Hobby Number 42

Hanging in the Balance

2011-11-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Candle Man

2011-11-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Cold Steel Bridge to Green

2011-11-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

Decay or Delight?

2011-11-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

Slowly (re)Turning to Nature

2011-11-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

Summer Weaving - finished

2011-11-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

Wide scarf/shawl - cotton Curley-Q & 5/2 twist

Hand-dyed silk scarf (kit)

A dear friend once told me that a blog post showing her art was, for her, the final step in creating the work.

Long overdue, but finished.

Ready for the Holidays

2011-11-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

A few months ago we received a request for a custom woven piece - our first commissioned work. Pretty heady stuff for a rag-tag bunch of museum volunteers. Our charter was to create a table runner for a rustic dining room table that was 103 inches long, plus some overhang & fringe.

It came off the loom last week, we tied the fringe this morning and TaDa - it's done and ready for Thanksgiving (our target was for Christmas).

A combination of two fabrics gave us nice cranberry reds with a hint of mint.

2011-11-17T09:57:00.001-08:00

Neck Tie Rug Finished....

2011-11-02T05:17:00.001-07:00

....about 3 months ago (bad blogger).

Anyway, the rug is wonderful and a topic of conversation around the museum (even made a guest appearance at the local Rotary Club meeting).

Silk Tie Rag Rug

2011-07-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Owen's neckties are all skinned out and strung up like so many animal pelts ready to be dried, sold to the fur buyer and fashioned into a fur coat. (That is the single most similar experience I can conjure up from my six decades of doing strange things.) Bear skin rugs, I've seen, but making a rag rug out of silk ties - that's different.

And, it's going to be unique rug, too.

As we started working with the ties, it became obvious that the wonderful Polyester ties of old just are not working - way too stiff and bulky (at least compared to the luxurious silk). So, our bundle of tie/rag critter pelts is now reduced by nearly half. Since we're getting a little less than one inch of rug per tie, it's going to be a pretty short rug unless we set our traps and catch some more ties. I think they might be nesting down at the goodwill store. ;-)

Warp On!

2011-07-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Ideal loom is warped, with a little help from my friends. Of course, Elliott stops by just as we're finishing up...

There was a suggestion, after seeing how great the newly warped loom looked, that we just leave it alone, forget about weaving Owen's silly necktie rug - put the loom on display as artful museum decor.

It is pretty, but weave we must.

Dr. Jim kept tension on the warp threads as we wound them on. Being a horse person, it looks like he may have had some experience driving a carriage with 4-in hand.

Don't you just love the way the red & black play together.

And, for my next trick...

2011-07-06T05:27:00.000-07:00

One of the regulars at the Museum has an extensive collection of old neck ties that he would like woven into a "rag" rug (seems like making a sows ear out of a silk purse to me, but whatever). After mulling this over for several months now I decided that the unusual nature of the raw materials, required unusual warp materials and weaving techniques.

Red and black pearle cotton is being threaded so that it can be woven with a "log cabin" technique - one side of the rug will be predominately red, the other side black - a reversible rug with as much sheen on the warp as the ties it's made of.

Off to the Gift Shop

2011-07-06T05:23:00.001-07:00

All finished and looking for a new home. We had a good crew of Museum Quality Weavers last week - fringes tied off, hand-woven labels sewn on.... But wait, there's more!

Bitter End (of a warp) - Home Sweet Home: Rugs 25 & 26

2011-06-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

It appears that we have come to the end of our warp or in nautical terms to the bitter end. But it has been a sweet run for this warp. We wound on approximately 25 yds of warp last September and have been rewarded with seven months of weaving and eleven "museum quality" cotton rag rugs - most of which have already been sold in the museum gift shop (at least three of them were sold before they could get that far). Not a bad investment donated materials and volunteer labor.

Here's a look at Rugs 25 & 26. Plus (learning from history) we were able to squeeze a couple more placemats out before we really hit the bitter end. Sweet!

With a little help from our friends, these will have "hand woven" labels sewed on and be For Sale in the gift by the end of the week.

Another - Loom With A View

2011-06-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's ok when a hummer interrupts your concentration - the new weaving room is working out just fine, thank you.

But wait, there's more....

2011-05-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

The big roll out of the previous post gave you a first look at Rugs 22, 23 and 24.

On the same morning, we rolled out a great set of placemats and a matching table runner.

Teal Rugs #20 & 21

2011-05-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

The solid teal fabric was so effective (and plentiful) that we did a d0-over with the second multicolored warp on the Ideal loom. It's a total winner - wish we had another 50 or so yds of this fabric....

Oops, Just for the record - Rugs 18 & 19

2011-05-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Not to be overlooked are a couple of multicolored beauties that came off the loom shortly after #17.

The Big Roll Out (22, 23 & 24)

2011-04-27T05:14:00.000-07:00

First look at the latest new rugs!

Labels make the difference

2011-02-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

Rug #17 is officially finished now and ready for sale at the Museum Gift Shop.

Many thanks to Tracy for the great labels.

Also finished and for sale is our latest placemat and table runner set - cool colors for lunch on the screened porch or patio. Spring is indeed almost here - overnight lows in the 40's and the daffodils are getting restless.

Fresh off the loom - Rug #17

2011-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to think of or "see" our museum rag rugs in new ways. This end view catches my fancy - slightly abstracted - bulbous, like the balls of rags we started with.

A somewhat more traditional view shows four stripes of simpatico coloration and equal width in a regular rotation - quite a nice rug altogether. The photo doesn't do justice to the visual depth created by the "wave" of warm to cool colors - standing on the rug, you might perceive a ~ one - two inch trough between the warm and cool areas of the rug.

very cool rug

An Exciting Big Year

2011-01-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

2010 was a great birding year for HB & Me.

201 species for the year (21% more than 2009).

10 new life list birds, including this feisty little Broad-winged hawk we had a chance to meet up close and personal. (photo credit to HB)

2011 is off to a good start with 51 species so far, and a new life list bird - the Bonaparte's Gull.

Though not technically a great photo, the dark trailing edges on the wings and the ear spot on this immature Bonaparte's Gull clearly distinguish it from the larger Ring-billed Gull flying with it. We also saw several mature Bonaparte's flying around in the area, almost walking on the water - they were about as beautiful as gulls get - a truely memorable sighting.

