Eight Days a Week of Tapestry

Eight days of weaving my 2013 Tapestry Diary!

So far it has been fun weaving my little one inch by two inch rectangles and I have had some time to  weave on some of the other projects.

I have also included a more detailed picture after just one week. I'm slowly transitioning to a more blue violet and adding some grays.

Getting back to work on the Mango Hunters has been wonderful. I was a little concerned about picking up on it again and getting into the swing of it but it has been easier than I thought. There are still many challenges ahead on this piece. I probably wouldn't be doing it otherwise, but it seems easier this time.  Maybe having done some tapestry weaving everyday for the last 6 months has made the difference! 

It was finally time to move the warp around this week. I had been putting it off but everything has its limits and my weaving was getting too close to the shed device so I decided to move the bobbins out of the way and take a picture before the move.

Those little circles are the magnets that I am using to help keep my cartoon in line.  I can print these pictures and them have them near the loom to refer to when I can no longer see the whole design.  I think it is coming along pretty well . I am excited about making some progress this week and I think Henry is happy to finally have a mango for company.

Here is the last picture taken this morning before starting to weave.  I think I will go buy some mangos to have in the studio for inspiration and I can always eat them later.

Before I go back to weaving there is one more thing I want to write about.  The newsletter sign up on the right of the blog is only for announcements of classes or shows I will be doing. It is only sent for that purpose. If you want to follow the blog by email there is another place to sign up a little further down on the right side.  Sorry for any confusion that might have caused.

Weaving the New Year In

Happy New Year!

I am weaving the new year in with lots of plans and projects!

The black-eyed peas are on the stove, to be accompanied by cole slaw and cornbread later. It is a chilly day here in Oklahoma as expected in January and we have actually had some rain! All good omens for the new year. Funny how rain, which was a daily occurance while growing up in southern Florida has become an event.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I want to achieve in the new year and have made some decisions which are of course open to revision but do offer that very important place to start.

My first goal for the new year is to make real progress on the Mango Hunters. I have been working on this tapestry for several years now and it has survived a tremendous number of life changing circumstances. I am usually pretty good at letting go of projects that just don't work, or for one reason or another  aren't valid any more but I have held onto this one for various reasons. It is a design that I put a great deal of thought into. Originally it was to be a painting but just never seemed to work in that form. When I started it as a tapestry I began to see the effect I was after. It is a combination of landscape, still life, fantasy and is a very personal narrative journey.






This piece is on my Mirrix Joni Loom and an easel stand and set up with the Mirrix treadle. One of the challenges of weaving it, is that I am working from side to side in the design. Although this is not uncommon for tapestry weavers I am finding it challenging for this piece and often stop to take photos so that I can look at the weaving from the correct direction.

 My hope is to see this coming to conclusion by the end of the year. Okay, I have put that in writing.  If I have relearned anything from doing the tapestry diary this past year it is that progress is not about spurts of creative energy (although they have their place) but more about steady progress. This could be especially true in the medium of tapestry weaving but whatever you do, getting into the studio and doing it everyday whether you feel like it or not creates momentum and progress. I hope to be sharing more about this project as progress happens.

I have also given thought to my tapestry diary project for the new year.  I started the tapestry diary during a class with Tommye Scanlin at Arrowmont school in Gatlinburg, Tennessee last summer. I didn't really have a plan when I started so I used some sketches that I had done around the grounds at Arrowmont for inspiration. If you would like to know more about Tommye Scanlin and her amazing tapestry work or Arrowmont school there are links to the right on the blog.

Now that I can look at the last six months or so of tapestry diary I can see that I was very interested in making it personal, taking events from my daily life and finding a way to weave them.  This approach needed quite a bit of thought, and sometimes involved making sketches of my ideas before weaving; in short the project has consumed my tapestry time since it started . Everyday does come around every day though and I can remember remarking to a friend that some days were hummingbird days and others were little dot days!  I needed to find a way to continue my daily practice and also put more energy into some other projects so I have come up with a different approach for this year. Fortunately, a daily practice like this is all about having it your way with no rules except your own and even those can be changed as needed.

Since this will be my first opportunity to weave a full year I decided it would be fun to have the diary all in one piece. Above is a picture of my Le Clerc Gobelin tapestry loom with my warp for the new year and a bit of weaving in progress. Using this loom is giving me the opportunity to have the whole year all in one piece and to become more confident with using leashes for tapestry. If you are curious about warping this loom Rebecca Mezoff has a very informative post about it on her blog which is listed on the right of this blog. Second, I thought it would be great to really explore my palette of Ymmyarns and so I am going to concentrate on the wool palette although I may end up using some silk as well.  Third,  I have planned a design based upon a simple repeating motif that will give each day about 1 inch by 2 inch space but should offer plenty of room for variety and last but most important I am thinking of the project this year more in terms of a daily practice than a diary. My plan is not to have much in the way of pictorial content but more work with color transitions and pattern. It remains to be seen how long I can stick to the plan, but I am hoping that this approach will lead to a smooth transition from the daily practice piece to the larger tapestry. I am going to think of these two projects as a team.

