We're Going Hollywood!

Patty is back from her travels and turns out I didn't interview her either! Years ago, Patty saw an add in the newspaper about the weaving Center and had even taken the beginning class over the summer one year, but because of her work commitment she was unable to come back to the Center, though she was weaving on a loom at home. Once she retired she started to come to weaving on a regular basis.

Patty is weaving rugs on the Studio Loom and this particular pattern is called the Hollywood Rug. She is alternating 2 different wefts to get this effect.

We first ran across the Hollywood warp pattern when LouAnn purchased a rug loom and the warp on the loom was this pattern but it was all kinds of weird colors (light and dark purple, pink and yellow). It took her some time to figure out that it was a simple twill progression throughout. Then one day she was looking in the Rag Rug book by Meany and Pfaff, and lo and behold there it was! The Hollywood warp pattern is made of a "Chicken Tracks" center panel bordered by a couple of different twill runs, all in black and white.

We had a robust show and tell today. Pat brought in several pieces that she is donating to the Tuesday Weavers to sell in the shop, but the funds that she raises for these items will be donated to the new building fund that we have established in memory of the 4 weavers that we have lost in recent years. Bonnie, Carl, Sharon and LouAnn, I think a plaque will be in order once we get the building built!

Mark brought in a couple of towels that he wove this week, he said that they were supposed to be the same size, but you know MATHS!!!! We had all sorts of suggestions what he could do with the smaller one, for of course we have all been there!

The last contestant for show and tell was Dana, our youngest weaver. She wove several towels on a rigid heddle and she found that math is also a problem sometimes. Dana is eagerly awaiting Carols return from her vacation to actually get started on the basic weaving course, but I think she is making great progress on her own already!

Towards the end of the weaving day, Pat and I were talking about the old barn loom and how it has a chain and spring set up that makes is really hard to push the beater out of the way to insert the rug shuttle. I told her that if I was weaving on it I would unhook the beater from this system, because it looked like she was working too hard! Well before you know it, I was on a ladder and Patty was on a chair freeing the beater, and making life a lot easier for Pat!

Dana sent me this picture, she was trying to snap it while I was still on the ladder, but missed her chance. I think you can see the eyebolt on the beater and the chain hanging down to the right. That's it for today from the Center, Tina, for all

Off Again, On Again

A couple of weeks ago I had to leave the Weaving Center early, and they sent me a picture of Pat and her helpers taking rugs off of the old Barn Loom.

Last week, Pat began winding the warp onto the old warp beam and today she is tying the warp onto the front apron and she will be weaving before lunch.

Linda was absent the day I would have done her interview and she reminded me of that fact when I was taking the picture of a new warp on her loom. So I asked her how she found the Weaving Center. She told me that one year she went to the Foothills Guilds Fall Craft Show and bought some placemats for gifts and for herself. She got to looking at the placemats and decided it would be a fun thing to learn how to do that herself, so she started taking the classes and like so many others, they just can't get rid of her!

Samantha too had been absent the week I interviewed the table loom crew. I found out today that Samantha grew up right down the street in Norris and she remembers coming to the Center with her Mom when it was across the street, and she remembers using the outhouse! Samantha is going to be weaving runners with bits of lace and plainweave.

Paul is checking and rechecking the threading on his project. Last week he thought it was all good to go, but found that there was an error somewhere in the threading, so out it all came to try again. (Pearl is photo bombing!)

Week by week there are finished projects coming off of the looms and new projects being planned, wound and loaded onto the looms. Thanks for checking the blog out today, we appreciate the company. Tina, for all!

I Think That's Everyone......Oh Wait!

There are just a few more Weavers for me to interview. Let's start with Dana, she isn't actually a student yet, but once Carol gets back from her annual Canadian trip you can be sure Dana is signed up and ready to roll! Dana has a friend named Jenny who is one of our weavers already! They got talking at a recent gathering and Jenny told Dana that she should come to the Center and learn to weave! She already has a rigid heddle and in fact she wove some towels on it and brought them in to show us how she did!

Next up is Liz who is weaving fabric for bowl cozies on a small Leclerc loom. Liz was a teacher and she was interested in weaving, and did a google search and found us. With her working schedule it wasn't possible for her to come until she retired.

I told you about Pearl and her tipped over loom last week. This week I get to show you the pictures!

