Blog - Page 12 of 100 - Sherri Woodard Coffey

Going all out-kind of

Sarah Diamantopoulos

Isn’t it wonderful? I just have to show this! It’s woven on an inkle loom by one of our guild members, Sarah Diamantopoulos. Sarah said she went through a lot of graph paper during the weaving process and may have broken her loom. She used a book by Linda Hendrickson called Please Weave a Message. I’ve attempted text once and will probably never try it again. Not sure I can stand the headache or the discouragement! I’m already bludgeoning myself by trying wedge weave again!

Diangonals

I’ve really been working this week for a reset of my days. Seems that I have gotten out of the habit of doing much studio time and other basic stuff. I really wish I could be one of those people who follows a schedule of some sort–you know, laundry on Monday, whatever on Tuesday, etc–but the past week has been good. I’ve been doing my leg/knee exercises and bicycling daily. The loom bench has been warm again. Newsletter has been written (sign up here). Other nagging tasks have been completed. Of course, there are many others on the list just waiting.

Trying something new

Lottery tickets

Well, it’s obvious that my word of the year, abundance, did not carry over into the lottery. I seldom buy lottery tickets, but I had to buy gas, and there was all the talk about the Power Ball, so, okay, I succumbed. Don’t judge me.

I have been interested in the four-selvedge technique of weaving a tapestry for quite some time, but when I read the directions, nothing clicked. Maybe my brain just wasn’t ready or whatever, but finally I have read some directions that make sense to me. Of course, the fact that there are lots of pictures available helps. Sarah Swett has a great tutorial on this technique on her blog. Check it out and read her other entries. She is not only a great tapestry weaver and artist, but she also writes quite and interesting blog. There are also some other posts here and there about four-selvedge tapestry. Two are on the Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei website here and here. Here are some links to posts on Tommye Scanlin’s Tapestry Share blog.

Maybe someday I’ll some pictures of my own efforts, but I think I need to make a jig for measuring the warp. Or find something that I can use in that way. Hmmm….

Have you ever done this? What are you working on? I’d love to hear.

The saga of cartoon-making

Drawing for cartoon

Sometimes the weaving needs a cartoon, sometimes not. On strictly geometric pieces, I usually draw to scale on graph paper and just weave away based on my drawing. With ikat I always need a cartoon to put under the measured yarn as a guide for the ties. This upcoming tapestry needs a cartoon, which leads me to this saga of getting enlargements. The closest place for me to get these made is a FedEx store. When I first started getting these enlargements done, they had a young woman who was very talented in this area, and they came out exactly right every time. I really hated it if I went in there and my favorite person wasn’t. Sometimes, I’ve actually gotten home and found that the enlargement was as much as 6 inches off! Now I carry a tape measure and they probably hate for me to come in.

Friday I went to a different store. After waiting through several unsuccessful attempts, during which the employees spent their time laughing and telling jokes, perhaps flirting, I said thank you for your time, but I’m leaving.

cartoon on the floor

So on Saturday, I tried my usual store. The young lady had the correct measurements in the computer, and it seemed that it should come out correctly, but it didn’t. One of the other employees suggested putting the file on a flash drive and taking that directly to the printer. Glory hallelujah! It worked. Even better, this means I can put my drawing on a flash drive, take it directly to the printer myself and print it out. I don’t have to take in a small drawing that they scan and enlarge manually. The file that I put on the flash drive can be the actual dimensions that I want the final cartoon to be! I can’t tell you how excited this makes me! Trying to not think about the fact that I haven’t actually tried this yet.

Planning, planning, planning

Wall calendar

This is my wall calendar, where I am trying to put things for the year. Some don’t have firm dates so they are just kind of there. Notice the washi tape? I found it in a drawer and decided to use it. Decision on whether I like it on the calendar will come later.

I’ve been doing lots of planning in the last couple of months, trying to make goals for the year in several categories of my life. Next, I need to break those goals down into smaller pieces and place them on a specific month.

I even chose a word for the year, something I don’t usually do. For some reason the word abundance kept going around in my head. First, I thought that choosing that word would be so superficial and material, but then I realized that abundance can be in all areas, not just the material things. Abundance of joy, love, time, energy, creativity, courage, …on and on. So I’m sticking with it!

