Fretting over nothing???

I feel like I've been at a standstill trying to design a quilted wall hanging for over the couch. We have a big blank space that needs something. In our last house the couches were not up against walls and the major walls were all glass windows in the living area so nothing huge needed.


Today I decided I must start designing. I had looked at many gingko quilts online as inspiration.......I would have been really thrilled to have found a perfect pattern I could buy but nothing out there.

 

So, I bought the fabrics - all the blacks, grays with bits of light teal and gold. I just bought on speculation not knowing what I was going to actually end up using. I made color copies of the fabrics to work from and started cutting them up into 2 1/2" squares. I then arranged them on quadrille paper I had already marked out to represent 50" x 60". I tacked the photocopies down with a bit of glue stick.

My original thought was to use black for the gingkos which would then be embellished later with gold thread......but they were totally lost. I went to my stash of gingko fabrics, way too big stash, and found this gold so I photo copied it and cut out gingko leaves. This is now starting to look somewhat ok to me. Of course it will look totally different in real life as the 2 1/2" squares will actually be 10" squares so more of each fabric pattern will be showing. I won't know if I'll like that until I actually cut and lay them out.

Picture this over a charcoal gray sectional. The accent pillows that come with the couch have gold in them plus I've bought fabric to make more pillows that are in grays with golds, rusts and light teal. Hopefully the couch will be here in the not too distant future. We ordered it back in January but a month into waiting we were told the fabric had been backordered by the furniture manufacturer. It supposedly will be in sometime next month, we'll have the sectional in May......I hope the furniture store is correct about this.  It took us forever to pick out the fabric so we're willing to wait for it.

Should I just go for it???  The quilting I've done in the past has always been from patterns/instructions so I'm fretting over this. What's the worst that could happen??? I lose some hours and material - it's not the end of the world.  But I'll think on this for a bit and move on to something else. I want to weave another warp of rag table runners but these for our house - grey print fabric already bought, cones of yarn sitting on top of it to think about what I'll use for warp.  So, on to designing that - designing weaving comes much more naturally to me. And back to listening to the next in the Outlander series audio books - A Breath of Snow and Ashes - this one is 48 discs, I'm ready to start disc #3.

Ginkgo Shawl - Take 2

Take 2 on the ginkgo shawl - it dried in short order from the dry heat after blocking it this morning.  I like it enough to knit myself another one out of handspun.......after I spin the yarn. This one is really autumnal, another not so seasonal will be great. And I may put 3 ginkgo leaves in the border on it.  I'll definitely need to use a shawl pin with this in order to hold it so the ginkgo leaf will show.........I've even got a ginkgo pin I could use.........

Ginkgo Shawl

I wanted to finish the ginkgo shawl last night but just couldn't knit the last 2 rows and bind off - too tuckered out. So, this morning I did something so unlike me - I knit, usually knitting is reserved for evenings and knitting/spinning get-together's. I had a goal to get it blocked today as the temp would be 90 and very dry - the shawl will be dry in a matter of hours. I could have waited 'til the weekend when it's supposed to be 100 but then I won't want to be outside putting those blocking wires and pins in. I hope I love this shawl after it's blocked, I like it now but I want to love it. The ginkgo leaf is in the foreground, I guess I expected it to show up a bit more. I was picking autumn colors but I do wish I had picked colors closer in value. If I love this once finished I have plans to spin yarn to make another using plum and chartreuse.....unless I change my mind......which may very well happen......

This pattern is the Ginkgo Shawl by Connie Peng from yellowcosmo designs. It can be found on Ravelry and bought there.......I noticed it was $4 as opposed to the $6 I paid locally.....will remember to check on Ravelry first in the future. It was fun to look at others who have knit it and the color combinations they picked out. Some added more ginkgo leaves, which I loved. Some knit the leaf in a totally different color, loved that effect too. Ideas for the next one I knit...........

Ginkgo Shawlette

The other day I finished knitting the gold/brown shawlette so last night I started on this Ginkgo Shawl, pattern by Connie Peng, yellowcosmo designs. I'm using Madelinetosh yarn. It seems to be a very easy pattern, hopefully I'll still think that when I get to the border/ginkgo leaf. I'd love to knit this pattern again using some handspun - I have two colors in mind, a dusty plum and dijon.  I'm out of the Ashland Bay Plum in my shop right now so will have to wait to start on it after I get my next order placed. I'll have to check my stock to see if I've got any Dijon in stock right now.....if so, I can start spinning that..........

Playing..........

Today I did a little playing that is part of the surface design program I'm presenting in November. Always a fun activity.

I took a black silk scarf (pre-washed) and put painter's tape on it in a grid and then pulled out the Shiva Paintstiks and stencil brushes.

Here are the ends of the scarf once finished - color looks different on them but it's really not, just a camera/lighting snafu.

