SOUPer Tuesday!!!

 

  While some folks are getting ready for some event on Sunday, the Tuesday Weavers warmed up with Souper Tuesday today!!!!
  Yes....soup and sandwiches and dessert....could life be any better???


  I was too late to get a picture of Sharon's Chicken Pot Pie soup!  It went in a flash!

  We had a great variety of sandwiches.


The desserts were out of this world.









More desserts!









Still plenty left at the end of the day.  We were making bags of leftovers to take home....I don't think we'll have to make supper tonight!!!!

 

   Linda brought her new herd dog, Beau, by to meet the weavers.  Can you believe he is only 8 weeks old????  He's such a sweetie!












  It's all folded up, but this is our new 8 harness Ashford loom.  We got a great deal on this loom, and we thought that it might fit the bill for a weaver who doesn't have room, yet, for a floor loom.  The fact that it folds up and is lightweight is a big plus.

  Also, today was discussion day for Chapter 1 of Mary Black's, The New Key To Weaving.  Lots of great comments, especially about the terminology used in her book.  
  It's interesting to note her use of the term "primative" in referring to techniques and looms. 
  Polly noted that we had spent 40 minutes talking about a chapter that was 12 pages long.  Next month might get very interesting!!!!!

 Yes, we had some weaving and threading going on in the studio.  And, the discussions lasted long after we went back to our looms.











  Then, the BOSS said it was time to go!
It truly was a SUPER Tuesday!
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Heading North

Two more baby quilts done, checked off the list.

This one is heading north to Michigan for a baby girl born two weeks ago. I found a Berenstain Bear book to send along with it. Hopefully the book will be a good start to a library she will love. I truly believe that books are incredibly important for a child's upbringing. Reading to a young child is so much more than the story. It's the cuddling and spending undivided attention that help a child feel secure. Encouraging their thinking and imagination doesn't hurt either!

Lots of pink, this one's definitely for a girl. I hope to get it to them by the weekend.

Now that I've got all the girl quilts done for the babies that I know of, this quilt is to have on hand for when I hear of one that needs a blanket. It's just as cheerful as the rest.

I do have one more girl quilt pinned, ready to quilt. Haven't started on the boy quilts but there's lots of fabric to choose from so they should be fun quilts.

I am weaving. I finished a short warp of 7 rugs and have another one half done but haven't serged the rugs apart or hemmed them yet. I have 3 rugs left on the second warp. So far I've been using up the loopers. One more rug of loopers and then I have to figure out what to weave with for the last 2 rugs.

So I'm heading back to the studio. We'll see how much I can get done this week! Life's busy but finding time to weave each week is wonderful!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Semi-Throw Back Thursday

  At the November Foothills sale, I had two overshot hot pads that sold on the first day!  I wove the pieces a couple of years ago:  Star of Bethlehem using red for the pattern weft.  I finished them up in time for the sale.  I had decided to make more for this year's sale, but I will weave the panels side by side--less chance of having one slightly longer than the other!!!!
  I'm starting to have a wee bit of indecision set in...I thought I would just go with my stand-by:  cat tracks/snail trail.  But, I was looking through Davison's book and came across King's Flower.  Oh, yes!  I know that one....I wove six placemats and two runners using that pattern back in 2006.

  


  There are three different treadlings for this threading.  That would give some variety of pattern as well as color.  With the cat tracks/snail trail I would only have different colors.  But, I can treadle that pattern in my sleep!!!  Oh, my!  I need to do the math and see how King's Flower will fit with the warp that is already on the loom.  That might be the deal breaker!










  Whenever I sit down to do the math, I get interrupted!  These two have been very needy lately.  Is it the cold weather???
  You should know that right after I got this picture Biscuit smacked Sweetie on the nose!  Can't we all just get along?????

  I would like to get some items woven this winter so I won't be in a panic in October.  Plus, who knows what wild ideas I'll get before then!!!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn


 

 

Back Together!

  Gee Whiz!  We haven't been together for two weeks....there's so much to catch up on with our fellow weavers!  The kitchen island often becomes the gathering place for discussions and planning. 
  The vintage Lily looms got a check up today to see if they can be rehabed.   I'm not sure what the "experts" decided about them, although I did see a lot of pointing at the different parts.  We'll see.....

  Betsy went to work on the rugs that came off of the Studio rug loom.  She got the raw edges serged, and they will get hemmed next.  Pat set up in her usual place to weave on her table runners. 

  Meanwhile, Ray was busy twisting the fringes of the rugs that were not going to be hemmed.  Helen is working on her second warp here in the Studio...soon she'll be putting on her first warp at home!!!  Helen has acquired a Leclerc loom from another weaver!  Fun, fun, fun!!!





 




  It's time to change it up a little!  Tina decided to rethread the towel warp to a turned twill threading.   I'm sure she'll be up and running by next week.







  Liz is going to have that towel warp finished before too long!!!!  
  Betsy is in the process of threading the painted placemat warp. 