Latest Ideal Rugs

2010-12-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

Two new rugs for the Museum Gift Shop. We've been getting behind in our rug inventory, may need to go to a double shift to keep up with demand. How great is that!

Weaving Sunshine

2010-12-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

Most days my loom sits, waiting.

But not today,

it's busy weaving sunshine.

Ideal Warp2-Rug2

2010-11-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

Moving right along - we've started working on the second rug on our new (2nd) warp on the Ideal Loom. I think it's going to be quite respectable.

And a news flash! (roll the drums....) We just g0t a request to create a custom table runner - our first "commissioned" piece at the Museum! Who'd a thought.

Great Egrets!

2010-11-18T05:08:00.000-08:00

Another likely candidate for a wildlife portfolio.

Just the shear number of Egrets at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is impressive, but when they line up like this it's amazing. (from the archives 9/2008)

5-Star Wren

2010-11-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a little surprised at how good (I think) this picture came out. The new camera is exceeding expectations - quick and smart. This little guy "posed" for less than a minute, but I was able to make two (out of three) respectable photos - even one with flash fill. The wren will likely be the cover of my newly inspired (yet to be created) wildlife portfolio.

Old hobby, cool new tool.

2010-11-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was able to sweet-talk Santa into coming early this year - I'm such a lucky guy, and very excited.

My new toy, the Nikon P7000, is Nikon's top of the line Coolpix compact digital camera. No more whining about not being able to "make" the picture that I think I'm seeing in my head. This little bad boy does it all and more (it will warn you if "it thinks" someone blinked). It's going to take a little while to digest the owner's manual and learn to think like this hand held optical computing device does....

An Ideal Warp

2010-11-05T14:38:00.001-07:00

Yeah! We finally got the Ideal loom at the County Museum dressed up with a new warp. This is the first of many rag rugs we will be able to weave on this warp. As you look at the dates of previous posts, it becomes obvious that this (378 thread) warp took us a while. But, when you consider we are only working at it about 3 hours a week (almost every Thursday morning).... hey, we're having fun - fun shouldn't be rushed. And, we did wind on about 25 yards of warp, so we'll be able to weave rugs for about a year or so before we need to do this again. That's a lot of fun.

On another front, it's been pointed out to me that I've been a slacker-blogger and haven't been keeping (significant) others informed about the myriad of (potentially) interesting things that I've been doing in the interim. I am compelled and inspired to do better for all concerned.

Hobby # n+1: Butterflies

2010-09-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

On our latest get-a-way to Chincoteague Island and beyond, it was pretty hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the ongoing butterfly migration. Monarchs, Buckeyes and numerous others (yet to be identified) were, well, numerous. On the beach, you would notice a dozen or so Buckeye butterflies, moving as if on a cosmic conveyor belt Southward, replaced every minute or so by another dozen... for hours at time, for the several days we were there - the math is a mind bender.

This is a Buckeye fueling up at Cape May Point State Park before continuing South on the long “non-stop” flight over the Delaware Bay.

Time to get Warped!

2010-09-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting time at the County Museum! We are all set up and ready to wind a new sectional warp on our newly donated Ideal Loom (circa 1930). Everyone was so taken by the multicolored warp that had been on the loom when donated that we decided to honor the donor and reproduce that warp as closely as possible with the materials at hand. The original warp had featured primary and secondary colors - we opted for a more Autumnal pallet by substituting a brown and salmon-orange for the red and blue.

There is something about the geometry, symmetry and repeating motifs of all my weaving toys that just wags my tail.

This sequence (section) will be repeated 14 times across the width of the warp.

The Big Reveal

2010-09-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day at the Museum, we revealed nine completed pieces for all to see. There were two rugs and two placemats on the Ideal Loom and a set of placemats and a table runner on the old loom.

I thought it was pretty cleaver of us to squeeze two placemats out of the remnants of the multicolor warp.

Fred is inspecting the placemats to make sure they are all the same size - look closely - yep, two inches short of the mark. Hey it's a child size placemat - that kind of thoughtful design touch would cost more anywhere else.

Good Karma

2010-08-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm giving too much of myself to others.... and then out of the blue, someone donates two perfectly wonderful table looms to the Center for the Arts - and they are entrusted to me for their rehab, care and feeding. What is given freely, comes back, doubled (I need to enhance my limited understanding of the Karma principles). I am humbled and giddy with excitement and looking forward to my next volunteer opportunity.

The little darling on the left is named Dorothy. She's still in production and retails for over $600. Dorothy's hidden bonus is that she folds down for easy transport (with a project on the warp) and will make a great road show/demo/show & tell loom - set her up in a minute. Dorothy has already received a detailed cleaning and wax job and is ready for her first warp.

The loom on the right lost his ID tags but is clearly an old Dick Blick/Art Craft loom. Solid as a rock, if seriously rusty & crusty in spots and needs a new warp beam. He'll take a little longer in rehab, but will be good to go in a couple of months... and be a good weaving companion for decades to come.

Tall Soy Latte Loom

2010-08-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

After nearly a month of Summer Art Camp, I was able to spend most of the last week recharging my creative batteries - an interesting blend of yoga practice, mindfulness readings (Thich Nhat Hanh) and long walks (in DC, visiting museums and galleries). I feel great!

Not having access to all my usual toys, I was forced to improvise a creative outlet: a tall soy Latte cup, some red thread and little fingernail polish did the trick, at least for now.

Though there were many DC gallery highlights, the one that really kicked me up a notch was the Chuck Close show at the Corcoran Gallery.

Here is a link to just one of a number of reviews of his work. Enjoy!

Summer Art Camp

2010-08-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

Seems that I've been a little distracted lately.... 4 weeks of summer art camp can do that I guess. But, it's been a blast! I was able to help well over 100 kids (1st to 4th graders) learn the fundamentals of weaving on a 4 harness table loom. We made simple mug rugs the first 2 weeks and then got more creative exploring desert landscapes and oceans (of woven plastic bags).

Bagel Break

2010-06-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

I love riding on the Cape May Ferry.

Pleasing Placemats

2010-06-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

It's fascinating to see the colors of a large print fabric meld together.

Touch of Color

2010-06-16T05:28:00.001-07:00

It's amazing what little color does for your warp.

Harris Neck NWR, GA

2010-06-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

There is an amazing rookery at Harris Neck NWR, about 50 miles south of Savannah, GA. Wood Storks, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tricolor Herons and Anhingas were nesting on several islands while Wood Ducks and Moorhens kept the gators away from their babies in the duck-weed.

