Weaverly

The Birth of a Notion, and Other New Beginnings

The Birth of a Notion was the title of a seminar/panel discussion conducted by the late weaver and writer Margaret Windeknecht at a Complex Weavers seminar. I believe it was the year the seminars were conducted in the Chicago area, which would have been 1988. Unfortunately my notes from this seminar lack the date, so if any of you CW-ers can pinpoint the date more accurately, please chime in.

Margaret presented the panel with a set of design problems or challenges, and during the seminar the solutions were discussed. The panel consisted of Rose Rubin, Tommye Scanlin, Alice Schlein, and Kathryn Wertenberger.

One of Margaret's most interesting challenges to the panel was this newspaper photo:

 

I chose to interpret this photo as a double weave on 16 shafts. I was further inspired by Eve Broughton's article, Double Weave in Four Colors, in the Complex Weavers' Newlsetter, Issue #23, page 3 (If anyone has contact information for Eve, please let me know). 

Here's the profile draw down of my interpretation, titled Overlapping Rectangles, scanned from my seminar notes (click on any of these to enlarge).

 

Detailed tie-up information:

 

And finally, a scan of the woven fabric sample, front and back:

 

It was a wonderful seminar, and I'm grateful to Margaret for setting me off in directions I've traveled happily since then.

In other news, just as I was writing this blog, the landscaping crew arrived! The rainy weather of the past few weeks has delayed the start of their work, but it is now beginning in earnest. 

 

 

Coptic Bookbinding Class

It's amazing how much you can learn in a day and a half, if you put your mind to it (and have a good teacher). Here are some photos of Annie Fain Liden in her Coptic bookbinding class at the John C. Campbell Folk School this past weekend. Coptic bookbinding is a sewn binding; books are assembled without glue in the spines.

Here Annie Fain is pointing out the fine points of a tight stitching.

A journal is being rebound.

She makes it look easy. Assistant (and Annie Fain's sister) Emolyn looks on.

Threading curved needles with waxed linen cord.

Boards for covers are cut to size.

Measuring to assure that both covers are the same size.

Here one of the students is pasting decorative paper onto her cover.

The class is hard at work folding and sewing. Note the high intensity level!

Pay attention to the corners!

Annie Fain talking about her own books.

…and more of her books…

Sometimes you've just got to take a break. Here we are in the J.C. Campbell vegetable garden.

A rousing half hour of music in Keith House is a great way to start the day. Annie Fain and her mother, Martha Owen, are on banjo, and her father, David Liden, is on guitar. 

This class was extraordinary. We completed all this work in a day and a half, and most of us had never made books before. 

My three books are on the left. I am so proud!

Click on any of the above images to enlarge.

Brasstown

I've been spending the weekend at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, learning the rudiments of Coptic bookbinding from the amazing Annie Fain Liden. I'll be posting pictures of the workshop in the days to come, but for now let me just show you this hint of fall found on the J.C. Campbell campus.

Introducing New Jacquard Class

On August 10-13, 2009, I'll be teaching an introductory class in jacquard weaving at my studio. Welcome reception Sunday evening, August 9. I'm calling this class "Pixelmania" to emphasize the connection to the techniques in our book, The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop®. Pixelmania will be limited to four students. 

I've been thinking about this class for a long time, and am now ready to launch. Students will bring their own laptops with Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) installed. We'll spend the first day or two on the basics, such as becoming familiar with layers, pattern presets, color indexing, etc., and we'll build our own personal libraries of weave structures. From there we'll move on to interpreting our imagery in weavable form, and then the actual weaving. Every student will have the opportunity to weave at least one file on my TC-1 (jacquard) loom, which is prewarped and waiting!

Some of the structures we'll be exploring are samitum:

…and weft-backed satin:

 

…and shaded weaves:

Would you like to dip your feet into the exciting world of jacquard?

Then join us in Greenville, South Carolina for four days of intense study and weaving. 

For more information about Pixelmania and an application form, click here.