Here's a piece of wool felt I stenciled gingko leaves on using the Shiva Paintstiks. I'm thinking I'll put this wool under the embroidery machine and stitch very simple line drawn gingko leaves all over it - maybe in metallic thread. This will eventually become part of a tote bag.......I think.......plans may change...........

I had another black silk scarf that I had washed.......gingko leaves landed on it too, this time a different stencil.......

I used Jacquard Lumiere Textile paints and these two foam stamps when embellishing cardstock. This will get further embellishment with Shiva Paintstiks and possibly foiling. These are a test run to see how they'd do cut into strips to be bookmarks. I always like to have something for everyone to go with the presentation handout so am thinking of bookmarks. It has to be something simple and relatively quick to make. Will get back to these sometime next week.......

Ginkgo

Yesterday I did muster up enough energy to twist the fringe on the ginkgo scarves and do the photography work.......then I ran out of steam and finished up the photo editing this morning. These scarves are now listed for sale in my etsy shop.........well, the purple one isn't yet as someone asked me for a purple one, if she doesn't end up buying it, it will show up in the etsy shop.

When I look at this photo my mind immediately dreams of autumn - it can't come too soon this year. Beside being ready for the end of fire season autumn is my favorite time of the year. I can feel it coming - the temp this morning was 48, crisp, cool and lovely.......if you ignore the smoke.

Whatever this 'county fair bug' is - it's gotten us all down. I'm feeling much better, not much coughing now, just no energy. I have too much to get done to be down - this is getting old.

Slow day......

I knew it would be a slow day with the county fair respiratory bug but I didn't think I'd end up prone on the couch again which is what happened mid-afternoon.....and the coughing started up again, ribs aching.......but I'm still better than yesterday.  Late this afternoon I washed the 4 gingko scarves and put them out over the deck railing to dry - with our dry hot weather that took all of 30 minutes. Maybe tomorrow I'll work on twisting fringe - that won't take much energy.....if I'm short on it again tomorrow. Need to get over this bug, have to much on my to-do list to be down........

Final gingko scarf

I finished up the final gingko scarf this morning, this time the weft was sage green. I have extra warp on the loom to still weave off - will be using a charcoal grey with hopes of including that woven piece in a purse. Temps today are to be over 100 - it was already getting too warm in the studio so I'm done weaving for the day.

Whoever designed this AVL V Series loom must be left handed - that little screwed on block of wood that will hold a couple pencils and scissors is on the left hand side of the castle - very awkward for a right handed person. I could move it to the right side but hate to leave holes in the wood.  Might have to check to see how much another simple little block of wood with a couple holes and slot in it costs so I can install a second one.....or I could work on being ambidextrous.....nah......too much work, easier to buy another one.

 

Taking a chance

I'm taking a chance here weaving purple gingkos - I really like it, very subtle. I was contacted by a prospective customer about purple when I mentioned I had a black warp on the loom and what colors I was considering for wefts. I don't know as if she'll be interested in buying once I've got it ready to sell but I'm taking a gamble that if she doesn't someone else will. One more scarf to go on the warp - maybe tomorrow.

I'm slowing down my weaving a bit to do other things and I'm enjoying it. I'm still really driven to produce so it's a challenge but I'm working on it.....trying to keep that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I have to be productive all the time at bay. I'm also considering a big change in the selling of roving to free up even more time for creative ventures - sometime in the new year I may put that part of the business on sabbatical for a few months to see how it goes.........still in the thinking stages on this as it's a good portion of my income. I've had some ideas of drafts I want to create for the AVL for around 4 years but just run out of time to sit and design them - hoping to free up more time for that along with other fun creative tasks.

So, now instead of weaving on that last scarf I'll go paint my toe nails a bright hot pink.

Red Gingkos

In-between mundane chores I did get another gingko scarf woven today - this one in red

 

 

My favorite leaf.....

I put a black warp on the AVL last month with plans of weaving more gingko leaf scarves. Today I finally got them started. I auditioned many weft colors, a small glimpse of that is on the bottom in this picture. First scarf up is a coppery brown weft. I think another scarf will be red, a sage one and possibly a purple one. Someone visiting my etsy shop asked about purple so I might give it a try and hope that someone buys it if she doesn't. It will be very subtle. I'm loving the coppery brown one above. Not sure when I'll get back to this warp - have another warp to wind and get on the Macomber and also have many warps to wind for future dyeing/painting.

ANWG Conference Recap

I recently attended the ANWG Weaving Conference up in Bellingham, WA.  I have to say it was a really nice conference, the conference committee did a wonderful job planning and putting it on. There were 538 registrants.