A belated happy new year-it’s been a really long time

Proseco, pineapple juice, splash of Campari

After having a houseful of people for ten days, it’s taken me a while to get back to normal, whatever that is. Plus, before that I was sorting and cleaning. And I don’t whatever came over me, but I bought a jigsaw puzzle. Working these things is not one of my better skill-sets, so I think I’m going to pack it up and put it in the closet. Enough already!

Movie poster puzzle

Teeny lantern

Besides making the “art” books from the last post, we all made itty bitty lanterns, using handmade paper and battery-operated tea lights. I didn’t even know there was such a thing! Each lantern is different and pretty. I got the directions from Helen Hiebert and her 25 Days of Paper 2015. Her whole website is worth a look, beautiful papers from all kinds of places.

Yarn samples from Pro Chemical

Now, I’m beginning to worry a bit about getting back into the studio. Maybe it’s because it’s time to warp that darn loom again. No matter, it’s got to happen soon. I have a commission to do, which requires a warped loom and some dyed yarns. The commission project is going to be lots of different shades of green, so I’ve been going through all my dyed samples and skeins on hand, trying to figure out what combination might work best. That’s when I decided to buy yarn samples that show all the possible colors available in both PRO Washfast and Sabraset dyes, while also buying a couple of green dyes to try out. And I actually labeled them the kind of dyes shown and the year. Maybe they’ll still make sense to me a couple of years from now.

Next up–the frustrating saga of trying to get a cartoon enlarged.

What’s on the loom? What are you stitching? What are you doing?

Sorting and procrastination

Accordion book

Wow! The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day here. Cold, but beautiful, after days of cloudy and rain. Artwise, there’s only a tiny bit of new around here. On Saturday, I took a workshop on making an accordion book. It’s filled with watercolor paper, just waiting to be filled. I’m thinking this might be a good thing to do with my daughter and grandsons while they are visiting. It’s always good to have inside plans just in case the weather turns on us.

Front

So, what have I been doing? Sorting, going through stuff, emptying boxes, procrastinating. One might say that I am procrastinating right now, before I get back to the task of sorting, cleaning out closets, etc. You know when you get to the dregs? The stuff that has no home? The stuff you don’t know what to do with? That’s where I am. I did find one thing in the middle of some financial papers. This piece of notebook paper with my daughter’s drawing and wishes for a happy birthday from years and years ago. I like the dot dot dot added before the inside part.

Inside

And there’s this treasure found in the bottom of a sack. I had been wondering where all my embroidery floss was. Somehow I had a picture in my head of finding it more organized than this. Oh, well. It’s not, but I can still use this for some small pieces.

Embroidery floss

Now, it’s back to the dregs. Then on to cleaning the studio. How does that get to be such a mess during the weaving process?

What’s everyone doing?

Gearing up

Gearing up. Getting ready for December, even though it’s already here. The studio MUST get cleaned up, as well as the adjunct studio (AKA dining room). So, it’s a bit of this and a bit of that around here.

Newspaper

This is what I found when I went out for the newspaper this morning. I frequently find the paper in this position, but not usually floating in water. The water is because I have had 8.77 inches of rain beginning on Thanksgiving and ending on Sunday. Actually it’s surprising that it is still floating since it was so waterlogged. The depth of this ditch is really deceptive. If the newspaper is not visible from my porch, I get the grabber ’cause I know it’s in the ditch and I don’t want to crawl down into it. Too early in the day for that.

Grabber

Below is my latest effort at wedge weave. I will learn how to do this, I will learn how to do this,I will learn how to do this….. This was woven on the tiny Lani from Mirrix. I don’t have the shedding device on this loom, but might consider it later. Right now I’m just using tapestry needles as shuttles. As you can see, there are issues with this bitty weaving, but overall I am pleased. The selvedges are wavy as they are supposed to be. You can see too much warp the the “line” where the weft changes directions, which is not aided by the amount of draw-in–both solvable, I’m sure. Embroidery floss allows for almost infinite colors. For this I used the six strands as they came out of the package. I did blend colors on a couple of the Christmas trees I wove, which gave the color more depth. Once I feel better about weaving wedge weave, I want to try some silk. Gotta think about that draw-in. How do you fix that?

