Hobby # n+1: Butterflies

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!

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

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.