Beginning Again, and Again!

The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and I have finally managed to get some time up in the studio  this week .  You may remember that I alluded to a less than desirable situation up there last week, and the time has come to fess up to what went wrong.

 I had left this Bread Cloth project in some threading nightmare late last fall as I was trying to get ready for the last Art/ Craft show of the year.  Week before last, I set to work rethreading the center and far left sections of this warp.

I got to this point just before I blogged last week, when I realized that I had somehow left too many ends on the other side of the center lace panel!  I was speechless, which is why I couldn't talk about it!

This week, I began rethreading again, and when I got over halfway, I decided to make bundles of 12 thru the remaining threads of the center section.  I discovered that I had again miss the count on the right hand side by 1 thread!  I took it all out again and did the 12 count bundles first.  (which is what I usually do in the first place!)

 This time the re-re- threading went well!

I made it all the way to the plain weave section on the left hand side.  I was placing the warp through the reed  every couple of warp bundles.  I stopped periodically to move heddles around to make sure I had enough on each harness to make it to the end.

 I was happy to see the final stripes in the warp, this is 8/2 cotton, by the way, my favorite for hand towels and bread cloths.  I have finished threading and sleying this project and I have tied  it onto the the front beam.  I need to adjust the treadle tie up once again, and I will be ready to start weaving, finally.

I had planned to do that today, but I got distracted by a scarf embellishment project that I hope to have finished in time to take to the Center for show and tell next Tuesday.

It involves wool and alpaca too!

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

It's That Time of Year!

 It's Spring time in East Tennessee, and the dogwoods are blooming.  That means it's time for the Dogwood Arts Festival, which runs the whole month of April. 
  The Center is joining in the fun with an open studios this Saturday and Sunday.  Some of our weavers will be on hand to weave along with other artists here at the Center.

  On Sunday, the Center is sponsoring a Community Arts Festival with artwork from local schools.  All kinds of activities are planned for folks to try.

  If you're in the neighborhood this Sunday, plan on stopping by between 1-5 p.m.

  Of course, that also means that it is time for a little spring cleaning!!!

  As readers of this blog already know, it's a little crowded in this space.  This is my view of the room with the Pups neatly folded and put away.  But, led by those with great skills, there was much cleaning and organizing going on in the Studio today.  We're still working on our library, and those shelves are chock full of books, magazines and notebooks on weaving and fiber arts.  That's a true labor of love!!!
  Thankfully we have people who love a challenge!

  But, some things just needed to get done!
  We finished getting the new rug warp wound on Carl's loom before lunch.  He had it tied on the front bar and was ready to leave before we left for the day.  He even cut some more blue jean strips to use for weft next week!







  And, Karin even had time to start a towel before we left. 

Don't get me wrong, this was not all the weaving going on today....it's just all I got pictures of since I wanted to get my reed sleyed!!!  Maybe next week will be calmer (but, I doubt it!!!)

Get out there and enjoy Spring where you are....I hope the dogwoods are blooming!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Ah, lilacs!

Spring! I love it. All the flowers make our neighborhood beautiful. Thankfully, I don't have allergies that plague so many in East Tennessee this time of year!

A few years ago we bought a lilac bush to see if it would like our yard. This year we had the most blooms ever.

They are so wonderful. Imagine a hedge of bushes, all blooming and smelling so lovely.  I'm hoping the bush will spread as the years continue and more blooms are produced.

In front of the lilacs (see how tall the bushes have become) is a maple. It's gotten larger as well. Just ignore the wisteria trying to grow under it. Wisteria is beautiful but so invasive. DH will have fun cutting it out soon. In fact, wisteria spreads all over the place so once they're almost done blooming, the clippers will come out. That maple is spreading its limbs over a huge area. Love it!!

 Ok, I'm got some weaving done but what I'm glad to have done is another UFO. It's a big wall hanging that just spoke to me when I saw the kit at a quilt show a few years ago. Not sure where I'll hang it, but it's definitely eye catching!! The free motion quilting held me up for awhile. The more you free motion quilt, the more confident one becomes, just like in weaving.

Time to get back to the loom. I've got fabric done on my loom to cut off and another warp ready to go on the loom. Also, another UFO to work on..... 

It's nice to check off a project as done and go on to the next one.

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Cool and Freeze

I actually did get some time in the studio this week, but it was a 2 steps forward 3 steps back kind of a situation that we will leave in the dark, and hopefully by next week it will only be a bad memory!

Last week there were a couple of requests for my favorite cookie recipe, so I thought that would be a good topic for the day.   Like most recipes I use, it was not originally my own, but over time I have made it my own with a few very minor changes to please my family.

 I ran across this book many years ago.  The basic idea is that you make your own mixes, (duh, the title!) However there are also many bulk recipe for the freezer in there.  One of them is for  Slice and Bake Oatmeal cookies, and that is the recipe that I use almost exclusively for my family and friends.

The recipe says that you can take the cookie dough and roll it into 4 logs and wrap them up and freeze them.  Then when you need some cookies you slice and bake as many as you need.  I tried that a couple of times, but I found that I did not like working with the dough to get it in log form, and I wasn't sure how big the frozen pieces needed to be to get my regular sized cookie.

What I found however, was that the baked cookies freeze wonderfully!  I usually get around 7 dozen cookies when I make a whole recipe. ( I have made just half  of a recipe before)  Once they are cool, I pop them in freezer bags by the dozen or two, and when I need some cookies, I pull out what I need and let them warm up about 20 minutes and they are just like fresh baked!  (just not warm)


Here we go!