Ideal Teal

2010-06-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

We found the ideal teal fabric for our first rug on the new/old Ideal Loom. The color works wonderfully with the multicolor warp. It's a very high thread count and rips to strips cleanly. And, our 'remnant' is about 12 yards long - we can rip one long strip and weave over 6 inches of rug without a knot or join.

Ideal Personality

2010-04-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Our old Ideal Rug Loom arrived with the remnants of it's last warp still intact. I think it gives the loom a distinct personality, a joyful attitude. Makes me smile and want to do the happy dance.

The waste yarn is woven in and already you can tell this is going to be a fun warp to play with. Lot's of possibilities.

A Loom With A View

2010-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is going to be an absolutely glorious place to weave!

Our new/old Ideal rug loom is almost completely assembled, should be ready to warp tomorrow.

And some days are way better than others...

2010-03-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday had all the earmarks of just another wonderful day of weaving.... until I walked into the Museum and was handed a note from Elliott the Director. The note contained a name & phone number and the words "Loom" and "Go Over".

Wonderfully long story made short, ends with me meeting a new weaving buddy and helping her relocate the old rug loom she was donating to the museum along with enough warp thread and fabric to keep our growing number of museum weavers gainfully 'volunteered' well into the next decade. Our rag box runneth over. My usual Thursday routine was transformed into an exhilarating adventure.

A new "Ideal Loom" was selling for $55 in 1930. This old Ideal Loom will prove to be invaluable as a tool for attracting and training the next generation of museum quality weavers. I expect to start assembling the loom on April 8th - helpers welcomed.

The loom is in remarkably good condition for it's age.

It's equipped with a fine sectional warp for production weaving.

And OMG, a half a truck load of fabric.... we could carpet the entire museum.

Some days are better than others....

2010-03-08T05:56:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday was Fantastic!

We cut Museum Quality Rug # 11 off the loom, finishing off the same sectional warp we wound on nearly 11 months ago.

Fred & Louise work "closely" to tie off the fringe knots on our latest creation.

And, we were blessed with the presence of two new apprentice weavers, Tracy and Sandy. Both recently retired educators - both enthusiastic learners.

And, they couldn't have shown up at a more opportune time. The "lesson" of the day involved winding on the sectional warp for our next series of projects, threading the heddles and sleying the reed - pretty much the whole nine yards.

I did not expect to complete the entire set up in one day, and clearly couldn't have without the able and enthusiastic support of our growing group of weaving friends.

The new sectional warp will give us 25 yards (and many months) of easy weaving - that's a lot of placemats and table runners.

Rug # 11, Work in Progress

2010-02-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

You start with a pile of rags. Cut or rip them into strips and randomly connect the individual strips together into long multicolor strips.....

Wind the strips onto shuttles....

And then unwind them in the loom to see what they look like when they are all lined up.

Pretty neat eh?

Faculty Show

2010-02-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that I signed out a couple of weaving books from the county library two years ago to see what I could learn. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

If you're passing through Aiken, check out the Faculty Show in the Brooks Gallery upstairs at the Aiken Center for the Arts. I have a few weavings on display there. One of my personal favorites is Dori’s Place, the colorful rug on the left. When we finally said goodbye to Dori, her favorite doggie bed beach towels were too tattered for further use and too full of memories to be discarded casually. I cut the towels into strips and wove the memories into a cushy rug that will always remind us of Dori’s Place in our lives. "Go to your place, Dori. Good Girl!"

Great Horned Owl

2010-02-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

We went birding at Tybee Island and the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge a couple of weeks ago with some of the local Audubon folks. We added a purple sandpiper to our life list at Tybee and Helen was able to get a pretty reasonable picture of Mrs. Owl sitting on her nest at SNWR.

Museum Quality Rug #10

2010-02-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm only a couple of weeks late with this. We did finish Rug #10 at the County Museum and it came out looking fine. We left the fringe long enough that we could experiment with making a twisted or plied fringe.

And we still have enough of our sectional warp left for another rug - stay tuned.

Museum Quality Rug #10

2010-01-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

We've started working on the 10th Museum Quality Rug at the Museum. This one is a also a single fabric rug (which is very easy), but with a zig-zag twill pattern (which requires more mental presence than we usually have on any given Thursday morning). Please feel free to drop by and lend a hand (or a neuron).

Celebrate Aiken 1835

2010-01-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was such a huge buzz. Of course there was the official opening ceremony and all with hundreds of folks standing around in the cold, but by the time I got back to my loom, there were folks stacked three deep gawking at the overshot pattern on the loom (see previous post) - what a rush! For the next four hours, without a single minutes break, I was ON! It was amazing - I was so ready for a bathroom break and a beer (not necessarily in that order) by the time 5:00 came around.... It was great! And a huge shout out to Mary at the Museum for providing me with the perfect "period appropriate" shirt to wear for the day - thank you so much for all that you do.

Linsey Woolsey Coverlet (circa 1835)

2010-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

There were a few moments when I was feeling a little out of my comfort zone, but there is a tight and shiny linen warp on the ACA loom and the first few inches of an overshot pattern that could have adorned someone's bed around the time of the founding of Aiken in 1835.

Not sure I'll be going into the coverlet weaving business anytime soon, at least not without some serious improvement in my overshot weaving efficiency. Early on in my learning curve it looks like I could make about 3" of cloth per hour.

At this time, I only need to be skilled enough to act out my part as an artisan weaver of the early 19th century. Good enough for now.

Drop by the Center for the Arts this Saturday afternoon and see an old time weaver at work.

Weaving in Aiken circa 1835

2010-01-05T06:17:00.000-08:00

Some days you have to get out of your old threads (and maybe your comfort zone) before you get dressed up for the big party. The party is Aiken's 175th Birthday celebration on January 9th. I've been invited to attend and demonstrate what a weaver might have been wearing and working on in 1835. It's both an honor and a challenge.

I did a fair amount of research into period fabrics and likely weaving practices of the era and developed a general sense of what might have been going on in Aiken in 1835, but no specific references to weaving in Aiken.

Most hand weaving was probably done by cotton plantation slaves producing relatively coarse cotton fabric to clothe their masters field hands. It's easy to speculate thought that there may have been a few "artisan weavers" in the area, probably slaves working after hours, weaving more refined fabrics or commissioned pieces for cash or barter.