Wedge Weave, embroidery floss, 4 x 3 inches

I have had these inexpensive boxed bookshelves sitting on the floor for a while, but finally tackled the project. Yes, the instructions say it’s a two-person job, but I am just one person. The boxes are too big for me to move, so I cut one open and moved the parts individually. I am looking forward to organizing my art and weaving books. Maybe I’ll be able to find something more easily now. Have you heard of Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day? Bibliotaph came in the other day. Scary. I’m not going to think about that.

Bookshelves

This is the time of year that I get a new calendar, I guess like everyone else. Even though I use the calendar on my phone (and love it!), I still like to have a paper calendar. I have decided to try a new one this time. It’s called the Week Dominator from Neu Year. You can see the one I usually get here and here. What I like about the usual calendar is the yellow column on the right, where I can write down goals or whatever for the week. With the calendar I’m trying this year, you can write those goals down below the day but above where the hours begin. I also like the dot format as opposed to lines. We’ll see. I may go back to the tried and true.

New style calendar

My treat for myself this week. A workshop totally unrelated to weaving, except for what’s floating around in my head. We’ll see…. More about that later.

Working small

Silk yarns

Becoming obsessed with projects seems to be my modus operandi; I’ve worked for years to just accept it and produce whatever it might be. As we all know, those projects are either successful, moderately successful, or just downright ugly. Right now, my obsession is working small, especially as Shop Small Saturday is coming up. As ridiculous as it may sound, an “aha” moment hit me. I can work small with the same kinds of designs that I already like. Working small does not always mean a whole new set of designs, although it could. I like color, so I’m going to use color–lots of it! Plus, new techniques (to me) and ideas can be tried out. A kind of sampling, if you will.

From the website of The French Knot

Part of this experimentation is with embroidery floss. Think of all the colors possible there. They’re almost infinite by using a few strands of one color with strands of another (or two) color. At 14 epi, they work pretty well. I also have silks around that I have ~~begged~~ asked for from my silk-weaving friends. These are bobbin ends and amounts that are really not useful to them. Plus, I made a trip to the local needlepoint shop, The French Knot. Boy, this is not your mother’s (or grandmother’s) needlepoint shop! The interior is full of very organized kinds of small skeins of yarn, from cotton, silks, alpaca, and more. I concentrated on the silks, and even those were available in variety, but the shiny stuff got my attention. They’re all gorgeous! And, I don’t even want to think about how much these yarns might be per pound! A record of each yarn is being kept, with an opinion as to its performance: appearance, weave-ability, and whatever else comes to mind. Once I know what works best for me, I can perhaps dye my own small skeins in Mason jars. We’ll see. Or this current obsession may pass and be supplanted by a new one.

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Almost here–Saturday after Thanksgiving

A reminder

I think this is a nationwide movement. A great opportunity to support local, which of course, is all the rage now. ;))

A bit of travel

First morning walk. I always love bridges.

View from parking lot. Just ignore the cars and enjoy the mountain.

Last year, around this time, I traveled to Golden, Colorado for Art Biz Makeover. This year, Alyson Stanfield held a similar event called Art Biz Breakthrough. I can’t begin to explain the energy in the room, a roomful of artists, for this event. Amazing! So much energy, so much encouragement, so much understanding! It was wonderful!

One of many framed posters in the hallway of the hotel. Anybody know who Roy Rogers is?

Buffalo girls poster

After Golden, I drove to Denver to visit a friend and go to the Denver Art Museum. Not only did I get to see the wonderful tapestry exhibit there, but I saw the Native American art in the permanent collection. I’ve been to the Denver Art Museum one other time, and it’s a really stellar museum. Go, if you get a chance. Here’s the first thing you see when the elevator doors open. This amazing sculpture is called Mud Woman Rolls On by Roxanne Swentzell. The sculpture is 10 feet high and is very striking.

Mud Woman Rolls On by Roxanne Swentzell. Very impressive and large–10 feet high!

I didn’t get the potters name, but I love this. How many different fish can you think of? Can you see something like this as a weaving?

Masks–always a favorite of mine

Blankets stacked from floor to ceiling, each tagged–pretty darn impressive!

On Monday, I wrote about weaving the Christmas tree from Mirrix Looms. I took my small Lani loom, surrounded by clothes, in my suitcase. She traveled well, and was especially welcome at night as I rested before the TV in my hotel room.

Since snow and high winds were expected in Denver for today, I changed my flight to Monday–besides, I was just ready to go home. ;))