My traveling companions and I left very early last Wednesday morning to make the 10 hour trip north, what a long day with very few stops along the way. Thursday morning we hopped on the public transit (in the pouring rain) to explore Fairhaven which was a section of town loaded with galleries, shops and restaurants - very fun, some money left the wallets there. Then in the afternoon we checked out the conference exhibits, vendor booths and guild booths - very fun. Thursday night was the fashion show, some really beautiful pieces in it - I can see what scares me about entering something in the fashion show - sewing skills or lack of show up even on the stage.

Friday & Saturday were seminars, I had one klunker and two great ones. Friday evening we went on a field trip to a fiber mill and then an art center, our carpool driver was a delightful gal, she took us on scenic roads and told us about the area. The stop at Ferndale Fiber Mill was very fun - the couple owns a 1925 carder - we got to hear the story of how they got it and saw it in action.  After the mill stop we went to the Jansen Art Center in Lynden, we got a tour of this incredible center and then listened to a lecture called 'A Journey in Chilkat Weaving' - it was fascinating.

Saturday evening brought the banquet, awards presentations and our keynote speaker, Anita Luvera-Mayer. She is always incredible, I've taken a couple workshops and seminars with her in the past and have heard her as a keynote speaker elsewhere - always fascinating. I was surprised at the awards presentation at having my name called as having won the People's Choice Award in the Juried Exhibit for my ginkgo scarf. This is where my peers voted for their favorite. The photo below is of that scarf.  Fellow guild member Elaine won the People's Choice Award in the Open Show (non-juried) and guild member Carol had a jacket in the Fashion Show - we represented our area well.

I'm still trying to figure out how the judge for the Juried Exhibit judged those items, one of the winners in a certain category had horrendous selvedges, I'm not sure how the judge got past those. There were some incredible items that didn't win ribbons and others that were not nearly as well executed that did. Go figure.........

Sunday morning I attended the ANWG annual meeting representing my guild, it was interesting, lots of notes taken that I have to now decipher and share with my guild members. Since we couldn't leave early enough to drive all the way home Sunday we took two days to get home shopping along the way. We made a stop at Shipwreck Beads where I was very conservative in my spending since I hadn't used much I bought there back in March. Then to Ikea in Portland after checking into the hotel. Monday morning before heading home we hit the GoodWill in Portland which is huge and great fun, Fabric Depot, The Mill End Shop, Bob's Red Mill Store, Dave's Killer Bread Bakery & Outlet and then late lunch at Sushi Track in Wilsonville before heading home. What a great time we had - Kathy & Pat are very fun traveling mates. And I'm still playing catch up...........

Whoo Hoo

I got word Saturday that my white/mint ginkgo scarf made it into the ANWG (Association of Northwest Weaving Guilds) Conference Juried Exhibit - Whoo Hoo. The conference is June, I'll be receiving a packet with info on where and when to ship my scarf. Very fun.

Not much on the fiber front going on here. I did sew 2 more petal pouches to go inside the one I sewed last week to gift a friend today - she loved them. I also worked on a Mother's Day gift which I can't post until after the 12th as my mother does occasionally read my blog.

I did get a couple hours in at the loom yesterday - back to work on the towel warp I put on a couple weeks ago. I've been dreaming of what new draft I should design for the AVL.........a sea theme draft is to come but not quite yet, am thinking maybe vines & leaves, or vines & flowers, or who knows what.

Lesson learned on Saturday. I asked Sam to bring the power washer up on the deck so I could wash off the deck furniture - great fun. Then I moved on to the windows - great fun and I thought they looked cleaner until they dried, maybe a bit cleaner but the old elbow grease is needed to really clean them.  Lesson learned is when I moved around front and saw a hole in the flower bed that belongs to the dreaded ground squirrel - don't ever spray a power washer down a ground squirrel hole unless you want to end up totally covered in mud when it sprays back up at you. Funny thing is when Sam saw me after I finished he never mentioned that my face, arms, clothes were all covered with mud.

We watched two good movies recently - Life of Pi and Argo - highly recommend both.

More gingkos.......

You'd think I'd be tired of ginkgo leaves but no way, I love them. Spinner/weaver friend Virginia has a beautiful ginkgo tree in her front yard - last fall I picked up an entire bag of leaves to put between the phone book pages to dry. I peeked at them and they looked beautiful. The next week the phone book has disappeared - Sam had taken it to recycling - yikes! Not sure what possessed him to pick it up off the washer and take it, it was a new phone book, it was not in the recycling basket. So, there's always this year.......

This past month I bought some new sheets & towels which I decided needed some pizazz.

Using the embroidery machine I embroidered these ginkgos on all 4 pillowcases. Ignore that purple mark in the middle of it - that was my marking to get them lined up in the hoop, it's  air erase marker which disappeared with 15 minutes after stitching (I guess I could have waited to take the photo after it disappeared)  Our comforter is shades of sage green so these pillow cases match perfectly.

