Weaverly

Botanical Book Cut Off

On Wednesday morning I cut the cloth from the loom and spread it out on the studio floor (I blurred the floor a little in this photo to hide the dust bunnies!). 

Starting from the lower right corner you can see the six folios, with right and wrong side pages, and finally the longish strip which will be the wraparound cover. As I measure the pages, I find a lot of variation in sizes, but I kept the images toward the centers so that if trimming is necessary on any given page, nothing important will be sacrificed. Sort of like the bleed margins when laying out pages for printing. 

For the next few work sessions I'll be trimming, stitching, and otherwise securing the edges. After that comes the assembly of the cover sandwich and the actual binding. But that's for another day.

Hey there, weavers with Macs - have you tried the new demo version of Fiberworks PCW? Wow! I'll have to have just a little more patience, as the cut and paste from Photoshop to the sketchpad is not yet implemented. But apparently it will be here soon. Practice steady breathing.

New Loom, New Blog

I've just heard from Vibeke Vestby of Digital Weaving Norway that she is starting a new blog to share news of the TC-2. This second generation Thread Controller (jacquard-type loom) has some pretty exciting features. Read all about the loom and its development here.

With the arrival of my brown yarn, I was able to weave a small sample blanket before I reached the almost-end of the warp (I had to leave enough to insert lease sticks for tying on a new warp). It's a really warm palette.

I chose eight of the 84 colors in my double twill set. The warp is black and beige, and the four wefts are red, gray, brown, and yellow.

What Can Brown Do For You?

For the past two days I've been waiting for the brown yarn, pacing the floor in impatience, wanting to get on with the new sample blanket. The UPS driver usually leaves packages at the front door; but there's a new guy, and the package was sitting at the back door all day! Gr-r-r. But at least it's now here, and tomorrow I can weave. The warp will soon be finished and cut-off-able, and I can proceed with the finishing work on the Atlanta Botanical Gardens book.

In other news, some of my work is off to exhibitions. I've been invited to show a piece in  A Celebration of the Book at the McMaster Gallery in Columbia, SC. The exhibition’s tentative show dates are May 27- July 31, 2011. I'm really stoked about this, as I'm new in the book arena. The book I'm sending is "Good Day to You My Friend." You've seen it in progress.

One of my submissions to the Chattahoochee Biennial of Textiles was accepted. The show opens April 15, and runs through June 2. Juror Charlotte Wainright chose 21 works of the 70 entered.

 

Tree

What makes a tree a tree? This is what I think about as I prepare dinner.

(Second image by Ian Britton at FreeFoto.com)

In a little over a week I'll be heading over the mountain to Southeast Fiber Forum. Samples are packed, handouts printed, CD's burned. 

A Visit to the Stables

We went to watch a riding lesson at the stables. Although it looked like a green rural oasis, we could still hear the engines' roar from the Greenville-Pickens Speedway nearby. First to greet us was this energetic watchdog:

Catalina gave Beau a good brushing.

Then around the track for an hour or so.

There are Catalina & Beau on the very left, with Natalya walking ahead. The stables are so beautiful at sunset.

Here's today's fiber content.

This guy was extremely curious as I walked through the barn with my camera.

Goodbye until next time.

A Very Large Pillow

Here it is, a very large pillow, 15" x 36".

It is hard to photograph. I imagine photographing a whale or an elephant would pose the same challenges. You can only see a small part at a time.

And from blogger N. Miami a new gadget so amazing, I've got to have one. Right now.

And also from N. Miami, an animation for anyone who's every taught (or tempted to raise) a teenager (hint - best to watch it all the way through):

And this just in - a link from Tommye Scanlin to her talk at the Textile Society of America last year. The title is All Techniques Considered as Eight Fiber Artists Share Their Toughts. The eight artists discussed are Susan Iverson, Bethanne Knudson, Sigrid Piroch, Kaija Rautiainen, Jennifer Sargent, Alice Schlein, Christine Spangler, and Bhakti Ziek. Pictures included!

Waiting for Brown

Weaving has come to a halt while I wait for the new brown cotton. This is one of the downsides of not dyeing my own. Years ago I made the conscious decision to eliminate dyeing from my studio. There's just no space for a dye setup and I don't like dyeing in the kitchen. So I will wait for the yarn.

But meanwhile, there are other projects in the works. I've been wanting to attack my stash of handwoven dobby & jacquard samples and make patchwork pillows from them. Here's one in progress.

I saw some pillows I liked in a Pottery Barn catalog; they were 14 x 36, an unusual size but very attractive. So that's the size I'm aiming for. There's a Certain Person living in a new apartment without any furniture. He might enjoy a big pillow.

The End is Near

Very close to the end of the warp, but there is still enough for a small sample blanket and a few inches to tie the new warp onto. 

Now I think I will stay with the double twill, but I'd like to vary the weft colors, which means another sample blanket. Instead of the red, blue, green, gray rotation I've been using, I'd like to explore a closer set of colors. This will be mostly warm-toned, and I'll use red, gray, brown, and yellow. If I looked at all 84 weaves in simulation, it would be something like this (the blurring is intentional, to even out the colors):

But that's way too many colors, so I've whittled the palette down to 8, like this:

…and a design file might look like this:

That's for next week, as I've had to replenish my supply of brown yarn.

Meanwhile, Wednesday was a day of celebration. Here are some pictures from a new restaurant specializing in homemade pasta:

Our pasta all got eaten before I had a chance to photograph it. Very tasty.

And On and On It Goes…

Seemingly endless. But it is self-limiting, as I'm almost at the end of this warp.

One more day to go. Or two at the most.

Decision time. Should I stay with the double twill setup, or try another structure? I've been working with double twill for over a year. Maybe I should just take a break from weaving and make books for a while, until the muse strikes again. Or leave my burrow completely and just roam among the new green leaves and rushing rivulets. Now there's a thought.

Another Day on the Cover

Perhaps one third finished.