Slice and Bake Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups butter or Margarine (I use butter)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
5 cups rolled oats
(1/2 to 1tsp Cinnamon)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 nuts (I omit)
1 to 2 cups raisins (I omit and use Chocolate chips)

(I noted my changes in parenthesis)

Combine butter and sugars, beat until smooth
Add eggs, beat until incorporated
Add vanilla and blend

Combine flour, oats, (cinnamon), salt, soda, baking powder, blend well
(when I have time I grind some fresh flour to use)

Add dry ingredients to wet, and combine well, add nuts, raisins and chocolate chips as desired.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and spoon out the dough using a small spoon.

Bake at 375 F for 10 to 11 minutes depending on the size of your cookie. (watch carefully until you know how your oven and cookies play together!)

(Cool and freeze) Yield 7 dozen more or less

I compared the ingredients in this recipe with other similar ones, and  I found that this is about 4 times the size of a normal recipe, so that really you can take your own favorite recipe and it just might work for that one too!  Imagine 7 dozen cookies of your favorite recipe in the freezer just waiting to be used!
(Don't forget that frozen cookies are just the treat your looking for to go with your afternoon coffee!)

Until next time, Happy Baking!  Tina

Throw Back Thursday

  Theresa's comment from Tuesday's blog got me to thinking about the Tuesday Weavers.....and how the group has changed since I came in 2005.  I started looking through my picture file to find some of the early group pictures, and I came up with a few.
  This is from 2006.
  We now have 37 weavers on our roster (as of 2 February.)
  The cones of 8/2 on the table were our Challenge for that year....I remember that I made a casserole carrier with that yarn.

  Lots of familiar faces....and some new ones, too.

  Our holiday pictures are always a hoot!!!!

  Wow!  And, it just keeps changing....little by little!

  This is from 2014 on the front porch here at the Center.

  Just a little walk down memory lane....thanks for asking Theresa.
We are so lucky to have this resource!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Busy

Pat has been busy this winter, and brought her projects in to share with the Weavers!  This all started as placemats for Fiesta Ware, and morphed into using up her leftover bits of 8/4 thread.
  There are more placemats in her basket from the "use it up" warp that left us all in awe!!!  Way to go, Pat!!!
(And, Happy Birthday!!!)












Jocelyn was busy winding Part 2 of her dishtowel warp.  It is 24 inches wide and 8 yards long.  She'll be winding it on next week!

  Marie and Darlene are plotting and planning....I don't know what's going on there!!!

 

  Margi brought us up to speed on the summer weaving project with an inner city school.  I think she has it well in hand.

  Reminders about upcoming events were given, as well as classes that will be at the Center.

  Tina gave Irene a quick spinning lesson on her E-Spinner. 













  Betsy and Sharon were super busy at their looms this afternoon. 

Carl was busy threading and tying on his warp this morning.  After lunch, Pat and Harriet helped with the process of winding on the warp.  How many yards did you wind, Pat???

  Karin tried out several different weights of yarn for the inlay in the towels.  I think the last one is the winner!!!

   Anna brought her little Structo to weave on today. 


 







  And, as always, the Ladies were busy, busy, busy!!! 


  The Center is gearing up for the Dogwood Arts Festival tour on the weekend of April16th.  Several of the weavers have offered to come and weave during the open house.  If you're in the area, drop by and see us!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Done!

The last rugs are woven, hemmed, inventoried and stacked, ready to go!

These first four are the rest of that black warp, now hemmed and ready. I used more of the Reds that I had to finish these two.

Using a bit of green that I had produced a very cheerful rug.

The last of the blacks was more of a light teal, lighter and nicer than the photo shows. I took these pictures in the basement studio with just fluorescent light on them.

The last eight rugs are on a more neutral warp.

Mixing up the neutral balls of selvedges is kind of fun. I had a fair amount of almost neutral selvedge so I paired it with one ball of an accent color.

I think this one had only three different combinations of colors.

I didn't post a picture of the solid neutral rug. It's like one I posted a few weeks ago. I'd done three of them but found I had enough for one more.

Then added other balls of colors for a rug.

Adding silver grey to the combination worked out well.

Each rug looks a bit different. There's an orange fleck in a couple of the colors. Gives it a bit of color that, hopefully, someone 

will like.

The last rug had a nice cool color that made me smile. It's just waiting for someone with a neutral colored room to buy to give the room some magic. Ha!

Then we put the rest of the selvedges away for next time. Vacuumed up everything and I'm ready to wind a new warp today for a small order.

Friday my family drove down to Atlanta for the memorial service for my inlaws. Gerald and Jeannine Pritcher died within 4 days of each other. Actually, he died on a Saturday morning. She was told Monday afternoon and passed away on Wednesday morning. It was just the way you would have wanted them to go, together after being married 67 years.

The service was nice with memories, laughter and tears. The urns were nestled in circles of flowers, like a cottage garden. She loved riots of flowers and would have loved it. They would have been in the middle of all of it, talking and laughing with everyone there. Childhood friends reunited and stories were told, music at the reception was live with two guitarists playing the Chet style songs plus a fiddle came out for ashocken farewell from time to time. 

As sad as it is to know they're not here anymore, the memories and lessons learned from them remain.

So, it's time to head back down to the studio and get winding a new warp.

Until next time, weave on!

Carol