Back to Work

Kate (and my husband's hairy legs!)

Whew! Can't believe its been 4 months since I posted but those months have been productive.  We've been busy with the newest family member, Kate, a now 6 month old Miniature Australian Shepherd. What a lovely little girl!  Her full name is Daisy Hill's Kathryn's Joyous Heart and she lives up to her name each and every day.  She truly is a joy and has added a lot of life to our house.

However, a new puppy requires an enormous time commitment so I've barely made it into the studio.  But I do have a list of new projects to create and a few older projects to complete so I'm looking forward to getting back to work.  Stay tuned....

on the loom....

Last week I loaded up the loom with 12+ yards of black wool/silk.  After tying it on and beginning to work I realized that the 3/1 twill pattern I had designed wasn't working.  So I ask myself; do I stop or let it go and just keep weaving? My brain said to just move along....no one will notice.  My heart said, "Fix it or it will drive you crazy and you are already dealing with elevated blood pressure".

So, I listened to my heart, cut off the stuff I didn't like (telling myself that I can save those ok pieces for another project...a small bag maybe?), retied the warp to the front beam, and off I went........only to discover another problem! Argh!

Since I was about 30" into a scarf, I thought it best to continue.  Not a big problem, just a quirking thing like I like working with the wool/silk at 24 epi and I had it set to 20 because I forgot to change the reed. Oh well...it happens.

But I didn't panic...I didn't even get upset.  Instead, I pulled Carol Strickler's A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns off the shelf and started searching.  I fooled around with some twill drafts using Fiberworks and found my answer!

I settled on a draft by Judith Rygiel, p.56 #231, a block of plain weave and a block of 2/2 twill. Perfect!  I did fool around a bit with the treadling and from there my imagination went wild - but that's a future entry.

Today I am a happy weaver.  Struggling through this subjective problem was a good lesson for me.  I had to stretch and find something new, something that pleased me.  If I'm happy with the results, someone else just might will be as well.

Feeling Good

Got a big job to do? Feeling overwhelmed? Instead of getting all crazy and tense, sit down, break down the job into small steps into a logical order, work through the list one step at a time. Makes sense...sounds easy...then why don't I do this? LOL!

But the overwhelming is always manageable when broken down into easy steps. There is nothing better than that sigh of relief when the work is done. And so last week's projects are completed and now I can move on to the new project on the loom and plan for an upcoming show in June.

But what to do? Ah...another challenge.

Currently on the loom: a cotton and wool doubleweave scarf, the second in a series. (The first is now hanging at the Philadelphia Guild of Handweaver's annual exhibit entitled "Celebration of Fibers" March 12-21, closing from 1-3 on Sun 3/21. Come for the party!)

2 Openings this week

Feeling overwhelmed and having no sense of schedule I am now pressed to get pieces together for two shows opening this week.

The Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers
Celebration of Fibers

Dates: March 13 - 20, 2010
Hours: 11am - 4pm

Opening Reception: March 12 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Closing Reception: March 21 from 1pm - 3pm'

I wove a cotton and wool double weave scarf that, once it was washed and the wool did its thing (shrink or felt), now resembles an olympic skiing event, hence the title "Moguls" I love this process. Its so much fun to watch something woven completely flat come out bumpy after finishing (washing in the machine, drying in the dryer, if necessary).

The second opening is a wonderful new gallery and education center in Reading PA called Somethings Looming.  http://www.somethingslooming.com/ They officially open their doors for Open House on Sat Mar 13th 11-7 and Sunday Mar 14th 11 - 4. Opening reception is on Sunday March 14th from 4 to 6pm. I will be visiting on Wed and will blog more about it after the visit.

But the biggest accomplishment of the week:  An Artist Statement.  Yeah, I've written quite a few in the past but never had one that I really liked.  So having to create one for the above shows has been a good exercise and the push I needed to get my thoughts on paper.  I believe also, that by knowing I needed a statement it made me ask myself why I do what I do.  

And after all, its very difficult to get anything accomplished without focus.

Folk Art Quilts

Just before the holidays I thought it would be a good idea to make 2 quilts for my upstairs hallway.  This small space was previously devoid of decoration.  Then  I found this cute snowman to hang on the hall closet doorknob and the space needed more.  So, out came a wreath that hadn't been used in a few years, and while the wreath and doorknob thingy looked cute, it clashed with the garden pic on the wall and a set of 3 handmade tiles, also with a garden theme.  I thought I could wrap christmas wrapping paper or cloth around....then it hit me....make wall quilts.  I thought ... whip up those babies in time for the 25th.  What was I thinking!
 
It took a few days of playing around with ideas but I finally settled on pine trees as my subject. And I'm glad I did.  Trees, especially the Christmas type, have a special meaning in our family.  Our sons are both Eagle Scouts.  The one and only fundraiser for the troop they belonged to (I should say 'we' belonged to as we were all involved!) was to sell Christmas trees.  They've been doing it for over 50 yrs from a location not far from their meeting place.  Being a small troop, my husband and sons would brave the December weather on evenings or weekends to sell trees.  This fundraiser provided enough money to support summer camp and other camp experiences, jamborees, etc.  The secondary benefit was that we all learned how to tell a blue spruce from a Frazier fur or a white pine. It also filled our noses with the delightful smell of pine that is so synonymous with Christmas that we are all forever connected with trees. Just the scent of a pine scented burning candle takes me right back to cold rainy nights, or a bit of snow, and my guys coming home to hot chocolate and  memories of my boys in their early-mid teens.

So, 6 weeks after the original thought, the quilts are finished.  Pics to follow...as soon as I can teach myself how to post photos on a blog!

Here we go again....

Well, so much for keeping up with this idea of blogging! Having a new computer and constant internet connection may help. Our old computer died at 9pm on New Year's eve....the new computer was in place less than 24 hrs. later. Are we hooked? Yes!

I spent a good bit of time in the studio this fall weaving and making paper pins for fall shows. I was suppose to do one and ended up with 4 and had a few sales between shows. It was a good season and enough activity to keep me happy and inspired to do more.

This year's resolution: Spend more time in the studio! No matter what might interrupt me! And get pics posted on the blog. Folks keep asking to see my work and in the past I've been reluctant to show it...kind of shy, I guess. But how can one be an artist and stay shy? It just can't be.

So, I'm going to put myself out there. I will keep track of what's going on in my studio by posting on this blog.

Will it last? Time will tell!