Then I was looking around to see if I had missed anybody and I thought I had everyone, then someone (Pearl or Shannon I think) said, "What about you!" So I handed the camera to Shannon for her to take a picture of me at my loom, which is a Leclerc 45 inch 4 harness/6treadle Jack loom. I am weaving placemats and runners using a Barley corn draft. I came to the Center in 2001, after my husband saw a very small add in the newspaper and he thought I might be interested. My Mom had called from California not long before that and we were chatting away, when she asked me if I would be interested in a floor loom. I responded that I wouldn't know what to do with one, but sure! On my next trip to Calif we packed the loom and shipped it to me here in TN. By the time it got here I had a rudimentary idea of how it should all work, and I am still here 22years later, they just can't get rid of me!

One last thing, this weekend we said goodbye to our own dear LouAnn. It was a beautiful service and you could hear her planning throughout. I enjoyed the solemnity and yet the lightheartedness of the service, and also the pianist was superb weaving in some Star Wars melodies amongst the more traditional tunes. LouAnn will be missed by us all.....

Until next time, Tina for all

All Topsy Turvy and a Screw Loose

I walked into the Weaving Center to find one loom tipped over with a couple of weavers underneath working on correcting a tie up, and another loom literaly had a screw loose! Both looms I am happy to say have successfully survived the ordeal!

Today, I am going to take you through the Weavers and looms that are along the left hand side of the studio. First up for today we have Joycelyn who is weaving a shawl on a Leclerc loom. Joycelyn had always been interested in weaving and had known for some time that the Craft Center was there, but hadn't contected the two until her daughter, who already was a Weaver, came to visit and bought a loom but couldn't take it back home with her! So she left it at Joycelyn's barn for months! It was she who encouraged Joycelyn to come take lessons. She loves it so much she plans to never stop!

Next up is Lou ann, who is weaving towels on her loom. She has wanted to weave since her college days, but didn't get started until she retired. She went online and did a google search and found 2 places in the area, and she chose us and hasn't looked back!

Marilyn is going to weave placemats on her little schacht loom. Marilyn heard about the weaving Center from a friend who knew a friend who wove at the Center.

Pearl is weaving towels on her Schacht loom, and it was her loom that was all topsy turvy dealing with the tie up. I was waiting for her to weave a bit more so that I could show you the transformation of the pattern with the change in the tie up, but I had to leave early today, I'll try to remember to snap one next week. Pearl came to us in an interesting way, she first helped her friend Peggy's Husband by her a rigid heddle loom for her birthday. Soon afterwards Peggy bought Pearl one. Peggy then signed up for the Weaving classes and Pearl soon followed. We had an active show and tell after lunch today, Jenny was thrilled when she figured out how to weave 2 different patterns for her shawls on the same warp!

Then Mark wove a baby blanket for an upcoming granddaughter,(Congrats!) and a scarf from the stash we have from Sharon's house.

Shannon made a pillow out of fabric woven on an Antique Barn loom in a 3 harness design. She also wove a houndstooth scarf.

Betsy brought in a scarf that she wove with the stash from Sharon's house as well.

Then Marie showed us a few pieces of weaving that she had found in Sharon's house as they have been cleaning it out to ready it for sale.

Patty also brought in some lovely scarves that she had woven at home, I think she said that they were bamboo!

All in all it has been a busy day, and I was worried I wouldn't know what to post about! Tina, for all

The Back Row

I know that I said that I would talk about the Schasht Wolf Pups today, but we didn't have very many in service today. So, I thought I would talk about the floor looms that are at the back of the studio instead. The first weaver up is Betsy, she is weaving on a 40 inch Macomber B5 and she is weaving beach towels with stripes and checks. Betsy first came across the Tuesday Weavers at the Foothills Craft Guild that is held every Fall. Carl was demonstrating weaving on a small floor loom, and since Betsy had recently retired and was feeling the need of something new, she looked us up, took the 6 week course and like most of us she just keeps on coming!

Next we have Bonnie who is weaving on a 45 inch Leclerc Nilus. Bonnie is weaving some fabric to make a top and today she is threading Front to back. Bonnie found the Center soon after she moved to near by Norris TN. She stopped in to see what it was all about and took the Weaving class.

Beside Bonnie we find Shannon weaving on a 28 inch Baby Macomber. Shannon is weaving material that she will use to make purses. Shannon had Weaving on her bucket list for a long time, in fact she already had a loom when she found out about us at the Fiber Festival in Townsend in the Smoky Mountains.

