May

May is a very busy month. A lot of birthdays in May. Including mine, ick.

Above is a new quilt I'm starting to design on the wall. I like designing on the wall. Even though I usually work new quilts out on grid paper, I ultimately end up using that only as a "draft" design so to speak. The wall is where it's at. It gives me that sense of freedom and "what if" that I really need.

Well, I tried to weave again because I forgot why I gave it up in the first place. Pain. I have cervical spinal stenosis and was diagnosed back in 2014 or so. Anyway, weaving hurts. So I put up my looms for good. Its alright... I need to settle down and focus on my quilting and painting anyway.

So hopefully June finds me more focused. I feel sad about not being able to weave anymore. I feel like this condition has taken a lot away from me. And just when I was feeling really sorry for myself, Jerry and I were walking along the boardwalk and saw a woman in a wheelchair being pushed by her family. Youngish woman. She had no legs... from the hip down, no legs. So I decided to shut the hell up and be happy I can still walk.

Then I saw this article about the British artist, John McClean, and I thought, now that's the kind of attitude to have.

Let the sun set on old things. And watch it rise on something new.

April

I've made the decision to blog monthly, as weaving and quilting are slow processes, and trying to post on a weekly basis is too stressful. And we're not about being stressed out, are we Elly?

My more recent escapades can be followed on Instagram. Please visit

http://www.instagram.com/lorjackswarpnwoad

I'll be back here again at the end of May. 

New life

I have not gotten very much done this past couple of weeks. I've been busy being... not doing.

This little sweetheart arrived April 14. 8 lbs. 4 oz.
Elowyn Jo

We've also been busy playing grandma and grandpa to these two little characters

So it has been pretty busy. And wonderful. 

We are back now and so I am going to begin work on a banner for a Ravelry weave-a-long. The WAL is hosted by the Weaving in the SAORI Way, group. Fun! I can't wait to get the loom warped, which I will be doing this weekend. These banners are very colorful and creative. One of the members said she has had hers hanging outside for 8 years now. I'm thinking this will look nice in my garden.

Drive band drama

I wanted to share this with anyone out there that is new to spinning wheels like me. I have a Babe Production Wheel, single treadle. I've had it for at least 6 years, and haven't used it much, so that might explain a few things. But now I'm putting down the drop spindle and getting serious with this whole wheel thing.

So I pulled the Babe out of mothballs the other day and started spinning some merino top I bought a couple of years back. I knew I was rusty, but I didn't think I was that rusty, and I was having all sorts of issues. The wheel didn't seem to be turning consistently, I was getting over twist, the spun yarn wasn't winding onto the bobbin. Then the drive band just sort of sluffed off the wheel, all limp and stuff. It didn't feel "fresh", but sort of dried out. The drive band was a polyurethane band. Does polyurethane break down? Well, apparently so because you can buy replacement bands online. 

I needed a quick solution. I had some Lily Sugar n' Cream yarn in the house (who doesn't) and it fit into the little groove in my bobbin. I took the limp noodle poly band off and tied the cotton yarn on using a surgeon's knot. I wasn't sure how the knot would perform going along the bobbin groove, but it was fine.

Oh my gosh, what a difference! The spinning is going smooth as silk now. Good ol' Lily's Sugar n' Cream! 

The Return of the Weaver

Natural dye yarn, commercial and handspun, mint and rosemary, alum and iron dip

Wow... it's been about 2 years since I last posted. Someone was asking me about the blog the other day, and so I thought I'd pay it a visit. Then I thought, what the heck! Let me bring this baby back to life. Like Frankenstein's monster.

A lot has happened over the past 2 years to keep me away. 2016 brought 2 grandbaby dolls, so I was pretty busy with that. Then 2017 was a  busy year with two quilt shows, so that means deadlines. And I have a 9-5'er in the midst of all this.  Oh and I am the caretaker for my 93 year old mother and disabled brother. So here I am in 2018. And I feel like I need to take some of my own advice from a past post. Being, not doing.

Which is why I decided not to enter a piece in the Season After Season exhibit. I started to work on a piece and then I just plain got tired and lost steam. I think part of the reason I lost steam too is because of the age old internal battle that has gnawed away at me since I first learned to weave in high school… the artisan vs. artist in me. I want to make something beautiful, but it has to be functional. I just can’t get past it. As the Shakers used to say:

"Beauty rests on utility"

So I’m sticking to functional quilts for a while. I won’t say forever! But for a very long while.

La Machine

An early anniversary present. It is amazing what paying about $100 more for a machine means for ease of sewing. This is the Brother Project Runway PC210 or something like that. I don't know. Brother likes to attach all kinds of numbers to every machine they make and I swear it seems like they change the numbers with each individual machine. Sort of complicated. They should just give them names like "Laverne" or "Shirley". I am loving this new machine though. And I'm taking the old machine to the parsonage so I can have one up there too. 

Madonna and child coming along nicely.

And my second project, Mr. Egret is also coming along nicely. I never do more than 2 projects at a time though.


Hmmmm..... now that I have 2 machines, I think I know what I'll name them.

Burlap

The quilt top is just about finished. I still have to embroider around the hand and I'm not 100% sure about the holy medal yet. But once those things are figured out I will begin the quilting. I haven't settled on a pattern yet for that either.

On the left there is the burlap that I put up on the design wall. At first it was very stinky, but that's gone now and the burlap is really kind of nifty. It is stickier than the table cloth backing and is great for sticking pins in. Thinking about doing the whole wall that way.