I decided to adopt the speculative artisan scenario and dress the loom at the Art Center with a linen warp that would have been appropriate for an old linsey-woolsey coverlet pattern. So, off with the old cotton warp, some 4 yards of perfectly usable fiber. I've taken care to preserve the cross and chain the remnants so we can use some or all of it in future ACA class projects. I'm still working on my personal wardrobe.

Number 9

2009-11-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

And so we turn Jacque's colorful old bed sheet to ribbons...

...and start Rug # 9 using our new twill tie up.

This is going to be one gorgeous rug ladies & gentlemen. And the weaving is easy, the new treadle arrangement works great and even Fred can count to 4 to make the twill pattern.

Major "Duh" Moment

2009-11-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

I was crawling around under the loom, getting ready to try a different treadle tie up for our next rug when I was struck by a lightning bolt - could it be that our loom was put together wrong. We had been quietly cursing our clunky old loom for almost a year now because it was so hard to treadle. Well, duh, it was because the treadles should have been hinged on the back side of the loom. Something about the the sharpest knife in the drawer and all of that.

Four bolts and 15 minutes later...

I'm able to do the new tie up with out having to crawl around under the loom anymore.

The treadles now stand tall and are going be so much easier to weave with.

Another teachable and laughable moment in the life of a museum weaver.

Homespun & Huck Lace

2009-11-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

I got some homegrown and homespun yarn from Mary & Bubba at the Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago. Bottom is sheep, top is a Llama/Sheep blend.

The Llama/Sheep blend makes a handsome warp, but I was pretty anxious about the slubby parts going through the reed & heddles.

Went through the reed just fine. Maybe I was up a little past my bedtime, but I thought my feet were just too funny.

All's well that ends well. I learned a lot about weaving home spun and huck lace weave structure.

Rug # 8 On The Floor

2009-11-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

I think were on to something here.

Still need to hem the edges, but this is a good tight rug.

How do you get to Carnage Hall?

2009-10-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Sample, sample, sample!

This is my fourth series of samples sneaking up

on a Huck lace scarf made with a silk/bamboo blend.

It's an all day sucker, but it may be worth the effort.

Double Weave

2009-10-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

I had a break through last night at the Art Center.

My first attempt at double weave.

Clearly not my last. I'm excited.

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair

2009-10-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

HB and Me had an incredible time at the Southeastern Animal

Fiber Fair (SAFF) last weekend. Tons of wonderful yarn and goodies.

But the best part was getting to be with the animals.

A full grown male llama can be pretty intimidating...

Until you get to really know him.

Some are sort of strange looking.

Like something out of Star Wars....

Some are just plain handsome.

Some are a little dorky.

This young guy is just too cute for words.

This young girl's coat feels like air.

The fleece competition was pretty impressive.

And the finished product is total eye candy.

Twills

2009-10-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my fairy weaving god mother gave me a book - Looking at Twills by Leslie Voiers. It has some of the most effective graphic illustrations I've ever seen, including over 3o swatches of real fabric glued to the pages. Needless to say I've been thinking more about weaving twills recently.

This is a prototype sample for any number of possible projects - placemats, table runners, pillows, tote bags... Christmas is right around the corner - better go get warped.

Rug # 8 Work in progress

2009-10-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

We made great progress this morning. The Scandinavian inspired design using thinner rag strips is weaving tighter and faster than other rugs to date and the selvedges are much easier to control. I think this is going to be our best rug to date from a technical perspective.

Cut off the first foot!

2009-10-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Do you inkle?

I didn't until my fairy weaving god mother gifted me with 3 inkle looms, all warped and ready to go. I just finished my (her) first warp and ended up with about 9 feet of a great inkle band, more like a jumbo ribbon - most of it's usable.

Can you tell which end I wove first?

Rug Number 7

2009-10-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

I cut another handsome rug off the loom at the museum yesterday and we tied up the warp fringes. We also had the pleasure of a visit from Ulrike, the weaving instructor at the Gertrude Herbert Institute in Augusta, and her husband Dieter. She was incredibly gracious and congratulated us on how far we had progressed in the short time we've been weaving at the museum.

I also gave Ulrike and Dieter a tour of the Aiken Center for the Arts and our budding weaving studio. I am encouraged by Ulrike's response to what she saw. They also showed me a "popsickle stick" loom that they have had great success with in the GHI kid's weaving program - I can't wait to make my own prototype. All in all, it was a pretty great day.

Go fly a kite

2009-10-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

It's hard to get back into whatever blogging rhythm I had after being gone for so long. So what have I/we been up to?

HB & Me learned to fly a kite that Mary C. gave us. Tricky little beast has two strings and seemingly a mind of it's own.

Poor old fishing boat got too close to the shore on a stormy night.

We participated in a beach clean up project at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Interestingly, the most frequently encountered litter on the beaches these days are party balloons and ribbons.

We spent a lot of time just walking on the beach and looking more closely at things.

Rug #7 Work in Progress

2009-08-28T06:57:00.001-07:00

Rug # 7 is the result of a blend of techniques used in the Red, White & Blue rug (#5) and the Water Lily Collaboration (#6) and the use of a warmer color pallet. As you may recall the RW&B rug was a rather rigid pattern repeat where we tightly controlled the length and order of the three colors of rag strips. It was also the first rug in which all of the strips were shorter than the width of the rug (ie, no full width horizontal stripes. We retained the short strip approach for the Water Lily rug, but totally abandoned any pattern, in favor of a "hand-painted" abstract tapestry approach.

With our latest collaborative effort we reintroduced the repetitive pattern offered by looped rag strips, but adopted a much more laid back approach to length and order of colored strips. A somewhat longer length of red rag is followed by a shorter length of light or mid-toned rag, followed by a dark toned rag, followed by a light or mid-toned rag. That sequence is then joined with others to form a continuous length of rag ready for weaving.

The result is largely a hit & miss abstract with pools of color and lines of movement. Lots of room for exploration in subsequent endeavors. We'll have to see what direction the rag bag points us next time around - sort of like reading tea leaves.

Mini Rugs & more

2009-08-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Many things going on:

To help promote the new weaving class, I down-sized the Kentucky Mountain Pattern Rug from Rag Rug Weaving Handbook (Meany & Pfaff) and wove it on one of ACA's 8" looms. I'm quite pleased with the outcome. One of the best pieces I've woven to date, and the pattern is fully reversible.

