PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY

Several years ago I created 90 lavender pillows for the Seattle Weavers Guild Sale. It was so much fun that I decided to do it again! Plus, I now had lavender from The Garden of One Thousand Buddhas. Plus, there is a Peace Festival coming up, and I am bringing my Saori loom to have Peace Weaving happening during the Festival. I haven't been able to find a link to the current poster, but here is a link to former festivals.

If you happen to be around Western Montana on September 7th, be sure to attend this event which promises to be the biggest and best festival in the 9 years it has been presented. 

 Here is the first batch (25) all stuffed and ready to hand stitch closed. This first batch uses the cloth woven in 2010 by Sharmila in India (of the Dalai Lama's horoscope weaving). The next batch will use Peace Weaving cloth.

And here are the pillows posing in my home with Gary in the background.

More to follow!

I HAVEN'T BEEN WOOL GATHERING

Who could imagine a better way to spend some time, harvesting lavender at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.  

 I can almost smell the lavender--

Well actually I CAN smell the lavender. There are giant bowls of it around the house

The next step is drying, then cleaning and the final step---lavender sashets!

Hello From Gary

 Hey, remember me? This is Gary, the 48" 8 harness Cherry Wood Fireside Loom, weaving to you in a charming retro-style.

 

Weaving with natural plant matter weft with a jute warp was popular back in the mid 20th century. Bonnie wove countless weed hangings back then.

 When she lived in Montana in the 70's, she was captivated by the unusual and varied dried wild flowers.

 A friend offered her a bunch a willow, and another friend gave me the short stalks of a lavender harvest.

The very first weed weaving she created in 1961 is hanging in her mom's condo, and believe it or not, it still looks as fresh and new as the day she wove it.

Stay tuned for pictures from the weed achieves.

April's Musings

 Where do I want to take Weaving Spirit?
Where does weaving spirit want to take me?

It would seem that I have stopped doing any interesting work, teaching, or service---but I am actually doing lots of all of it---so much so that blogging has become a chore---something that I never thought would happen. 

For the foreseeable future, I will be posting once a month---just to see how this works.  

Woven Words Virtual Quilt Block--Generosity
Most of my work this year has been service related with my donating time, weaving lessons and woven pieces. I wondered what it would be like to spend a year living as if I did not have to depend on my weaving income. Weaving for the sake of weaving---to make the world better. Weaving as prayer---weaving as an offering.


Here is something out of the archives---woven in the early 90's. I recently had students ask me questions about weaving horoscope weaving in something other than plain weave. Here is my best example---twill.

Have Loom Will Travel

I can't believe a whole month has flown by, but now that I am firmly in my 7th decade---time move much more quickly. I am thinking of new directions and themes (still in the thinking stage), but I intend to continue posting on a monthly basis---like a newsletter.

The Saori Loom continues to be a source of joy, not just to me but to the many people I entice to sit down and give it a try. I continue to discover new venues to bring the loom and will have to make (or have made) a travel case for it.

My new home (well not so new now) is shaping up to be a place where I will be able to teach small classes and offer "residential weaving retreats" in the near future.

At last I am getting closer to realizing a computerized winding draft for Color Horoscope Weaving.

Weaving continues to be the center of my life and a source of healing and beauty. May the desire to share this with everyone never diminish.

WEAVING PEACE AT JEANETTE RANKEN PEACE CENTER

A VIRTUAL HOLIDAY GREETING

WOVEN PEACE IN 16 LANGUAGES

I was so excited about making this woven mosaic that I put it up on Facebook before I put it on the blog. I was already asked to explain what I mean by "peace in 16 languages". It is so much easier to demonstrate, but it is almost Christmas and I must be asleep before Santa arrives.

Briefly, the image above shows the stripes horizontal, the way they were woven. The image below is the way I displayed the weaving on Facebook (the way I think the image looks better, but I think it makes the whole concept more abstract). The whole thing is a number code---A= 1 row of weaving, and Z=26 rows of weaving. Over 60 people participated in weaving the four (each 3 yards long) banners, and every person selected their own favorite colors to "spell out" the word for peace 19 languages. (although there are only 16 represented in the image) Peace in English is the green one in the upper right corner. I hope that answers the question. The actual banners are still on display (until January 2) at Butterfly Herbs in Missoula, Montana. You would think that I had taken some pictures of the display. It's not over yet.  In fact, I will be setting up the loom to weave another banner soon. (open to all would-be weavers)