Would You Believe It????

  Another birthday!!!!
  Bonnie is celebrating her 31st birthday with us....we LOVE brownies!!!!  (Actually...we love Bonnie, and we don't care how old she is!!!)



















Then, it was time to put a new warp on her loom.  Shirley pulled a chair up to help.

 

  Carl is back on the barn loom using his newly cut strips of blue jeans.  It's a good thing Christy is back to work joining legs for more!!!!
  (Christy calls this job security!)

  These ladies just get the job done!  Every Tuesday they just sit down and weave.......















  Peggy sits right across from Liz, and this is her first time weaving huck. 









Sharon is weaving this dyed warp, and you can really see the pattern develop. 










  But, don't you hate it when the weft tangles when you're winding the bobbin?????  Thank goodness Mary was nearby to offer some help.












  Bonnie matches her warp! 
  She was ready to tie on to the front bar this afternoon, which means she'll be weaving next week.  I wonder what she'll choose for the weft???









  Marilyn finished up four placemats and a table runner with the "forest" color theme, and she's starting a new colorway for the next set of placemats.  Stay tuned!










When Mary isn't helping Sharon, she's weaving on the white placemat warp. 








  She's still smiling.......
  Alyce skipped a dent when she was sleying the reed, and you know what that means.......













  Charlotte has been busy at home again!  She wove three bamboo shawls from one nine yard warp.  They are each unique and beautiful!

  Yes, we're still working on Inkle bands for our key ring project.  You can't see Linda, but she brought her Inkle loom that came with a project in progress.  Tina did a little adjustment, and Linda was off and weaving!

  So many projects underway in the Studio......

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Happy Birthday, Ms. Ila!!!!

Happy 85th Birthday, Ms. Ila!  (And, you brought your own cake, too!!!)  This yummy treat was an orange-lemon chiffon cake with coconut frosting.  I'm so glad we could share this day with you!











  We saved the cake for after lunch, so Ms. Ila got busy putting her new warp on her loom.  She was wound on and threading in no time flat!
  I'm looking forward to seeing what new creation she'll be weaving!








  Carol and Shirley worked out a glitch on the scarf warp.  It's so nice having folks to trouble shoot with you!











  Liz was busy sleying the reed on her towel warp.  She has been busy at home weaving scarves for her husband to take to an event this weekend.  All the hems will be hand-stitched.
  Jocelyn is at the end of this warp, and it will get cut off after she gets the hemstitching finished.
  Betsy finished two more bands for our keyrings at home.  Today she was busy at her loom weaving more placemats.






  Margi got her reed sleyed today.  She ended up with some extra threads that she'll be weighing off the back of the loom.











  Bonnie got her warp wound on the back of the loom (thank you, Patty!)  Now, she's ready to tie it on to the front bar.
  Marilyn has really gotten into weaving the placemats on "B".

    **Maggie***  Marilyn learned why "B" got his name today.  I'm sure you will appreciate this!!!!

("B" has a bad habit of popping too much warp when you touch the brake!)













  Connie worked on her Inkle band today while Marie worked on some bookkeeping.
 
  When Dickie saw the table looms on the porch sale, he phoned a friend of his to see if they wanted one.  Sure enough!  He took care of that for them.

 Pearl arrived with loom in tow, and she got to work on her sunny yellow warp. 














  Ray made some adjustments on his warp...it's coming right along.
  Mary is plugging away on the white placemat warp.  They'll be some more placemats soon for the shop upstairs.

  Pat is using that bright blue with her black warp...it really makes the pattern POP!  Those will make a nice soup cozy.

















  As often happens, we had visitors in the studio today.  Say hello to Amy and Lynn.  They just live right up the interstate in LaFollette, but had never been to the shop before!  They raise fiber goats...maybe they would like to learn to weave????
 
Happy Weaving!
LouAnn

Is Spring Really Here?

We have had more cold rainy days this winter of 2019 than I can remember ever living through.  (Did I say Gray rainy days, I meant too!!!!)  Anyway, over the last week, there has been a few warmer sunny days amongst the rainy ones and today, well it is glorious!

Over the years I have had mixed results with growing a vegetable garden.  The first year we were here in this old house, I asked my neighbor to please plow a garden plot for me in the field beside the house.  In my mind I saw  a 20 x 30 foot garden, when I got home from work one day, a week or so later he had plowed the whole field!  To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement.  I tried my hardest that year to stay ahead of the weeds, but with such a large garden and very little experience it was hopeless.  There was however that one year, when I had a really good Spring growing lettuce, I planted early and in succession and I picked fresh tender lettuce right up until the first of June.  It felt really, really good to have had a success.

Baby Basil

Usually it is the weeds that smack me down big time,  the Basil goes to seed before I can harvest all of the goodness it provides, and usually the tomato plants threaten to take over the world, grudgingly giving me a few tomatoes for my trouble.  So many reasons to throw in the trowel.