To keep my stream monitoring certification up to date, I spent 4 hours yesterday with friends counting bugs that live in Hollow Creek. I saw this amazing spider having lunch. Catching the young girls playing (unaware) on a log in the background was sort of surreal and way creepy - straight out of a scifi horror movie. Cue the soundtrack from Psycho. Scree, scree, scree...

HB & Me saw Julie & Julia at the Saturday Matinee. Really sweet movie with some deeper sub-stories about the importance of setting and achieving goals, becoming one with your muse and blogging faithfully. As one of my favorite George Harrison lyrics says, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." I'm not exactly sure where I'm going, but I'm pretty sure this is the right road.

I'll be weaving in public this Saturday at ACA during their Arts Alive Festivities from 11 to 2. I need to decide what to work on while I'm there. It will be a great opportunity to catch the attention of a few prospective students for the new class.

New Weaving Class at ACA

2009-08-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it. I'm going to be teaching a weaving class at the Aiken Center for the Arts!

The ACA staff and I both had a great time this summer introducing weaving to the Summer Art Camp kids. The kids couldn't get enough of it - Can I just do one more, please? We couldn't give them enough of it.

We thought there might also be some adults in the community that would enjoy the opportunity to learn to weave and decided to set up a class. We made our decision too late to get the information published in the latest class schedule, but we'll be distributing a class description something like the following to help get the word out.

**********

Intro to Weaving (#7647)

Have you every thought you might enjoy weaving, but were put off by the initial sticker shock of buying a loom or uncertainty about what kind of loom would be right for you? Take our looms for a test drive and find out if you like weaving enough to take the plunge. You'll learn all the basic information and techniques needed to go from a weaving draft (pattern) to finished fabric. You'll set up one of our 4 harness table looms and weave small projects of your own. We'll go over the various types of looms and which are best suited to your interests and budget.

No prior knowledge of weaving is required.
All "learning" supplies are provided (BYO silk/cashmere & hi-end yarns).
4 Thursdays, October 1, 8, 22 & 29 (6:30 to 8:30), $90
Class size is currently limited to 4 students.

**********

We're actively seeking additional (used or donated) 4 harness table (or small floor) looms. If you have a loom or know of one that's collecting dust, please send me an email.

If you have any interest in learning to weave or dusting off dormant weaving inclinations, call the ACA (803-641-9094) and register for Class #7647.

Hope to see you in October.

Two Water Lilies

2009-08-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

We worked collaboratively, each with our own vision of what a Monet water lily should be and ended up with something remarkably close to one of the original works. I'm impressed with our results and very grateful to have been a part of such a magical process. Thank you all.

Water Lily Collaboration (cont.)

2009-07-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

Still on the loom, our vision is fulfilled, our rug nearly completed.

Four of us took turns at the loom Thursday morning laying in the final twenty few inches of our Monet inspired fabric pallet. During the course of our weaving, another dozen or so folks visiting or working at the museum dropped by to look over our shoulders and see what we were up to, hear our story.

By now, the physical act of weaving is beginning to run on auto pilot and we can spend our quiet time between visitors pleasantly sharing life experiences and diverse interests ranging from archeological digs, mineral, fossil and book collections to fabric clearance sales and the benefits of pinching back mint and basil plants to promote foliage growth.

I've been pondering lately that our original charter from Elliott to "do live weaving demonstrations at the museum" is evolving into something more like demonstrating that the museum is a good place to weave lives together. It really is all about people's lives, past and present.

The Water Lily Collaboration

2009-07-23T09:46:00.001-07:00

Something magical happened this morning. Five of our museum weavers did something approaching a Mr. Spock Vulcan Mind Meld and worked as one toward a common vision. As we pondered our freshly laid out, Monet inspired, pallet of rag strips, we silently concluded that significant modifications would be needed in our "planned" technical approach. We did this pretty much on the fly, without significant discussion and without fault or flinch. We "painted" in our warp rags one (brush stroke) at a time instead of sewing together long color sequences that could have be woven more quickly, but with less control. We studied our work in progress, a suggestion, eye contact, a nod, a small red highlight would be good here, a deep blue pool there. Everyone contributed, no one dominated, everyone supported. It was a incredibly fascinating and stimulating experience. Our work-in-progress rug is already a work of art.

Lorraine mixing our paints, Tom applying the brush strokes.

This rug seriously challenges traditional weaving terminology.

Summer Art Camp Kids

2009-07-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Seriously focused and/or just having fun.

Either way, a good time was had by all.

Are we having fun or what!?!

2009-07-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

We welcomed two new smiling faces yesterday, bring our growing group of museum weavers-in-training to nine (myself included). Regena is on staff at the museum and has been looking over our shoulders ever since we set up the loom in January. We told her to be careful around us, we might be contagious - and then, there she was tying off fringe knots like a confident pro. She must have been watching more closely than we thought.

Jacque had mentioned she was interested in what we were doing months ago. I kept her on my contact list.... and, there she was yesterday morning, all smiles and ready to get started. Besides being one of the Master Gardeners helping to enhance the museum grounds, Jacque is a serious artist and brings a refreshing artistic vision and inspiring color sense to the group. Where I saw inadequately planned rag/color distribution in our first rug, she saw an intricate landscape with a distant horizon and wispy clouds. Wow. Thanks Jacque, I needed that!

Jacque and Melissa came up with the design vision for our next rug. I started by suggesting we repeat the same technical approach as used for our Red, White & Blue (#5) Rug but go back into our box of donated rags for resource materials. They surveyed our wealth of light blues, greens and immediately saw Monet's pallet for Water Lilies. How cool is that! I can see a collision between the soft shapes of water lilies and the harder geometric pattern that will evolve from my suggested approach, so my design challenge is to think through how we can make the pattern lines arc and flow more gracefully across our 'canvas'. Very exciting!

Museum Quality Rug # 5, finished and on the floor. This one could easily be a wall rug.

It worked, it really worked!

2009-07-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Rug #5 created quite a stir last night when I unrolled it during the Ice Cream Social at the museum. Even had a picture on page 2 of the local paper this morning. It was quite a confidence booster to actually see a complex design evolve as envisioned. Especially considering there were four of us tearing and assembling rags and three of us weaving - truly an amazing team effort.

We'll cut #5 off the loom and start tying off the fringes and preparing the loom for rug #6 this Thursday (7/16) morning from 9 am to noon.

