Two Thirds of the Year in Tapestry!

Two thirds of the year in Tapestry! With the end of August the end of the second diary panel is finished. September through December will be together in the the third and final panel for the year.  Then the excitement of making decisions for 2014 will begin... Does weaving a tapestry diary make the year go faster? Does life seem richer when you reach for moments to capture in this way? These are some of the things on my mind as I consider the year so far.

We have had a fairly unusual August, cooler temps and more rain than usual and Green Country is much greener than usual. I am not complaining!

I am pretty happy with my little three day landscape interpretation of a retreat in the lovely countryside of Wellston, Oklahoma and some of the other scenes and memories in August.

Moving on to September









The building for the Fiber Studio arrives on Thursday! We have been busy getting ready to place it in its new home.

Here, my husband Mack and youngest son Josh are moving the boat to get access for the new building.

Tree trimming in progress.

The next door neighbor got involved pruning some dead wood off the Black Walnut on his side of the fence.

Cutting up all the branches to haul away took a day or so.

This is becoming a real family affair, isn't it funny how one improvement project leads to another. I decided to paint the outdoor furniture.

I not only ended up with a green thumb but feet and fingers to match. We are ready for that building and then the next set of improvements.
















Amid all these outdoor jobs I managed to slip away to Wellston for a three day retreat with friends. My main job for the weekend was to catch up on the Sheep Breed Tapestry Sampler project. I know I haven't written about it for a while but work is being carried on behind the scenes and at every show we do I take it along to work on. Progress was at an impasse due to the lack of new hand spun breeds to include but over the weekend I managed to spin yarn for the next four breeds; Cormo, Falkland, Black Norweigian and Manx Laughton. On our trip to WIM, weaving supply and Alpaca farm I also managed to add a few more breed samples to spin. I will be catching up with this thread soon.



I am never sure who is more curious when greeting the Alpaca's.



The retreat was a great way to refresh a playful creative spirit. I made a little basket for my favorite pin cushion due to the tender attention of my basket weaving friend/ teacher
Karin.

Thanks to my friend Donna I played with a Zoom loom for the first time. I decided to take the two squares that I wove with leftover hand spun breed samples and make a little bag. Then I collected little bits of things from everyone present, threads, needles, yarn and fibers and gave her a face. I guess the square on the back could be her salt and pepper hair.

When I returned home I gave her a salmon colored sateen lining and a cheek crystal and dubbed her the Lady Wellston Bag!

Nice effect the way the lacy quality of the face square allows the salmon color lining to show through a bit.

I decided to needle felt her curls and hair bow  after taking this photo to make them more secure.

I also became a little curious about Kumihimo over the weekend and even though my first experimental braid was not amazing,  after adding a little leather and a nice button a new bracelet was born. It makes me smile because the braid looks like a branch that the bird has just landed on.

I also spent a little time perusing my old sketchbooks looking for ideas for the next tapestry projects. I have some ideas percolating as I near the finish line on the Mango Hunters.

Soon it was back at home and back to my looms.

Look what was waiting when I returned. Elona, our gracious hostess for the class I did recently in Texas, had a pretty nasty accident. This is a tough way to get a little "me time" with her new Mirrix loom but she is having a great time with her weaving anyway.

When I return I want to share how I work with the neck awl that John Moss makes in my tapestry weaving.