Saturday 25 January 2014

Finishing the Blue Tablecloth

This is more like me. School holidays often see me away from my loom, spending time with my special grandson Liam.  I always have to take hand work with me to do . . . there has to be more in life than ironing shirts!  This time I had the finishing to do on the big blue tablecloth, first hemming the ends and then faggoting the panels together with a featherstitch insertion.  When I have done this before I have 'just done it', keeping the spacing even in my hands without any device to keep the width even.  This time I felt that it may prove troublesome in such a big piece with the weight potentially causing a problem so I invented a system with a small, slim book and a couple of bulldog clips . . . like this.

It progressed well till about the last half metre when Puppy Piper tried to make a meal of the absolute last of the cotton.

Here is the before and after.  No, it did not fade in the wash, I just took the 'after' photo in bright light.  The cotton survived well enough but one of my precious LeClerc bobbins is gone forever.  Those splinters are sharp so Piper was lucky not to do herself an injury.  She is usually very well behaved but anything on the floor is fair game and I must have let it roll off so I guess I can't blame her.  How could I growl when she looks at me . . . .
Anyway, all's well that ends well, and here is the end of work on the blue cloth.  What will I do with it?  I hope it will end up in an exhibition of some sort sooner or later.

Thursday 2 January 2014

PWN Exhibition at Fibre Spectrum, Nelson

For the month of January Peg and I, along with Sue Broad and Jane Clark, are exhibiting as the Top of the South members of the Professional Weavers' Network of NZ. The venue is Fibre Spectrum, a cooperative shop run by fibre enthusiasts for over 20 years.  The space is small but there are great nooks and crannies to show work on the walls or on plinths. Here are my exhibits.


There are more photos on the Marlborough Weavers' blog, marlboroughweavers.blogspot.com and on pegsweavingblog.blogspot.co.nz

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Happy New Year

For some years now friend Meg has encouraged her weaving colleagues to post an update of 'what's on the loom(s)' on the first day of the year.  For the first time I have a blog of my own to do this. It's just a pity I'm not in a better space to show my work.  I have two looms and they have both ground to a halt waiting for me to make decisions or find different weft yarns.  On my countermarch loom I have been weaving a table runner for a family commission.

Colours were intended to be predominantly red, grey and black with small amounts of other colours taken from an art work on the wall behind the table. What transpired was nothing like my original intention and just proves that I am a weaver, NOT a designer.  I cut off this piece, washed and pressed it, then went back to the loom and dropped off warp ends, changed others and re-sleyed.  I don't know that I am any happier with the result, but will find a different yarn for the weft as this piece has slub linen/cotton both ways.  But I think it needs to be back to the drawing board completely.
On my jack loom I have a similar story, but not quite so messy.  It is warped up with white cotton for napkins which I hoped to team up with a blue tablecloth.  I wove six in plain weave with a small lace motif in one corner and then ran out of yarn.  I cut off the six and have them washed and pressed and ready to hem next time I go to visit family and need to take  hand work to do.  I would photograph them if I could find them! (Yes, I do seem to be having a senior moment.)  The warp is now tied up and ready to go again but I'm not happy with the two alternative wefts I've tried. I think I need to re-sley it as it seems a bit too close. 
I hate all this indecision; it is not characteristic of me and I hope  it is not an omen for the year to come.

My table loom is in hibernation mode, wrapped in a blanket in my garage where it will stay until our weaving group decides they would like another workshop. Who knows what that will be about.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other people are doing and hoping for inspiration.