There are seven Museum weavers in training now, but there's plenty of fun to go around. Drop by if you can and I'll show you the ropes (so to speak).

Museum Quality Rug #5

2009-07-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

This is very exciting!

When I posted pictures of Rug #4, I said it had a lot of potential.

For sure!

We'll be finishing Rug #5 on Saturday morning at the County Museum starting about 10 am during our third Rag Rug Weaving Workshop. It's fun and it's free. We should be able to finish our rug and have it on display before the Ice Cream Social on Saturday evening. Call the Museum (642 2015) for details. Hope to see you there.

Tech Notes

Warp: Maysville 8/2 Cotton Warp at 8 epi, 29" in reed.

Weft: Cotton fabric strips, three solid colors, 2.5" X 21", end slit and looped end to end, R-W-B... (experimentation revealed that three 21" strips 'almost' exactly matched 2x the weaving width and hence the pattern repeat drift.)

Shadows from the Archives

2009-07-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

The winter sun feels pretty good today, quite refreshing.

Dori's Jelly Roll Rug

2009-07-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

HB & Me hoped we could do something special with some of Dori's old doggy towels.

I rolled a couple of the most colorful ones, sliced them with an electric carving knife and made these interesting little jelly rolls.

The jelly rolls wove up nicely into a pretty special bath mat.

Tech Specs

Warp: 8/4 cotton, 8 epi

Weft: terry cloth towels, 2" wide strips, 1.7 ppi

Ends finished w/ 2" web of 2x warp thread, machine sewn, folded, sewn again, folded and hand stitched.

Finished Size 27"x36"

"Museum Quality" Rugs

2009-07-02T11:08:00.001-07:00

A week ago Thursday at the museum, I showed a group of Parks & Recreation program kids how to weave a rag rug. We all had fun tearing up old bed sheets into strips and looping them together to make the rag weft. Then they took turns pushing and pulling the shuttle through the shed as I wove about 18 inches of Museum Rug #4. After the kids left, there were piles of torn rags more or less ready to weave so Fred & I finished the rug and cut Rugs #3 & 4 off the loom and called it a very good day. (I was having so much fun I completely forgot that I had a camera in my pocket - oh well.)

Last Thursday, Tom, Fred joined my and we were able to tie off the fringes of the two new rugs and get the loom tied up and ready for Rug 5. We'll probably start Rug #5 this coming Thursday around 9 am (see a routine emerging here?) should be able to finish it during our next Rag Rug Workshop on July 11 (10 to noon). Call the museum (642 2015) to sigh up - it's free and fun.

Tom, being a retired surgeon, ties a pretty neat knotted fringe.

Fred is pretty meticulous about his knots also.

Museum Quality Rug # 3 is a "Hit & Miss" design with a blue belly that could have used a few more hits.

Museum Quality Rug #4, our first experiment with a "planned" design, has considerable potential. This design uses two floral fabrics (one darker than the other) cut into 2" strips and equal to the length of the finished woven piece (28"). The strips are slit near each end and looped together in an alternating sequence to make the weft.

In future efforts I will try to get the contrasting areas to pool a little more and mix a little less. If I could only decide if I need to make the strips shorter or longer....

The old 'museum quality' loom is tied, tensioned and ready to go. Join me on Thursday morning (July 9th ~9~12) and we'll see what Rug #5 is going to look like.

Me and My Shadow

2009-06-30T15:26:00.001-07:00

More Tri-X from the archives...

I seem to have an ongoing fascination with my shadow.

Maybe it has something to do with being born on Ground Hog's Day.

Digitizing the Archives

2009-06-30T05:20:00.000-07:00

Mollie in Alpha, Circa 1976

One of my all time favorite photographs.

(Something about a monkey, a typewriter and Shakespeare comes to mind

I bought Tri X in 100' rolls back then.)

Collaboration

2009-06-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

A new concept has begun to emerge in my thinking, Artistic Collaboration.

About three months ago I showed HB a photo in an old Handwoven Magazine of a stenciled rag rug. "We could do that." And we did. I wove a simple rug out of a high thread count bed sheet from Goodwill as the 'canvas'. HB bought a set of permanent fabric dye markers from Hobby Lobby and got out one of her favorite stencils. HB & Me have worked together professionally for most of our careers, but creating together is much more fun.

About three weeks ago I sent one of my recent photographs to a long lost, newly found friend, Robin - she liked it.

Having experience collaborating with others, she asked if should could use my image in a collaboration. Who me? Duh, why sure, I'd be honored.

My interesting, but rather monochromatic photo has been totally transformed and given new meaning . Visit Image and Spirit (June 29, 2009 - Breaking Locks) to see the finished collaborative work and other inspirational art and collaborations. Also check out Gramercy Digital Diary to see what Robin's been creating lately.

Kid's Stuff

2009-06-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Rug mugs woven by kids in the ACA summer art camp last week.

Notice the symmetry on the ends. Nice touch.

Even one strip of the same fabric can be interesting.

Done on a larger scale, this would be pretty impressive.

You can see these and more and maybe even meet some of the young artists at the end-of-camp show in August - watch the paper for details.

Next Rag Rug Workshop at ACHM

2009-06-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

I hope you can join me on Saturday morning, July 11 (10 ~ 12) at the Aiken County Historical Museum for our third Tatter Party & Rag Rug Workshop. It's FREE, and in a very "cool" place to be for a few hours on a Saturday morning. Everyone is encouraged to bring any rag rugs you may have for show & tell. We'll talk a little about the history of rag rugs. (Do you know why few if any rugs were made from rags before the mid 1800's? Clue: the demand for paper. Curious? Come hear the whole story.) You could also bring along a colorful old bed sheet, if you have one, to tear into tatters. Everyone gets to help prepare rags and spend some time weaving on our old loom.

For this workshop I'll be taking us beyond the classic "Hit & Miss" design approach where the length and color of the next strip to be woven is totally random. Hit & Miss does make for an interesting and colorful rug, but we're going to go beyond interesting - to fascinating! We'll be cutting uniform lengths of two fabrics (recycled cotton sheets) and looping them together in an alternating sequence. If all goes according to plan, we should see a series of criss cross diamond patterns that drift back and forth accross the rug, something like the little mug rug sample below. It will be fun to see how the pattern develops.

Call the museum at 803 642 2015 to let them know you're interested and are planning on attending. It's still free.

