Bit by Bit!

Last week was another special one. My lace guild flew Louise Colgan out from California again. We've done this for several years now to teach us Milanese lace. It's 3 days of uninterrupted lace making. From 9:30 til 4:30 each day with just a half hour break for lunch we worked on our pillows. By the end of each day our eyes and brains were pretty fried!

Remember we worked for three days. This is what my piece looked like at the end of the third day. There are 3 reds or 3 green colors plus a metallic in each section. I did pretty well. I only have a leaf and half the stem left to do. Lace is tricky. The tape patterns are intricate to make which slows us down.

Those of us that are weaves know about unweaving. Well, lacers do the same. Sometimes they have to unlace! Slowly the piece takes shape. The size is controlled by the many pins we use. We even have special tools to lift up all the pins once the project is done. The thread tails are trimmed then as well.

My piece is supposed to look like this:

Normally I take pictures of some of the projects on pillows during class. I didn't this time because none of the lace was showing. As we work, we cover our pillows with cloths to protect the threads from the pins already in the pillow. You only see just a tiny bit of the project, just the part you're working on. When you're done, it's a piece worth framing!

Not much weaving will happen in this studio for the next few weeks but it's going to be a busy time anyway.

Until next week, keep weaving, even if I don't !

Carol