SALT LAKE SPLENDOR

 WHAT AN AMAZING WORKSHOP! 

I think it was my very best!



                                        
 Everyone arrived with their horoscope warps on the loom and ready to go.
There were 15 students (my maximum), and what a great group of ladies!
Sadly I didn't get good images of everyone at the loom ("good" is the operative word here)




Usually one student completes their weaving, but 4 weavers completed their pieces during the workshop. The reason why everyone does not finish in the 3 days is because we are learning about Almost Ikat, Turned Weft Ikat, and Woven Words (3 workshops all at once). I will make another blog post featuring these aspects of the workshop, but my experience has been problematic when I try and download too many images. Yes, I know it is supposed to work, but all too often everything gets erased and I have to begin again.

So I am smiling just looking at the Mary Meigs Atwater Weavers.

And, of course, the class is not complete for me until I make a VIRTUAL QUILT from a series of "warpies" (kind of like selfies)--- I am so grateful for opportunity to present this workshop.


                                              

AH, THE PALETTE IS CLEARED

 I have to say that after all these years, these moments remain some of my favorite.

 

 In case you haven't been following, this is my own horoscope woven in 8/2 Tencel. I love to experiment with weft colors and ended up using a variegated Tencel that gives and added dimension. I am wearing it as I write. I am loving that Tencel!

And Weaving

 Sometimes I believe the warps are better before they are woven, but not in this case. This particular horoscope weaving incites my "aura envy" (grin). Webs Yarn makes several variegated tencel colorways. My client selected

This particular colorway is called Mountain Stream. 

Always my favorite moment---cutting off the loom.

This is as far as it goes today, But I will be sorry to send this one off into the world.

Yes, I am Still Alive

 After a rather long break, here is weaving going on the loom! And now I begin the season of  Tencel, hopefully a fiber for all seasons. I'll have to weave at least a dozen pieces before I know enough about Tencel. I remember that I turned my nose up when I first heard about this yarn many years ago, and I said "I would never use Tencel". I should know by now that when I never...... I also wrote in my college weaving journal "I HATE STRIPES"

This particular tencel comes from WEBS. Hopefully I will be able to talk Cotton Clouds (who also carries this yarn) to make up Color Horoscope Weaving Kits, like they offer in Bambu 7 & 12).

The way that bamboo yarn seems to be a bit "wooley", tencel is much more "silky". I had problems with tension on the first and second piece I did, but I take my time and think good thoughts. Now #4 and #5 (in picture) have been much better.   

I really like the colors in this horoscope. It makes me curious to see what my horoscope would look like in 8/2 tencel.

TENCELICIOUS

 I had such a good time with the last Tencel horoscope weaving that I posted it on FB and got a request for another. For some reason, the image of the weaving in process did not upload, so you will just see---coming down the home stretch (above) and my favorite part of the process (below). It really is a good thing that I cut with my left hand, so I can take a picture with my right.

 And of course, my favorite pictures -- weaving details!

The is before laundering---measurements--17 1/2" wide x 113" long. I will post the after dimensions.
Now I am jazzed to weave my own horoscope in Tencel. I decided to make the planets as stripes instead of ridges because of the tension problems I had with the last piece. I am happy to report than I had no tension problems with this piece.

TA DA!

The weather has greatly improved, and TA DA, the tencel/cashmere shawl is completed and delivered.

And I already got a jump on the next Color Horoscope Weaving.

 Once again I am using tencel. I had some tension problems on the last piece, so we'll see if I managed to iron out that little kink on this warp.

AS THE BLIZZARD, SO THE SHUTTLE

 Amazing weather out there, so what's a gal to do? Weave, of course!

This is my first Color Horoscope Weaving with Tencel warp (and recycled cashmere weft). I have done a few sample pieces wanting to see if I am able to launder in the washing machine and dry in the dryer. The samples were most promising.

 The one thing I noticed is that the tencel is slipperier than the bamboo, cotton, or wool. It behaves much more like silk than the bamboo yarns I had been using. I had several loose threads. Next time, I will pay more careful attention to my tension while dressing the loom.

 Image below I wove a sample with variegated tencel at the end  just to see what it would look like. I really love the look!

 And yes, one of my most favorite moments in weaving! Now let the finishing begin (grin)

New Camera, New House, New Class, New Show

But not necessarily in that order!


First let me mention my upcoming class at John C Campbell Folk School. The class runs from Sunday September 16th- Saturday September 22nd and is called Color Horoscope Weaving---the Ultimate Color Experience. (INTERESTINGLY AS I AM WRITING THIS, I SEE A DOUBLE RAINBOW OUT THE WINDOW!) This will surely not be the last time I mention the class, however. I have been trying to figure out a way to put the class in my sidebar, but I memory of how to do that escapes me today. I will have a run at it tomorrow.

Unfortunately my new camera arrived AFTER I went up to see how the Poetry Wall was settling in. My friend Marti took a wonderful picture of the piece, but I haven't been able to capture the image. Our computers are not speaking to one another. But I did want to show you the reason I decided to get a new camera. Notice the attractive green line on the left side of the image below. I was able to crop it out in the image above.