Gary Goes to Art Camp @ ACA

2009-06-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day yesterday at the Aiken Center for the Arts

helping a super pro art teacher introduce weaving to her art camper kids.

The kids had a good time learning to weave rag strips into mug rugs.

I learned a lot about teaching kids - the pros make it look so easy.

Seeing things the same way

2009-06-20T16:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, UPS brought me new toys,

I arranged them like this.

This afternoon a perfect zinnia stopped me cold.

What a coincidence?

Gotta be warped to weave

2009-06-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

So, we start out my measuring out 7 yards of 8/4 Maysville cotton warp on the the back of my Harp rigid heddle loom. As it turns out 7 yards is just about all you can put on the Artcraft looms I'm working with. I love it when serendipity befriends you.

You use a simple finger crochet technique to 'chain' the warp off the warping board. I love handing multiple strands. The warp is designed to be 6 inches wide and 8 ends per inch = 48 strands.

With the open 'cross' in my hand, I sley the reed and thread the heddles.

Though the looms have 4 harnesses, I'm only using 2 for the kids summer camp projects - don't need to be complicating things when there are so many variables to explore with 2 harnesses.

Group the warp ends into groups of 8 and tie a simple overhand knot to secure them.

Loop the knotted warp ends over the warp beam stick and secure them with a simple overhand knot. Simple, but it works amazingly well.

Then a miracle happens and the warp is tightly wound around the warp beam and you can tie it off to the cloth beam stick with a tie-your-shoe bow knot.

Weave in some waste rags to spread out the knotted warp threads and put in a mini blind 'spacer'. We're now ready for the kids to start their first project.

I measured out another 7 yard warp using black thread and prepped loom number 2.

Then I measured out anther white warp and ran out of time. We'll put that one on loom number 3 at the Art Center tomorrow.

Mug Rug Samples w/ Black Warp

2009-06-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

This series of Mug Rug samples uses a warp of black Peaches & Cream cotton sleyed at 6 epi. (The Artcraft looms from the Aiken Center for the Arts all have 8 epi reeds, i.e., sley three, skip one.)

After measuring the warp, I had a little help from a water bottle to keep tension on the warp as I wound it.

I use sections cut from old mini blinds as warp sticks to keep the layers of warp separated. They are cheap (~$3 at Goodwill) and they work great!

All tensioned up, tied up and weaving. I wove five samples. You might be able to get six or seven on the cloth beam before you have to cut it off and tie up again.

Honest, I'm working on a project that will use up all that crochet thread in the background.

I use the mini blind warping sticks (made available as you advance the warp) as spacers between samples. I simply machine stitch the leading (or trailing) edge of each sample on the series to stabilize the edge. Unless you have time for a whole lesson on tying fringes or hem stitching, this may also be the most efficient way to deal with edges and fringes for a kids program project.

After the edges are stitched, you can cut between the mini blinds and get an incredibly even fringe. If you would like a fringe long enough to know or braid or any more elaborate treatment, simply put more spacers in between projects.

Five samples, left to right:

1. one inch cotton fabric strips (with red P&C edge) ~ 5 ppi

2. P&C variegated cotton, totally weft-faced ~22 ppi, simple and quite nice.

3. P&C, red & white double stranded, almost tabby ~ 8 ppi, fast and easy.

4. P&C, red & white two shuttles alternating, classic pick & pick ~24 ppi, not hard, impressive results.

My favorite! I've been playing with this idea for months now. It's a take off on what's been referred to as the "tube" method. You sew panels of several different fabric together to make a cylinder or tube and then cut spiral strips around the tube and weave the long strip to get various patterns. Since my tube would have only been 12 inches in circumference, I used the slit & loop technique we unvented in last rag rug workshop at the county museum. Fabric strips (1"x 6") are slit on the ends and looped through each other. Details to follow.

Three Looms for Art Camp (cont.)

2009-06-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Besides being dusty & grimy, the three little Artcraft looms had some serious rust issues. Most were cosmetic, but a rusty reed would have been a problem - lots of friction on the warp threads and the likelihood of permanent rust stains on any fabrics produced.

First, I brought out the guy tools to do the heavy lifting. I followed up with a rolled up piece of 220 grit sand paper to do a little "flossing" around the top and bottom.

When I had everyone brightened up a little, I gave everybody a couple of coats of Johnson's Paste Wax. It's a trick I learned in wood working to help keep moisture off metal surfaces, and it also acts as a lubricant. (Just ignore the glass of G&T lubricant in the picture.)

All together now and ready for warping. Everyone knows you have to be warped to weave. (Big shout out to Syne at WeaveCast who started me down this twisted path. Listened to every single podcast - just look at what you've done. )

A sense of accomplishment.

2009-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm making real progress.

They might be old looms, but they don't need to look shabby.

Also, I showed my first mug rug samples to Kristen and Cathy at the Art Center yesterday and they liked them. So much so in fact that they were brainstorming other opportunities to introduce them into their educational programs. Could I possibly have the looms ready to go week after next vs late July? No problem (for a kid in a candy store). Very exciting!

Mug Rug Samples

2009-06-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

The first series of mug rug samples was done on my Harp at the same (8 epi) set as the reeds on the Artcraft looms. I used 8/4 Maysville warp (natural) and good old Peaches & Cream cotton for weft on the first four (plain red, variegated, variegated + plain blue and clasped-weft tapestry) and one inch rag strips on the last two. They took about 20 minutes or less actual weaving time, the simple rag strips less than 15. This is going to be a great way to test drive rag rug design concepts - in miniature.

Three Looms for Art Camp

2009-06-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

My my, look what the cat just drug in! Three baby Dick Blick Artcraft looms that had been collecting dust in a storeroom at the Aiken Center for the Arts for the last few years.

The Art Center staff would like to use them in their summer art camp program in July and asked if I could help them out by setting up the looms. (I'm thinking, how cool is this, I get to drag three old looms home to play with and maybe even sneak into summer art camp for a few days, pinch me!) First order of business is to knock off some dust & rust, these baby's are pretty nasty right now.

Second order of business is getting some feed back on what kind of projects the kids (~ 6 to 10 years old) might be weaving and how to set up the warps. One of the looms was set up for weaving a red, white & blue book mark with ~ 20/2 cotton. I'm thinking it would take at least a couple of hours to do (attention span issues), any glitches or goofs would be pretty obvious and, I'm not sure how excited 8 year olds are going to be about book marks in general.

