The Home Stretch

Marie, Cindy and Christy have gotten the situation under control.  (I think these ladies were efficiency experts in their former lives!!!)  Cindy even has a notebook started with LOTS of notes on what to do for next year!

  This is a sample of their inventory system.  Items were categorized and then listed in the notebook.

  They even have a list going of all equipment needed.  (We added binder clips to the list this afternoon....just wait...we'll have a picture from the show!)

  Maggie brought by some scarves she had finished at home, as well as one of the coverlets to take to the Foothills Show.  (Betsy wanted a tip on weaving overshot from Maggie.)

And, meanwhile, Carol continues to help the new weavers with their first warps.  (Don't you know they think they have been thrown into a whirlwind?)

  At the round table, we had last minute finishing going on items for the show.  We all pitch in to help.

  In fact, I think that helping each other is one of the best things about our group!  It goes so much faster when you have someone to help you wind on a new warp.

With all of this positive energy, you just know it's going to be a great show!



Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Wow!!

This past weekend was wonderful! We left Knoxville early Thursday morning and headed east. By late afternoon we were on the coast. The ocean was right there, just beyond the dunes, a hundred feet or so from the villa we were staying in. We were on Kiawah Island for Earl Klugh's Jazz Festival.

 

 

 The festival kicked off with an outdoor event Thursday evening at Mingo Point. They had a big lowcountry buffet this year for us. We sat at picnic tables and listened to music. The guy performing is named Eugene Grove but his stage name is Euge Groove. Lots of sax but some guitar there too!!

 Kiawah Island is quiet, restful. Animals are allowed to be where they want to be. Just across from our villa we saw this deer feeding. We're afraid he got hit by a car or something because his left rear leg was injured. Otherwise, he seemed ok, wasn't afraid of us when I took these pictures as did other people that happened to be there.

 Friday evening the music began at 7pm. It was also outside but at The Sanctuary. Our seats were about half way down so I was able to get some good pictures this time with my camera. The first group was Spyro Gyra. Cindy, this one's for you! I'm sorry you couldn't have been there with us. You'd have enjoyed them immensely!! At least 2 of them are original band members and the others have been with them a long time so they definitely were in the groove, comfortable with playing their tunes.

 I thought this was amazing. He's playing both instruments at the same time!!! That's control!

 After the intermission we heard Al Jarreau, another guy who's been around for a long time and fun to listen to. His voice is something else!! He's also been married for 45 years to the same woman! He said as long as he brings home the milk and the money, it's all good!

 Saturday the concert began at 4pm. This was the view of the ocean from my seat. See the heaters? We needed them. Friday evening it was cooler and the heaters were going full blast. It was a bit warmer Saturday, partly because it began earlier but still, the concert went til 8 so the heaters were nice. People dressed for the cool temperatures and the music kept us excited but still, heaters were needed!!

 Starting this concert was the man himself, Earl Klugh. He put on a great show.

 Earl's a shy guy but he sure puts everything he has into the music he plays.

 You see them playing on stage and just by how they play, their expressions, you know they're having fun. It's so much better to listen to when you know that they're enjoying being there, having a good time, playing off each other. I didn't take pictures of all the others on stage with him that took breaks and kept the sound going.

 After intermission it was the one I'd been waiting for: Burt Bacharach.......he played for well over an hour with singers doing the vocals on some of them, he sang on others. You know, when you have about 500 people sitting there, most middleaged and above who know all the songs, when they start playing them, the audience can't be quiet. We sang too. There were some that you couldn't help yourself but sing. When he did the medley of movie tunes, of course when Raindrops Keep Falling on your Head began, we sang. So as that finished, he said, stop, we're going to do that song again and the whole song, not just the part that's in the medley......and he led the sing along! Fun!!

 He had his trademark scarf on and tennis shoes!

 After his encore, he brought out Earl who was honored to be there. Earl says that Burt is his all time favorite musician and I can just imagine how he felt being out there with him.

 Earl's favorite song that Burt does is Alfie. DH says it's got some complicated chords in it so that's what makes it so interesting.

 I like this picture. It captures the fun they were having onstage.

So we headed back to the mountains and over to Knoxville yesterday. It's back to reality now! Today I start getting everything ready for the show this weekend. We'll be setting up on Thursday for the 3 day show. Tuesday Weavers will have a booth beside mine and we'll do our best to sell some of the things we've made so we can make some more!
Until next week, carry on and listen to some Bacharach. It'll bring back the memories!!
Carol

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!