I found some great ginkgo towels on the clearance rack at the store only there were no handtowels, just bath towels and washcloths so I bought some off-white hand towels and embroidered the ginkgo on the them too. I love the commercial ginkgo towels, see how the color reverses from front to back.

While the embroidery machine was running I got all 12 handwoven towels ironed, hemmed and ironed again. I need to be in the room to change thread colors so it worked out perfectly to have the embroidery going on one machine and me sewing on the other.

Today is tax day - argh. In a couple hours Sam and I will sit here with Turbo Tax Home & Business and work through our taxes, such a pain but I've got everything ready to go personally and business wise. Sam would be thrilled if I did it all but this is a joint effort, since he does none of the rest of it he's required to sit with me and do this part.......and there will be no sidetracking by putting golf on tv.

I still have no clue what the issue with blogger is for me these days, pictures won't load when I work on my post but if I start the text, publish it, then go back to edit the pictures will load. Kind of a pain but I'm not sure what the solution is at the moment and I got no help from the forum. Oh well.....

Ginkgo Treasury

I've created a Treasury on etsy inspired by ginkgo leaves. Items from both of my shops have been included in hundreds of treasuries but this is the first one I've ever created. For the life of me I can't seem to copy the treasury image as a whole, save it and then post that  image here. I'm usually really good with that stuff but it's not working right now. So, in the meantime here's the link - please go check it out, click on the items, visit the shops and get us all lots of exposure.

Last one for a while........

This is the last ginkgo scarf for a while, 8/2 tencel painted warp crossed with rust 8/2 tencel weft - photo is a bit brighter than actual cloth.

More ginkgos.......

Another warp of ginkgo scarves......and then today I put on a painted warp and wove another ginkgo scarf. I'm not sure why the painted warp was only for one scarf, I usually pull them for 3-4 scarves, go figure, it was dyed back a few months, I must have lost my mind that day. I'll post that picture tomorrow after it's washed.....

White 8/2 tencel warp with mint green 8/2 tencel weft....

.....with tan weft

......with lavender weft

......with silver gray weft

Tying on a time saver? not so sure.......

I don't usually tie on to a previous warp unless it's something like a rug or rag weaving warp with few ends per inch. Today I decided to tie onto the ginkgo warp I just finished. I thought I'd give it a try because it's a real reach back there threading harnesses 30 thru 40. Was it a time saver? I don't think so. I can thread heddles and the reed pretty fast, tying all those warp ends might take me a bit longer.....but I gave it another try.......after all it's been a long time since I've done it and I must have forgotten it's really not a time saver for me.  I would love to hear from others on how you do it quickly - maybe I'll change my mind if I change my process.

Here's where I'm tying on to the previous warp. I stuck the lease sticks in the old warp before I cut it off to hold the cross and keep all my warp ends in order. Then as I bring new warp to the loom I put it in another pair of lease sticks (on the left) to hold the cross and begin tying.

Here's a picture of the 11 yard warp after winding on the back beam. It is a bit more fiddly with having to straighten out warp ends a bit since they're all a little bit off from my knot tying not tied in the exact same place - I'm close but not perfect which makes it a bit fiddly winding on - not something I'm used to in my usual back to front warping.

Here's a few from the back of the loom, I'm ready to tie on the front beam and start sampling.

And here is my sampling......not as dramatic as the last warp but I want to do something very subtle and light this time with the ginkgos. I definitely like the silver gray, jury is out on the pink, you can't see the silver lavendar very well but it's pretty, the pale mint green is nice. I don't know if I'll like these light colors or not......will know after they're woven and washed. I'm feeling the need to weave something that makes me think spring will eventually come.

Ginkgo's again......

Here are the last 3 scarves on that ginkgo warp

Chartreuse weft with the sage warp

Black weft

Rust weft

Revised ginkgos........

I did get one scarf woven yesterday afternoon, took me forever to get to the loom. I revised my draft adding 4 additional rows of 3/1 twill in-between two rows of ginkgo leaves and like it much better. Fired up the AVL and shaft #40 did not raise again, composed myself, turned it off and back on again and it worked. Also once in a while (3 times yesterday) when hitting the pedal shafts did not change (some falling/some rising), would hit the pedal again and it was back working. I don't know enough about it but seems like a communication issue between something, maybe the e-lift and dobby, don't understand it enough to know, Sam will look at it again today before I resort to contact my tech person. It's not a huge problem but with the cost of this loom and being only a year old I shouldn't have all these small issues popping up each time I weave.

 

Still not sure what the blogger issue is - still can't upload pictures in the 'compose' mode - have to go to the 'html' mode to do it. Supposedly they're working on it but it's been over 2 weeks now, will have to check the chat forums and see what the update is.