More baby Basil

The last couple of years I have tried to grow just a few tomato plants, but I think my they needed a lot more sun to grow properly.  I have been energy poor for various reasons the couple of years.  This year however, things are beginning to look better, and as the weather began to warm up, I began to think about a better sunnier place to put the garden, and yes, I also started some seeds. Bibb lettuce, Zinnias (two varieties) rosemary, Basil, Tomatoes, Daisys, Columbine, and Cosmos to name a few.  Lots and lots!

Bibb lettuce

I am always of the mind that you should plant as many seeds as you possible can, because surely they will not all come up.  Funny thing is, they almost always all come up!

When these lovely little baby seedlings get a couple of sets of true leaves I will transfer some of them to separate pots, so that  in a couple of weeks my family room is going to be overrun with these little plants, (it has happened before, I don't know why I am surprised) and I will be bringing them to the center for my friends to enjoy in their gardens. Maybe I need to find a real greenhouse!







I have in mind a 20 x30 ft garden in that sunny field beside the house, but this year I have literally tons of waste hay from the goat barn to keep the weeds at bay, all I have to do is haul it with my trusty pitchfork and wheel barrow, and layer it on really thick.  I also plan to use cattle panel trellises for the vining tomatoes and prune those tomato plants really, really well to keep them in their proper places.  The flowers and herbs are going to join the veggies in the garden plot this year as well as filling in the flower beds around the house.

This year at long last, I am beginning to feel Spring in the air, and a spring in my step.
  Until next time, go ahead and get your hands dirty and plant some seeds, Tina

It's All About The Looms

  Sometimes it's like "musical looms." 
We have some looms that we loan out to new weavers until they're ready to buy a loom.  When it's the right time, the looms come back to the Center....just in time to go to another new weaver.  Thus was the case today.

  Liz had the little four harness, four treadle Harrisville, and it was time for it to come back to the Center.  It just so happens that Peggy is ready to weave at home.....just back up the car and make the exchange!
  Sadly, though, Peggy needed about two inches more space in her car.........
  She's coming back on Saturday with a pick-up truck!!!!!

Then, there's the matter of all of our old table looms.  They have been used for beginning weaving lessons for a LONG time, and we have slowly been replacing them with new looms.  Some of them are going out to the porch sale here at the Center.  We'll keep some of them for our one day classes.    Stick shuttles are being priced for the porch sale, too!

  Our folding Schacht looms are great here at the Center.  We can store them behind the large looms during the week, and move them out on Tuesdays. 

  Liz, Jocelyn and Mary are weaving on Leclerc looms while Betsy is weaving on a Macomber. 

  We do have a variety!!!!

 Carol is checking Elizabeth's loom....she's ready to start weaving!  That is one of our new Ashford table looms!

  Carl weaves on the old barn loom...they are really a treasure!  But, he needs more weft!!!!  It's a good thing Christy is preparing more blue jean legs for him to weave!

  We are so lucky to have so many great looms for weaving!  And, we have a remarkable library of books on weaving.  Sharon has a huge job keeping up with the new books, and keeping the collection tidy.  (We have a bad habit of pulling a book to look at the threading or tie up, then not putting it back in the right place!!!!)

Maybe it's really all about the weaving........



LouAnn

Come On In!

Do you want to learn to weave?
   Come on in!

Do you want to explore weaving?
  Come on in!

Do you want to meet some folks who love to weave?
  Come on in!

Do you want to spend some time with people who just "get you"?
  Come on in!


Do you want to be in a happy place?
  Come on in!!!!

 Do you remember weaving on a floor loom for the first time?  (Mary prefers this over the table loom!)


















  Maybe you felt a little insecure when you warped a loom after taking some time off??? 
  (Peggy wanted someone to double check her warp!  I'm sure it's fine, but one of us will check next week.)





  Or, maybe just weaving on your very first warp....what fun!
(Leslie is doing a great job!!!)













  Laura and Elizabeth are working on their first warps, too.








  Not all weaving is on a floor loom.....let's try an Inkle loom!  Connie and Dickie teamed up to cut the threads needed for their Inkle band.    They got it warped before lunch!










   It's too much fun listening to all the conversations going on.....right, Bonnie?  (She's tying her warp onto the back beam!)













  Sometimes the conversations are so interesting that you lose your place sleying the reed....right, Margi???
  Alyce won't let that happen to her.......

  Sometimes you just need to be with the folks that care about you.............
















  It's so nice having folks around that can answer your weaving questions.

  Need to put a loom together???  We have folks that can do that!!!!
















  Need more bands for the keyrings for Convergence? 
(Betsy has been weaving at home!)







  Maybe you'd like to see an old loom weaving a new rug?  Carl would love to tell you about this loom!

















Have you ever had a warp that didn't go quite as planned????  I have assured Pat that the threading error will be in the seam of the cozy!  Problem solved!!!!

  Maybe you'd like some of Sharon's toffee bars? They were really great!!!!
  Come on in! 


Happy Weaving!
LouAnn