The Very Last Words

DEDICATION//CURIOSITY
It was very exciting using words I normally wouldn't have chosen OR colors I wouldn't have chosen.
But I just love it.
The most exciting moment---yet again.

So as Gary's last warp slowly sinks in the West, we begin our farewell to the little house.

Gary's Last Words

As my moving date looms large (pun intended), it seems that in order for me to move into the apartment of my dreams---Gary will not be able to make the move with me. As I wove the words ADVENTURE/LOVE/LAUGH/CLARITY, it became clear to me that Gary was ready to have an adventure on his own. He hasn't yet figured out what he is going to do, but we have had a lovely weave together.

I've had a couple of people offer to house Gary, and I would be able to come and weave whenever I wanted.

There have been a couple of times that I tried to sell Gary, but I had no takers. Ideally, someone close by would either be interested in buying or renting, and I would have visitation rights (be able to weave 2 pieces a year on him). I can weave most everything I need to weave on Grace.
(with a few exceptions) As I get older, I find it easier to weave on a smaller loom.


I will keep you posted. If you have been hankering for a fabulous Fireside Loom, this might be the time. (And summer is a great time to come to Montana)

Making Lemonade and Paying it Forward and Loose Ends

Several months ago, there appeared on Facebook the opportunity to Pay It Forward. If you were among the first 5 people to respond, the person who posted would send you a gift of something they had made (within the upcoming year). In turn, you had to post on your page and then make a gift for the first 5 people who responded. I don't think it has been 6 months, but I have just completed my gifts. I have the list of 5 and will contact them.

The lemonade part of the post is that this warp was originally going to be towels for the towel exchange, and I made the warp too narrow. Instead of fixing it, I just decided to weave it off as is. So I experimented instead. The pinkish piece off to the left is woven with cashmere. The bluey one in the middle is rayon chenille, and the white is a thick cotton chenille. I was quite pleased with how each of them came out of the dryer. And I look forward to sending out my Pay It Forward gifts.

Back to the warp at hand. Here is a little scarf I pulled off Grace (posing on my newly warped loom)
Woven Words and Almost Ikat warp all ready to go....


Sometimes it is hard to begin.....

But Not Too Busy to Weave

There are a few weavings to do before I pack up the studio, and this is a Woven Words Blessing Shawl.


I have to say this is one of my favorite couple of steps. This is when I get to see what the weaving is actually going to look like.


Up until this moment, the cloth is a bunch of notes on paper and some color wrappings. And then...the shawl reveals itself.


CLARITY/LAUGH/LOVE/ADVENTURE/LOVE/LAUGH/CLARITY

Too Busy to Blog

I love the blogging community! My 4 years of blogging has brought me more pleasure and friends than I could ever imagine. I have been struggling to keep up in the midst of so much change in my life. I can hardly believe that I will be moving again within a month! Please continue to check in on me, and I will post whenever I can.


Here is a quick recap of April.

Wrapping Words for a Blessing Shawl.
Winding Almost Ikat stripes to go between the words for the Blessing Shawl


Finally finishing off the towel warp (or better, the warp that would be towels, but will be table mats instead). For those of you who are patiently awaiting your towel (3 of you!), my goal is to weave some towels before I dismantle the studio.


Teaching a Woven Collage workshop


Creating a Virtual Quilt from each students woven collage.


Anything else will just sound like whining and complaining (grin)

Dances With Cloth

When I first began experimenting with translating horoscopes into bands of color (1979), I used a different color palette and worsted wool. My mother was the recipient of my first efforts, and like a dutiful mother, she packed this shawl away for me to re-discover 32 years later.


I couldn't resist bringing in back to Montana with me and then taking it to my NIA class. My friends Karrie (above) and Pola (below) couldn't resist "playing" with it.


Nobody can believe the weaving is so old! It looks and feels like new. This may well rekindle my love of wool. Of course living in Montana will really help.


What can I say---I love to play!

The Queen of Color Gamps

For those of you who have dabbled in Color Horoscope Weaving, take a look at this! Coby Johnson, the current president of the Missoula Weavers Guild, is truly the Queen of Gamps

I usually post other people's work in Inspired by Bonnie, but this was just too good.


Here is what Coby had to say about her weaving:

When Bonnie offered a second horoscope shawl workshop to the Missoula Weavers Guild, my first grandchild, Graham Arthur Johnson, had just been born. I asked Bonnie to create his horoscope instead of my own. I have a lovely horoscope shawl of my own done in cottons about 7-8 years ago and really thought it would be fun to create one for Graham in the beautiful colors of Bambu 7. Since I'm basically a structure weaver who likes to play with color, I threaded my 12 shaft Woolhouse loom to an 8 shaft twill repeat that could be used for a variety of structures. After first trying a straight twill block mixed with a basket weave block -- which didn't work at all -- I wove a block twill with a 3-1 twill block alternating with a 1-3 twill block. (See draft).

While working on this at home I got so excited with my early results, I had trouble keeping my seat. I kept repeating, "Gotta show this to Bonnie." When the guild study group arrived at my house for a session, I even unwound the finished section of cloth to show them. And did the same the next night when my knitting group arrived. I used the same 12 colors of Bambu in approximately 3 inch stripes in the weft beginning with red and continuing around the color wheel. I managed 2 1/2 times around the wheel. I intentionally changed colors within a block repeat so the adjacent colors blended more. The finished results may well be my favorite piece in 30+ years of weaving.

Thank you, Bonnie, for providing the inspiration for a fabulous piece of weaving that I will be examining for years as inspiration for other projects. It is the greatest of color gamps and still a beautiful shawl, which will make me think of my handsome little man every time I look at it. I plan to redo it in cotton at twice the width with the horoscope mirrored as a baby towel for Graham.

Coby Johnson

As soon as I can figure out how to copy the draft, it will be available on the Inspired by Bonnie blog.