  The Ladies are at different points in their process.....Shirley is weaving on the scarf warp while Bonnie is getting ready to wind on the black bamboo scarf warp.
  Ms. Ila is through threading and ready to start weaving her first shawl on the painted warp. 
  (Pictures next week!)

  The first thing I noticed was that Alyce's sweater matches Joan's warp!!!!  (Love that purple!!!)  Frieda is getting her new warp ready to weave, too.
  Anna is headed out the door....I wonder if she's going to put on a warp with her new reed???

  Thank you, Sharon!  Being our librarian means you're always busy!!!  But, we had plenty of copies of Mary Black's book for check-out!  (And, a bunch of people have already read the first chapter for our discussion next week!)  We also had some new books for Sharon to add to our library.




And, thank you, Polly!  That banana bread was fantastic!!!

Hopefully we won't have anymore snow days that keep us from our Tuesday weaving!!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Choices

It's Monday again! I'm in the studio all day and there are so many choices of what to do.

I put on a rug warp last week and just cut off 4 rugs that filled the cloth beam. I already chained a bunch more loopers but there's still this huge tub of loopers left. My goal is to weave every last one of them this week (or next)! Having the loopers out of my life will be good. It's kind of fun to chain them while watching a bit of TV but still, be glad when they're done!!

These four rugs need to be hemmed. There won't be fringe. Instead I wove about four inches at each end that I'll fold, pin carefully and then sew the hem.

I could tie on the rest of the warp and keep weaving. I do have a bunch of loopers chained already. Did that Saturday afternoon.

I've got 2 baby quilts already layered and pinned, ready to be machine quilted. Just sitting there, waiting.

I cut this one out Friday afternoon so I could sew the squares on Saturday. I've got the strips together, just have to iron and then assemble the strips before getting the back and batting ready to pin the layers.

Then there's the rest of the tub of Berenstain Bears fabric. The next ones will be more male oriented. I know I have to make 2 boy ones for babies due this spring. Then, since I already will have 2 extra girl quilts, I want 2 extra boy quilts. So, have to make 4 of them and I do like to have them all abit different.....

So there you have it. All the possible things for me to do today. Well, probably more like this week. Since we won't have snow tomorrow, we'll be back at the center. We'll see what kind of craziness we can get into there!

 For now, I am going to weave this morning and see if I can get a couple of rugs woven. I want to get this warp off the loom and maybe another one on later this week.  The cycle of weaving has begun....again....but with a bit of baby quilt making inbetween! 

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol

Snow Days

We had some more cold (for us) weather this week and we even got a few inches of snow!  The Center follows the schools snow day schedule so since the schools were closed, the Center was closed.   That meant that the weavers did not meet at the Center this week and I also did not have the usual babysitting gig Tuesday night.   Bonus day!   That meant that I could spend all day in my pjs, doing whatever I wanted!






So, I washed another fleece, Jacobs fleece #18,

 and finished a pair of socks, and worked on my taxes, and changed my sheets, and did some laundry and I did a small sample with some yarn that I had made while I was demonstrating at the Museum of Appalachia.

This was supposed to be sock yarn, but I could tell from looking at it that it was more like DK or even Worsted, and that would not work for the socks that I like to wear.  That is okay though, it will be marvelous for a hat I want to make.

I made this a 3ply yarn because I knew that I wanted to knit with it, for weaving I would do 2 ply, but the wool of this kind of sheep really poofs up when it is washed, so I think I will have to try spinning even finer if I want sock yarn!

This is the "LOL hat", a free pattern on Ravelry.  It has some rib and some cables, just right to show off the yarn.  I managed to get about half of the hat done, I may finish it tonight.

 When my daughter saw the yarn that I was using  she said that she would like a hat out of that yarn too!   I already have a second skein just like this one, so her wish will be easy to fulfill!



The snow is almost gone now, and the roads are pretty clear, in fact it is going to get all the way to 46 degrees this afternoon!  Yay!   Back to the normal life for us all!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

In Praise of Grilled Cheese and Wool Socks!

  Yep....the south was hit with another snow storm.  It blew in from Texas and danced up the eastern seaboard bringing snow and ice to some places that had not seen such weather in ages.  We have not been above freezing in a few days, which is a little unusual around here!
  That means COMFORT FOOD!!!!
For some reason I really wanted a grilled cheese sandwich.  Me and a million of my best friends hit the store Monday looking for bread (I already had milk and TP.)  To properly prepare for a storm, you must have these basic supplies...just add cat food and coffee to my list!
  I haven't had a grilled cheese in years, and this really hit the spot.  The chili just added the icing to the cake. 