Here is the first day of January, 2013.  The base weaving was put in ahead and the little rectangle is the first day. It will take a pass across the width and back to do a week and about two weeks for the entire repeating pattern to surface.

Of course I will still be fitting in some woven jewelry and the Sheep Breed Sampler tapestry will be my only portable tapestry for a while so I will be catching up with that soon.    It is about one half finished and I still need to spin about twelve different breeds for it so there is some spinning in my future as well. I am pretty excited about getting to work for the new year !

Now I am going to concentrate on lining up some classes and shows for the year and more preparation for the Tapestry Study Group that meets for the first time next week. This will be after the regular Tulsa Handweavers Guild meeting and if you would like more information just use the Tulsa Handweavers link to the right.

 I'm wishing y'all steady progress towards your aspirations for the new year!

Weaving the Old Year Out

 It is December 31st and I am weaving the old year out putting some finishing touches on the December tapestry diary. This daily weaving practice has been a fun and challenging project especially during the last couple of months with all the holiday festivities to weave around but it has rewarded me with many gifts for my dedication to it.

The December diary is still on the loom and I should be taking it off over the next few days and doing some finishing. This piece has September through December so it will be exciting to see it off the loom in it's finished form. I will put up some more pictures then.

I have a warp prepared for the 2013 daily tapestry practice and will be sharing about that and my various plans for the next year as I am weaving the New Year in tomorrow.

During the month of December I also worked on a few smaller tapestry and bead jewelry projects.  Here is a new Tapestry bead cuff and a pin that was made on the same warp. The pin is about 1 and 1/2 inch square and a great way to use up a bit of extra warp after a bead cuff project is woven. I am currently working on dates for a Tapestry Bead Cuff class at the Dragonmoon to be announced soon. It will be a two day weekend class allowing time for weaving and finishing of the bracelet. This is a fun Mirrix class that combines fiber and beads with tapestry weaving technique.
If you are interested in the class and have not signed up for the newsletter this would be a good time to do it. Just put your email in the box on the top right of the blog. I send newsletter announcements very infrequently for classes or shows that I am doing.

Here is a bracelet that has been gifted this year. I call it Peacock Garden for the color and the way the Magatama beads make little flower shapes.

Here is a fiber and bead Affinity bracelet made by my friend Lynn Tedder in the October class at the Dragonmoon. I think the finishing is very nice with the bead embellishment in the center.
















Here is a small project that will not make it off the loom for the end of the year but soon I hope. I think it will be another hatband. I like the undulating line in the center so decided to accent it with two silk warps together in the area. It has Tila, Bugle and Seed beads.

Chain Mail Bracelet with Aventurine stones

Over the month of December I learned how to do a little chain mail work and here are a few samples of my experiments. I would like to eventually make some metal embellishments to use with the fiber and beads and have some idea where I would like to get but taking my time getting there.

Chain Mail Earrings

This last example is an ornament that I gifted to a friend. We have exchanged ornaments every year for, well I am not sure how long, but long enough to be a challenge to come up with something different every year.

I wish all of you a happy and productive New Year and will be sharing about some of my projects and plans soon.

November Is A Woven Memory

November is a woven memory and the diary for this month is complete.  I have noticed that my color has become more saturated and intense with each month since September and I am not sure why but it is interesting.  One of the things that make the diaries fun to look back on is the little codes that each one has. Numbers of things for the days or symbols for the daily events, places and people in my life. These things tend to make it fun for me to look back on but others who are not privy to these private milestones seem to like looking at the diaries too. As the end of the year approaches and I am thinking of how I will approach the tapestry diary project for next year all of these things are on my mind.

November Racing By, Tapestry Gifts?

 Ever since we returned from Texas time has been spinning by. I am sure I'm not the only one to notice this.  Work on the tapestry diary has been progressing but I have been keeping it simple and thinking more about color than content these days. Here is a picture from a couple of days ago.

This time of year I start to think about gifts. I probably should have started thinking about them before now but there it is. Thankfully with all the jewelry projects I  have some gifts ready to go.

I have to admit when I think about making some quick but still nice gifts tapestry is not the first thing that comes to mind.  I think I may have found a way though.

Tapestry and bead pins have been on the loom recently. I was thinking of small pieces of tapestry that could be worn on a coat, jacket or scarf to lend a little color to the season and I have been experimenting with it.

Here are some details of the first ones I have done.

These are made similar to the tapestry bead cuff with brass shapes between the tapestry and the ultra suede backing and then stitched with beads around the edges.

If I wasn't so busy otherwise I could really have some fun with this idea.

 Here is a detail of another one...

and the third.  I wove all three on the same warp. They are about 1 1/2 inches by 2 1/4 inches, set at 10 ends per inch.