The last one for today is Laura who is weaving placemats and table runners on a Norwood Loom. Laura heard about us from Margi who sometimes comes to weave with us and who is really good at making Christmas decorations.

I'll keep working my way around the room next week, Tina for all

I've been thinkin, and I had an IDEA!

Whenever LouAnn walked into the Weaving Center with a poster board or some paper under her arm or a a larger bag than ususal, we all exchanged glances. What has she come up with now!!! It could be anything, it could be a sign up sheet for the Fall show or a new layout for the booth. It could even be a simple plan for when to have our random potluck lunches. (In case you want to know, it is whenever there is a 5th Tuesday in a month! Brilliant!) More than likely however, it would be some "Challenge", Spring challenge, Summer challenge, Fall challenge, Winter challenge, Christmas challenge, Easter challenge or 4th of July challenge, you get the idea. (We would all groan and roll our eyes, but go along with it!) Over the years we have done them all! Whatever Challenge it was, it would mean that there was less yarn in the annex, we would have more products for the shop upstairs or for the Fall show, and more than likely we would all have learned a new skill or two. LouAnn was also the champion of 8/4 cotton,(she refused to call it carpet warp!) She came up with ways to use 8/4 that I would never have thought of. She made the usual tote bags, inkle bands and rugs, but she also made hats and hand towels with good ole 8/4 as well! She was so in love with 8/4 cotton that she put it on the really old Rocker Beater floor loom at the Museum of Appalachia, which is a stones throw from the Weaving Center.

For for the last 15 years or so, all Spring, Summer and Fall the 2 of us would do demonstrations a couple of time a month at the Museum for both school children and adults. Many years there were 3 or 4 day events that took all the strength we had just to get throught them. (Homecoming and the days of the Pioneers come to mind) She would be in a tiny cabin called the "Loom Room" showing people how the old Rocker Beater loom worked, (she always had her teaching hat on of course) and I would be just across the way on the porch of the Peters Cabin showing people how yarn was made by hand, we made a good team. We would lunch together behind the "Loom Room", laying back on the grass to rest and watching the Peacocks and Peahens with their chicks.

As I am writing this post, my dear friend is slipping away and by the time you read this, she will have left this world for a better one. Dear LouAnn, treasure/junk seeking companion, road trip partner, personal seamstress, confidant and friend, life will not be the same without you, I miss you already! Lots of love, Tina

From David to Goliath

There were so many cars in the back parking lot today, that I had to park upstairs in the front where the Craft Center Shop parking is! As I came in, I had to stop and take some pictures of some of the hand woven items we have for sale.

Here is a peek at some of Carol's handwoven garments.

Heading downstairs from the shop to the basement studio, one of the first things you see is a HUGE old Barn loom. This loom is very special to us all, our dear sweet Carl wove fantastic denim rugs on this very loom for many, many years. Carl was our faithful friend, counselor and "Dad", we do miss his kind smile and his gentle chuckle at all of the silly stuff us girls would talk about as we wove on our much smaller looms surrounding him.

Pat has taken over the job of Chief rug maker and she takes it as an honor to continue the traditions that so many Weavers before her have done over the years on this loom. (and many other looms just like it!) Pat came to the Center after she had been given a handmade loom. Pat found out about the weaving classes when she drove by the shop and stopped to take a look inside. To her surprise, she already knew 3 of the weavers that were part of the weaving department!

This loom is on loan to the Appalachian Arts Craft Center, from the Museum of Appalachia, which is almost but not quite, literally across the street from us! I can barely read the note that has been on the loom for a very long time! Can you?

The loom was purchased by John Rice Irwim around 1970 from the Franklin family that lived near Morristown TN. The loom was in an old log cabin built by the Franklin family about 1880. The loom has 2 shafts and 2 treadles, which is perfect for simple rug making. (Can you spot the old reed that is actually made of reed! A reed reed if you will!) Pat wanted me to be sure and point out in the pictures above how smooth and shiny the top of the swinging beater is from years of contact with weavers hands. This loom is surely a Goliath in a room full of Davids! Next we had some finished items in the studio today! Patty brought in some placemats that she had woven using "Twill and Tabby" from Dixon's book "The Handweavers Pattern Directory", pages 55 & 56. The warp is the same on each of these placemats, isn't it amazing?!

Also, Linda cut a towel warp off of her loom today! Project planning is in her future!

That is all I have for you today, next week we will look more in depth at the small floor looms that we have in the studio. Tina, for all!