the Interweave website, you can buy the digital edition now and download it.  I downloaded it to my phone and used the page on my phone the whole time I was knitting it in Richmond.  The link is:  http://www.interweavestore.com/knitting-traditions-fall-2013  It's so beautiful.
  What else is missing?  Oh, yeah!  A trip to the plant nursery!  We went to one Mom said she'd always wanted to go to, Cross Creek Nursery in Chester.

 It's a huge nursery, but we trekked the whole thing in the rain, looking for the perfect flowers to go in a garden I was planning for Mom's new yard.  She spotted Canna Lilies. We got three.  The next day, I didn't feel up to planting, so Saturday, my last day there, I had to work hard.  I dug out all the crab and wire grass, and millions of some kind of bulb, repositioned the cement borders, went to Home Depot for more flowers and got it all done before dinner.  It was a hot day.  Notice the beer.  But I didn't open it until the garden was completely done.  Boy, did that go down nicely!

But now I'm back in Knoxville, and I made it to Norris yesterday.  I finished the second half of the first eggplant blooming leaf, as well as five repeats of the center design.  Being back at Bertha was a bit challenging on the hip and ankle muscles, and I feel it today!  I'm still madly in love with Lee's Surrender, and can't wait to see what the blue looks like next!
  Time to jump in the shower and wash work away, then maybe see if I can't coerce Johann D to stop breaking threads.  If I can't, I guess I'll have to wind that warp onto bobbins for weft.  180 ends, doubled, 9 yards each... ugh!  That's a lot of winding!  Hope your weaving adventures go more smoothly!  Happy Weaving!
Maggie

Just One Of Those Days

  There was a warp already on the little loom when Lanny and Allan moved it to the Studio.  Tina took over the project and decided to weave off the wool warp that was left....however much was left.

  The brown paper that covered the warp concealed the PVC pipe that was being used on the warp beam.....along with the fact that it was just attached by two cords to the beam.  YES....the cords broke.  And, in steps Marie to save the day.....just long enough to weave a header before the warp was cut.

  That's another rug to add to the inventory....ready to be tagged and taken upstairs.  Isn't it colorful?

Then it was time for Tina to tackle the LOST CROSS!  Oh, yes.....it happens to all of us at one time or another.  But, Betsy was able to enlist Tina's help, and all is well.



  Carl took home a stack of blue jean legs last week, and they were ready to cut into strips this afternoon.  That loop went on and on and on and on!!!!!!











Andy is having much better luck with this warp that she warped back to front.  No tangles this time!

  Shirley's scarf warp is coming along nicely.  You can't see the subtle color changes in this picture, but it is a very nice!!!!

  Ms. Ila just keeps weaving those beautiful, fine scarves.

  And, look at the lovely color play on Christy's scarf warp!!!!

  Linda is working on our trademark Ellen's Placemats.  These make such good gifts!

  Not only can she save a warp (see the first picture) but she can weave table runners!!!!  Marie went right back to the work at hand after saving the day!

It was just one of those days!!!

Happy Weaving!

LouAnn

Projects

 

 

A year ago when I was up visiting, my aunt came from near Edmonton with a project that had her stumped! It was a watercolor wallhanging. We helped her arrange all those little squares to make the picture look right. We placed the squares on a fabric  with a grid on it, and it was fusible so she ironed those squares onto the backing and then took it home to finish.

I think she did a good job!! She came this week to spend a couple of days to "be inspired" with us. It was great to see the finished project!!

 Notice how she stitched on the tree trunks to make them look more real. Watercolor projects always look better from a distance but even close up you can see how nicely it all went together.

 So what am I doing right now? I've been collecting batik fabric for a few years now. Whenever I went to a quilt show, I'd look for jelly rolls, 2 1/2 strips of batik fabric. Already cut, you save time and get bits of different patterns on the fabrics. I'd collected a fair amount and in looking at it, we found very little duplication. So, we spread the strips all out and then put them in sets of 4 to sew together.

 I still have some of the groups to sew together yet.

 Once sewn, I'll have to iron them before turning them around and cutting 2 1/2" strips to make little blocks of color. Since there are just over 50 groups of them, it's going to take awhile. I think I need at least 9 strips from each set of fabric strip.
Then, there are the over 20 pieces of fabric that I'm going to cut 9 - 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 rectangles.  It's going to take most of this week to get done, I'm thinking.

Once cut, I'm hoping to get them all assembled to make a king size quilt top. Not sure it's going to happen this quickly, but I"m going to give it a try.
Last year it was so hot up here, we had to have the fan going all the time. Not having air conditioning was tricky but this year, it's good. I think we've only had the fan out once!!
My Mom's continuing to do pretty well which we are all thankful for!
Still not weaving but I am doing some handwork on pieces I brought up with me. Can't neglect production completely!!
So, until next week, you keep weaving and I'll cut and, hopefully, sew!!
Carol

August Already????

How did this happen?
What happened to July?
  I'm trying real hard not to panic....I'm not going to count the number of days until the Fall Homecoming!
  I'll just stay calm and weave on....that's the plan.
  And, I'm going to get outside and try to enjoy all the summer things I haven't done yet.  (No list necessary.)
  Monday's mail brought me the Ashford SampleIt that I ordered last week.  (My orphan yarn collection is just about to reach epic proportions, so it was time to get serious about that!  It was either weave it or give it a room all by itself!)

  My first warp was all gray, silver and black.  I love this light weight little loom....it just goes from room to room, and even a little weaving last night in bed.
  I'm not giving up on my Pups.....but they all have long warps on them.  So, it takes awhile to get those mug rugs woven off the loom. 
  In the meantime, I've pulled several more candidates for future scarf warps.  It's so much fun to play with color and texture for these warps.
  ***Notice the little double end hook that Ashford provided with the SampleIt.  I love my Harrisville double end hook....it just makes sense to have one hook rather than keeping up with two!

  In closing, I'll leave you with my bloom of the week.  I watched that bud for about a week before it opened...and what a wonderful surprise.

  Today will be a great day to weave....it's gray and rainy outside.  I'm rethreading the shawl warp (a few groups at a time) and those mug rug warps need some serious treadle time.

Keep Calm
and
Weave On!!!

LouAnn