I have also been spending a little time learning some new to me jewelry techniques.  I have learned about some pearl knotting, wire wrapping and chain making and hope to be adding a few more metal working skills to my bag of tricks.

 My projects so far have been along the lines of learning exercises.

Here is my first pearl knotting adventure with some wire wrapping. I made all of the components from sterling wire, except for the purchased clasp.

I couldn't decide if this looked better on the light background or the dark.

More wire wrapping practice...

and finally some chain making.

I am hoping to be adding some additional metal working skills over the next few months.

Where am I going with this?  Right now I am seeing a loom woven necklace of hand painted silk warp with a section of knotted beads and amethysts and a hand made silver clasp. It is a lovely vision. We will see.

On the tapestry front, plans for the new year are forming. As of now I am envisioning a much simplified tapestry diary which will leave time for some serious progress on the Mango Hunters.

Kid n Ewe and Vikings Too

I recently returned from taking the Fiber Studio on the road to Boerne, Texas for the Kid n Ewe show where I shared a booth with Gwen Witherspoon from Fiber Clouds and WIM ( Weaving at Indian Meridian). Thankfully my friend Lynn Tedder also went along to help out and we had a wonderful time.

Packing for a show like this is an art in itself and finding a spot to put the clothes was pretty difficult. Recently we have installed a roof top carrier which should make it easier next time.

Once we arrived there was the task of setting up in one of three spacious buildings on the Kendall County Fairgrounds.  After some planning we set to the task and a few hours later our booth was coming together.

Beautiful fibers hand dyed by Gwen and woven scarves, tools and luxury fibers from Donna Hilton at WIM.
















I had some of my tapestries on display and my mascot Lizzy hand woven
by Jeannine Glaves was presiding over the booth.

I had a number of bracelets made on my Mirrix Looms as well as a necklace and some pins that were new for this show.










We had a pretty busy first day with setting up and keeping open till 6pm. The next morning we woke to the most beautiful Texas morning.  I took a few minutes to snap some pictures of the Live Oak trees across from our motel.

I loved the negative shapes in this one.

The next morning at the booth we got right to work. Here is Lynn warping her Mirrix 12 inch loom with two tapestry bead cuff projects.

One of my favorite parts of a show like this is demonstrating the tapestry and jewelry I like to do on my Mirrix Looms.  We had lots of interest in the tapestries, Miyuki beads, Ymmyarns and John Moss bobbins.

Another exciting thing about doing shows is the opportunity to meet other vendors. In fact you never know who might come by to see you. I was able to meet an online friend that shares my interest in weaving tapestry diaries. It was so nice to meet you in person Lydia!






Toward the end of the show I also met a group of women from Viking Invasion. They are a group of re-enactors led by the Texas Elag who share an interest in bringing Viking era history to life. They bought several Ymmyarns for the scenes they are reproducing from the Bayeux Tapestry which depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England.


They shared some pictures of the project with me. These are not tapestry but cloths embroidered on linen with colored woolen yarns.













Here they are in period costume demonstrating the project.
















Here is a close up of the stitching.

Here are some of the finished panels. They were such a fun, and interesting group. I really enjoyed meeting the "Viking Girls"!

Right next door to our booth was the Buffalo Gold booth and they had all kinds of products made with Buffalo fiber. I was particularly interested in the hats and since we were in Texas after all I decided to splurge on a felted buffalo cowboy hat.

Even before I returned home I started thinking about the beaded hat band I could make on my Mirrix loom and here it is.















I thought it turned out pretty well and now I also have a buffalo fedora that needs a hatband.

Back in Oklahoma but still feeling pretty comfy in my cowboy hat.

October Tapestry Diary, 2012

 The October portion of this years tapestry diary is complete!  It has been a very full month and I was happy to finish on time.  When I returned from Colorado I felt that I needed to weave Pikes Peak and so I got a little behind on my days and had to catch up towards the end but I am so glad to have a woven reminder of my trip. We actually drove to the summit on the 15th and so when I returned home I wove that scene before I continued with the diary. There is a detail below.

Also this month I taught a fiber /bead bracelet class and on the 27th went to a Halloween Tea at the Dragonmoon Tea House . Two friends and I dressed as witches so I decided to weave a witches hat for that event.

Here is the detail of Pikes Peak and a great reminder of the trip.
Lately when I weave my landscapes I have been thinking about how directional lines in a drawing help so much to define and invigorate areas of the landscape and so I have been experimenting with this approach in my weaving as well.





Finally I am putting another photo of the sampler from the workshop I took with Kathe Todd Hooker hosted by the Pikes Peak Weavers Guild in Colorado Springs. I have to admit that I was thinking of my diary as I was weaving the sampler and it felt like my diary away from home at the time.

My plan for November has yet to evolve but if I just keep weaving I am sure I will go somewhere with it.