When I get a great image, I will include the statement that accompanies the piece.

Below are TALKING THREADS ---more on that later as well.


Now to a view of my new place. I am still surrounded by boxes yet to be unpacked, but the good and bad news is there is lots of room.

So not only do I have a green line, but the whole lighting thing was off. The new camera, a Nikon Coolpix 7100, has many more bells and whistles (and an on-line manual which I have yet to begin to study), but I charged up the battery, popped in my old memory card and snapped the pic below. The purple blanket under Gary is just so I can slide him around easily until I settle on the perfect placement. Gary and Grace are now very close although you will notice each has a separate room (grin)... Also the good and bad news is there is plenty of room for more looms

A Great Conference

I just returned from a fabulous week at the Hand Weavers Spinners and Dyers of Alberta Conference. The truth of their vision statement was demonstrated in every way.

"A community that supports, promotes, educates and inspires Fibre Arts."



We started off the week with a 3-day Color Horoscope Weaving Workshop. This workshop just keeps getting better.


I have to remember to take group shots--next time.

The Intentional Design Class ---image below should be vertical, so turn your head to the side.

This is close to a group shot---the many shades of peace.

And below is the Woven Paper Collage class. I hope to have some virtual quilts as soon as I receive scans of all the woven collages.


Now pretend you are seeing a short film of everybody at the Conference waving to you.....

DANCES WITH CLOTH

---BONNIE TARSES—

DANCES WITH CLOTH

Weaving Magic into a Living Rainbow of Color

First Friday Gallery Night—June 1, 2012, 5:00 to 8:00 PM (and running through June)

Prudential Montana Real Estate

Downtown Missoula

314 No. Higgins

Problem Solved

The secret to posting with images is to use Explorer rather than FireFox.

I am trying out various colors and formats to see what I like. I am running into a problem I will soon figure out is how to move the images around. The usual cut and paste doesn't seem to work.

I don't know if anyone recalls that I was working on the chenille Color Horoscope Weaving. Well, I cut it off the loom and draped it around myself (as I love to do)

This looks so different from my own horoscope weaving! I love it.

One of the things I do differently than most people working with chenille is that I braid my fringe. I figure this step takes me close to 16 hours, but I generally put on a good trashy audio book and braid away.

Here is the happy recipient who made me promise to cut her head out of the picture.
I know you can see the difference in the luster and drape of the chenille after laundering.

How I launder: I toss into a cold water wash, let the machine agitate 5 times, turn off and let sit for a half hour. Drain out the wash water, fill with rinse (add softener if desired), let agitate 5 times, turn off and let sit for another half hour, drain, and spin. Remove from the washer and toss in the dryer with 3 tennis balls. Dry on gentle, checking from time to time between biting finger nails. The chenille looks really bad when it comes out of the wash, but something magical happens in the dryer.

Meanwhile Back in the Studio

Yes, it's true! I still weave!


I can hardly believe this is the first piece I have woven this year. I had forgotten what it was like to weave chenille--the perfect blend of heaven and hell.



When I mentioned to a weaving friend that I was weaving chenille, she said "Oh, don't the threads break a lot." I replied, "Not that I recall". and then 2 threads broke instantly. If anyone comments they want to see how I fixed it, I will show you. Otherwise, take my word that I found a elegant method for fixing the threads, but continue to keep my fingers crossed that I will complete the weaving with no additional breaks.

Intentional Design Workshop with Central Coast Weavers

Finally, some words and images to go along with the wonderful memories of my California sojourn to San Luis Obispo and Atascadero (where the workshop was held). I apologize for the lack of images, but I got so involved I forgot to take out my camera to show the outside of the wonderful straw bale barn, home to what looks like a working loom museum. What a fabulous resource and a great place to weave!


Each student arrived at the workshop with their loom warped with their Color Horoscope Weaving all ready to weave.

I am always amazed at the variety and inventiveness displayed by weavers. Don't you just want to try out one of those balls as a loom bench?

More to follow in upcoming post

Chenille, My Old Friend

Here I am having taught 2 workshop already this year, about to teach one this weekend (all 3 local), and preparing to head down to San Luis Obispo to teach a new (in name and focus) workshop called INTENTIONAL DESIGN. I will talk more about this in another post, but one of the things I like to do before a workshop is to wind a warp and set up my loom while I focus on the upcoming workshop.

There are 18 students in SLO winding warps and setting up their looms as I write. They will arrive at the workshop ready to weave.



I thought the least I could do was to share their experience.


In the spirit of "multitasking, I decided to get started on a commission---a Color Horoscope Weaving in Rayon Chenille. For some reason, I started wearing my own Chenille Horoscope Weaving around town. I wove this piece about 15 years ago. It is sooo 20th century (grin). But to my amazement, folks in Missoula are crazy for chenille.


Another surprising fact about chenille is that my 15 year old shawl (which I have treated rather badly to see how it would hold up) looks brand new! In fact, I have it draped over my shoulders as I write.


Because of the thickness of the chenille, I have to wind the warp in 4 sections (pictured above). So to Patty (whose shawl this will become) and the Weavers Guild of San Luis Obispo (who are winding and threading), I dedicate my latest weaving efforts.