I'm going to propose setting up the looms to make mug rugs. They may not sound too exciting either, but I think they allow a lot more creative freedom along the way. The kids could use almost anything for weft - lots of creative options, stick in some fur or a few feathers. And, it takes less than 20 minutes of weaving time - they can make several, all different, each exploring and experimenting with what they learned on the last one. Acquiring and preparing an interesting array of rag strips could be an adventure in itself.

My inspiration to go down the mug rug path came most directly from an Sept/Oct/86 issue of Handwoven Magazine. Jean Scorgie uses a clasped weft technique to make her Southwest Collection of mug rugs and a table runner. Her drafts were recently reissued in one of the Best of Handwoven collections titled Weaving with Rags. I'd first picked up on the clasped weft trick in Peter Collingwood's Rug Techniques book and had used it to make a pretty neat kitchen towel out of P&C cotton. If I can do it, I'm betting a 10 year old could too, maybe we'll find out.

Rag Rug Workshop #2

2009-06-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

The second rag rug workshop and tatter party at the Aiken County Historical Museum was a huge success, largely due to the enthusiasm of returning rug weavers from the first workshop.

Fred was first up and couldn't seem to get enough time on the loom.

Louise gets in on the action.

Susan takes over for a while - she's likely to become a serious weaver.

Louise & HB tatter & prep a few more rags.

We tried a new technique this time for joining strips instead of sewing.

Worked like a champ - the 'knots' were no problem at all.

Taken from Weaving Contemporary Rag Rugs by Heather Allen.

There's more to it than weaving - good times & stories were had by all.

Hobby ~ 33 Birding

2009-06-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Just back from a 3-week Roadtrek-Trip spending a little time with family & friends and a lot of quality time with HB and mother nature. The catalyst was going to my nephew Matt's wedding in Ohio.

Notable attendees included g-bby Callopie Jynx, papa Josh,

moma Mollie (OMG, that's my baby girl) and g-mama Donna.

We then birded our way across the north shore of Lake Erie. Spending a couple of days at the spring warbler migration mecca of North America, Pelee Point, Ontario.

Typical tourista picture, but we have proof we were there!

This was our best Peele birding picture - maybe size really does matter.

We rediscovered the joys of bicycling and found bike-birding on our new Electra Townies to be very rewarding on Pelee Island. We circumnavigated about half the island and added several birds to our trip list.

We visited the Mom in NJ for a few days doing some fix up, tidy up projects and hauling out some "junk" that was under her saddle. And then, ahhhhh, we scooted down the NJ Parkway, took the Cape May Ferry, hit the LL Bean Outlet store in Rehoboth Beach, and spent one whole luxurious week at the Green Heron on Chincoteague Island, VA. Our little place in the marsh.

HB & Me went to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (CNWR), home of the Chincoteague "Wild" Ponies every day, sometimes twice a day.

This little guy couldn't have been more than a day or so old.

Chincoteague has it all.

We added new birds to our trip list every day we visited the refuge. The last evening HB spotted this Black-Crowned Night Heron that pushed our 3-week trip list to 140 different species birds. With the couple of new warblers we picked up in Ontario, our life list now stands at 403.

Workshop Registration

2009-04-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Just an update on registering for the next rag rug workshop. There are already 5 people signed up for the workshop on June 6th. Call the museum (642 2015) if you are interested in attending and/or getting on a waiting list for future offerings. We may be able to schedule about one workshop per month, depending on level of interest, other museum activities, loom set up time, etc.

Finished Workshop Rug

2009-04-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

Neighbor Tom and I went over to the museum this morning at about 9 am (as is customary on most Thursdays), cut the first workshop rug off the loom and knotted the fringe. Our first workshop baby measured 28"x42" and weighed in at 3.25 pounds. Isn't she a beauty!

Rag Rug Weaving Workshop

2009-04-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

I’ll be leading the second Tatter Party and Rag Rug Weaving Workshop at the Aiken County Historical Museum on Saturday, June 6 from 10 am to noon. Call the museum (642-2015) to make your reservation. Attendance will be limited to about 6 participants so that everyone will get some hands-on time weaving on the loom. I will join the new rug weavers at a later date to help them finish their rug.

Participants are invited to bring:

· Examples of Rag Rugs they may have for ‘show & tell’

· A colorful old cotton bed sheet or shirt suitable for tearing to tatters and weaving into a communal rug (Please give “usable” items to SPCA, ACTS, Goodwill, etc),

· Good fabric scissors.

Workshop agenda will be roughly as follows:

~9:45 ~ Meet & greet, coffee, cookies & Rag Rug show & tell

10:05 Brief history of thread, fabric, rags & rag rugs

10:20 Anatomy of the museum loom and brief weaving demo

10:45 Tatter Party - how to prepare rags for weaving, design considerations, everyone cuts/tears a few rags, rags get sewn together for weaving

11:15 Participants take turns weaving their rag strips into the group rug

12:00 clean up and make plans to finish our rug

Background:

The first rag rug workshop was held at the museum on April 18^th. We had 3 participants; Fred, Louise and Susan and several friends of the museum looking on and helping out. Mary’s home baked blue berry muffins were incredible. Susan had brought a very pretty beige with blue-striped plaid bed sheet that tore up (tattered) easily and added a nice design element to the rug. With the help of Helen on the sewing machine, we prepared more than enough rag strips to complete the rug. Everyone got a chance to weave several inches of rug on the loom. Fred joined me the following Thursday and we finished weaving their rug.

More Background:

Back in January ’09, neighbor Tom asked if I would be interested in helping him relocate an old loom in the county museum. He was sure he could take it apart, but wasn’t so sure about putting it back together. Long story short, over the next few weeks we successfully disassembled and reassembled the loom in it’s new, more visible location. Director Elliott asked if the loom worked and if so what could we do with it that might get the attention of museum visitors. I, being loomless at the time and wanting to weave rag rugs immediately steered the discussion toward weaving rag rugs. I suggested we could set up a one rug ‘trial’ warp to make sure everything was workable and go from there. Over the next several weeks (Tom and I work as volunteers for 3 hours most Thursday mornings) warped & dressed the loom and made our first rug from fabric scraps donated by longtime museum volunteer, Owen. The loom worked well, rug #1 was admired by all, and we scheduled the first Tatter Party and Rag Rug Weaving Workshop for mid-April.

The first 'test' rug woven on the museum's old loom.