  I finished the multi-color apron.  Of course, then I found I had set the pocket too high.  So, out came the seam ripper....what would I do without my seam ripper?  That apron is down beside the sewing machine waiting for me to change the thread.
  Yes....I have denim blue thread on the machine right now.
  Yes....that's a denim skirt on the cutting board.  And, that's my new apron pattern pinned to the skirt.  (This was my favorite skirt for many, many years....I couldn't part with it!  Now, it will be my favorite apron!)  It's about half way finished at this point....and, I'm looking at my pocket "collection" to see which ones I can use.  Fun!!!
  Wool Socks....the only way to survive this weather!  I really hate to have cold feet!  They are the comfort food for the body, I decided. 
  Tomorrow will be better....my driveway should be thawed by then.  It will be nice to get out for awhile.  I may treat myself to lunch out....no grilled cheese!!!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Still not Weaving

I'm not sure why I can't seem to get clear pictures on the blog but here goes!

I gave away this quilt last night. The baby is well over a year old but I didn't know about him til Christmas! So this was a rush job. It's 50 x 60 inches.

More Berenstain bear fabric.

I'm sorry you can't get more of it!

The back of this one is bugs.

The other quilt I finished is about 40 x 50. It's going to Alberta for the grandbaby of a cousin. Baby's not due til about March but I don't want to wait that long. The couple decided not to know the sex before birth so I wanted the blanket to be unisex.

Either one can use the quilt. Blues and pinks all together.

Even the bottom blocks cover the bases. If you look very carefully, you can see pins in the big blocks. I haven't free motion quilted that area yet. It's on my list for today.

The back is the overall print we all remember from the books.

Last night the father of the quilt recipient told me he remembered the books from when  he was young. He's going to have to read them to his son! 

I love books and helping spread the love of books while also keeping them warm is a win win deal!

That makes 3 finished quilts using the Berenstain Bear fabric with more waiting to be finished. 

I'll get back to weaving soon but I first need to finish the bookkeeping from last year and decide what the plan is for this year!!

Until next week, keep weaving! 

Carol 

All About Space

I have a problem.......

 As many of you know if you have read some of my previous posts, I bought 51 Jacobs fleeces last fall.  It was a big pile of fleeces, but what I hadn't planned on is that a clean fleece is twice the size of a dirty fleece.

Luckily I have used 4 of the big fleeces in some fleece rugs for the fall shows.  One rug sold and one rug I sent to the Shepherd, and then LouAnn took 2 of the lamb fleeces.



I began doing a little research on how to handle this problem.  I looked at "Space Bags" and other brands of vacuum bag type products, and I calculated the cost and found it prohibitive, for my situation.  Then I found something that I thought was the answer, it was a product called "BagButton", a reusable button that you use with a good quality garbage bag and your vacuum cleaner.  I ordered it immediately, and was dismayed to get an immediate refund because they were out of stock.  I then thought for a minute and realized that if I put some netting on the wand of my vacuum cleaner I might be able to get the same results.

I picked out a fairly good sized fleece, this is a kitchen sized garbage bag.  I divided this fleece between 2 clear Kirkland bags of the same size.  I put the netting on the wand and a rubber band on the bag.  I placed the wand into the bag and started the vacuum cleaner.

It worked!

Here is that same fleece, half the size as before.

There are 5 fleeces in these 2 tubs, I am hoping that the tubs will protect the bags a little bit.  I think I will be buying the Kirkland 33 gallon bags in the near future, I believe that the plastic on that size is a little thicker and that I would be able to get one of the bigger fleeces in one bag and not have to split it between 2.

There will still be a lot of fleeces at the house, but this storage idea has me looking at all my other fiber stash.  I think that I will be able to consolidate so much that there may be room for these new fleeces on the shelves after all!

Until next week, what is your favorite storage solution?

Tina 

Real Life

    It's back to reality here on the Ridge.  I had lots of fun playing during the "tween weeks" and it's time to knuckle down and get some work done.  End of the year reports and tax forms await my attention.  I always feel like I have a close relationship with Excel!!!
  I've been using my new purse, and after the second week, I can report that I need to take up the handle another few inches.  Also, I've decided that it's too big.....I don't really need ALL this space!  (If you're not careful, you will keep putting stuff in your purse and it will weigh a TON!!!!)  I'm going to go for jean purse 2.0 when I get the chance.  (I've got some ideas cooking on the back burner!)






  I did get another apron cut out this week.  I have found that I really like wearing them around the house.    Having that big pocket handy helps to prevent me from getting side-tracked:  the item in question just gets tucked away until I'm through in that room.
  I got used to wearing them at the Museum, and I can see why women have been wearing them for eons!  They are not just for cooking!!!!
  (I really want to make a "sewing/weaving" apron with pockets for miscellaneous  tools!)







  One last little project:  my pin cushion  and clip basket.  The pin cushion is a tomato sauce can with a wool filled sleeve glued to the metal.  I like having it right by the sewing machine/serger to handle the pins as they come out.  I keep the seam ripper and scissors handy there, also.  I needed a liner for the chip basket because the clips kept falling out--and I need it beside the machines, too!

  I had some feedback about my cup cuffs that I gave for Christmas:  it seems that my SIL is using his at school each day.  One of his students was amazed that it was woven by his mother-in-law!  Do I have more?????   Not right now!


We're in for another round of winter weather tomorrow night....maybe I can get ahead of the book work and get some fiber time.....fingers crossed!

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn