Day One of the workshop evening Show N Tell

(This happened on Saturday night, but I am just now getting around to blogging it)

When we gather at Vavning Studio, Juanita graciously allows us to have a swap meet and Show N Tell session in the studio during the evening hours.  Yes, Show N Tell, just like in Kindergarten!  Weavers that attend these rug weaving workshops are also talented in other areas of weaving.  We bring in our items to share, talk about, discuss patterns, structure, fibers or even the looms they were woven on.  We also swapped some items too, but mostly it's about the camaraderie and the sharing of ideas among those in our area of craftsmanship.

Many of us are members of a cyber guild, called Rugtalk which is a Yahoo Group---  we have not met in person, but have shared posts, blogs, photos and ideas over the amazing network of weavers around the world.

It was so nice to meet with many of these folks, face to face, after years of posting and reading between ourselves.  What a wonderful tool the internet has become to something as hands-on skilled as weaving!

Bear with me... lots of pics here, but hey, we come from far and wide once a year to do this!

Juanita was first up with some rugs and saddle blankets she has done---

After she weaves rugs, totes or liturgical vestments, she sometimes embroiders on them---  such as this rug below, entitled "Searching for a White Horse" or something close to that title--- she told the story of having a small white Welsh Horse as a young gal, and she had wanted to find one again of the same temperament and personality for her own children.   I guess she found one in her loom---  in her weaving!

Can you just feel the joy and fun it took to create this rug?  

(yup---that's an Appaloosa Mule she wove a blanket for!)  Juanita lives in a horsey community and is embarking on perfecting the saddle blanket market with her handwoven creations.

And this silly little was created in double weave, shaping him on the loom to create him..no seams.  Totally tubular weaving   He is a PURSE!   Well, or else you could call him a tote?  She is working on a girl one now too.... How cute!                                (Back and front)

Now for the rest of the group's presentations, I am not going to attempt to put all of the products to the names and faces... I am bad at both.   So here are some of the things that were passed around to ooooh and ahhhhh over!

This gal, Ellen, told about her week long weaving adventure in England... to stay at Jason Collingwood's studio and weave a rug under his instruction at his loom.  What a treat!  Note: he is the instructor for the classes during the three day conference that we are attending.  http://www.rugweaver.co.uk/

 

 

These ever-so-soft mohair throws were to die for, and Anne looks like she matches with her rug!  I thought her rug on the right, reminded me of Iris flowers, with the colors and ratio of stems, leaves and then blooms!

Katie (who came the furthest, from Ohio, for this class--) showed us some hot mats and how to weave a flat mat from denim jean seams after cutting off the usable fabric for denim rugs... she lays the seams flat and weaves another thin shot of weft between each layer of seam to lock them into place.  What a great way to use up what most of us throw away! 

Closeups of Katie's mats with double threading for strength....

This was an interesting antique sewing basket!   The top lifts up and then also it is a part of a smaller basket that lifts out as a portable sewing basket, or it can be stowed together as in the photo....

I believe these two rugs are what Juanita purchased when she was in Germany....

  

 Here are four drop dead gorgeous scarves!!!  (I like soft chenille striped one)

I showed some of my newest rugs I had made, and a tote bag and an 8 harness boundweave wall hanging depicting my life.  (I didn't get pictures on my camera of myself showing my things, so these are from my files that were taken at other times at home) 

We sat around gabbing for a while, and everyone cleared out to go back to their hotels.  Ann had an RV in the parking lot too, so she toddled off to bed.

Just Juanita and I sat and kibbitzed for a while, --- we are two fiber sisters of October births.. sharing into the night and enjoying the restful peace and quiet of the studio.  This place is so full of love and warmth and creativity, I am renewed each time I come here. She can think of a zillion ways to use something, embellish a design, or create a totally different item than what you first envision.  Her flair and frugality bring a whole new meaning to "creating" ....   I look forward to coming here every year with great anticipation!

"Thank you, dear Juanita, for hostessing such a wonderful event each year...." 




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Day One of the Jason Collingwood workshop on Twills at Vavning Studio

Yes, we are here in lovely Shopiere, WI ... a tiny village with one bar, one restaurant and an old Methodist Church.  My friend, Juanita Hofstrom, and her husband Norm bought the church and renovated it into a studio, called Vavning.   www.vavningstudio.com   

I drove the motorhome from home down 35 miles as far as UWGB,  Then I waited for Steve to get done with his day.  We hooked up the Tracker, he hopped in the driver's seat and off we went.  Bottlenecked around Appleton to Oshkosh with construction and we were driving on 4 hours of the roughest Wisconsin roads, argghhh.  I have not remembered Highway 26 being that bad, so I assume it will be next in the construction phase.

We got to the studio about 6:30 and said our Hellos to everyone.  Steve was craving fish fry from the little bar down the road, so we dashed over for a quick treat.  After all his driving, he deserved it!

I moved my loom into the building in my area, near the kitchen.  See... for this weekend, I am the "Aide De Comp" as Juanita called me.  But I prefer the term "Kitchen Wench"!    LOL ... I help with the coffee pots, tea water, snacks and goodies throughout the weekend.  Plus, on Monday, the final day of the classes, I whip up a lasagna dinner for the troops.

We hit the rack on Friday night all cozy in our motorhome. I went to sleep with a smile on my face and weaving in my heart.  Although I will be missing my kids and grandkids on Mother's Day this weekend, I will see them all soon.  Plus they can spend the day with their spouses' moms and not feet torn between this one and that one.  This is a nice treat for me, and I attend these classes once a year.   This is my 8th year attending. One year it was a two weekend class, with a week off in between.  Steve went back to work and I stayed here on "vacation" with my weaving friends!

Here are my blogs from last year:
Jason Collingwood Weaving Conference 2010 part one
Jason Collingwood Weaving Conference part two and three
after the conferece, getting back home again

Juanita lets us park our motorhome right in her lot next to the studio.  That saves on needing a hotel room, paying for restaurant meals, doggie boarding and running back and forth from the larger city, Beloit, where the hotels are located.  So it's a win-win situation for us to bring the motorhome.

The teacher, Jason Collingwood, has been coming here from Great Britain every year to teach various techniques of Rug Weaving.  http://www.rugweaver.co.uk/    His classes are informative, fun, hands on, and enjoyable.  He makes learning easy, with patience for the beginner and challenges for the intermediate or experienced weaver.

Saturday morning dawned a bit rainy and damp, and I got up early and dashed in the building to get the big coffee urns going, set out some treats and make up some deviled eggs from a few dozen farm fresh eggs. Juanita's daughter, Melanie has a farm and sent over the free range chicken eggs with colored shells of every hue.  Amazing and they tasted wonderful!

Folks gathered for the class, a dozen this year.  We set up our looms in the lower portion of the church, the weaving studio.  Juanita's husband, Norm, is a photographer and uses the upper portion as his gallery.  They were there, with smiles on their faces, greeting new people, and we got the day started with a lecture in the upper portion of the church.

Once the lecture portion was done, we took our notes and ideas and went to work on our looms.  Most folks brought their own looms, but Juanita also *rents out* table looms, pre-warped, for those who came far distances or don't own a small loom for workshop ideas.  We later take these new skills and ideas home to weave large rugs on our big looms.

Juanita also gave us some gifts...  her creative husband Norm photographed various scenes in the studio, and through the magic of manipulation, made these wonderful photo prints which they framed and gave to each participant.  Mine looks like hearts in the middle, but really it's the tip of a shuttle lying on a warped loom! 

(Blatant commercial here--- Juanita makes these lovely shuttles and they can be ordered by contacting her at the website listed above) 

And here is a special one she made for a fellow weaver, John, and it's just wonderful to see her creativity!

We wove, we figured, we laughed, we ate....   special Rugtalk friend, Katie had lunch with us out in the motorhome.  Steve was kept busy doing a few projects around the studio for Juanita, and babysitting the doggers.  He walked around the little village (about four blocks long)  and enjoyed hitting a few rummage sales in the nearby towns.   

He also brought me THIS for Mother's Day!

Kinda hard to hide a 2 foot tall orchid in a 38 ft long motorhome!  LOL ... so I got it early.  I have never had an orchid before and will be careful to follow the instructions to keep it going.  Gosh, it's so elegant and beautiful!  What a sweetie.  

We had a swap meet and Show N Tell session during the evening after supper was over.  I will post the pics from that later.  It's now Sunday Morning and I have to get back into the studio and get that coffee going!   I opened my cards from the children and will be seeing them soon too.

And to all of you mothers out there.....

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

A weekend without camping

A weekend without camping ----- 

Is like a weekend without sunshine

Let me tell you, we aren't having much sunshine here in Wisconsin.  The trees are all brown yet, just tiny buds are starting to open 1/8 of an inch.  The ground in our woods is all bare or brown, but there is some greening to the lawns.  Take heart, spring WILL come.  But WHEN?? is the question.  The local news media is saying we are 2-3 weeks behind schedule right now, and with the recent rains, the fields are all too wet for the farmers to even think if plowing or planting.  And I do recall a Mother's Day a few years ago where we had snow.... ick!

We had flood waters this week on our river by our house---  it came over the 9ft mark of the noted flood level.  But we have had it as high as 13.36 feet in 2004.   It doesn't come near our home, which is built high enough to be out of the flood plain.  But it still is interesting to watch it rise up higher and higher as the rain came pouring down.  I "drew" on these photos to show you were the shoreline should be.  That flooded area is really another 20-30 feet of terraced land of ours.  Beyond that is another shoreline down to the riverbank's normal edge.

 

The waters have now receded some, and barring any more rain storms, we should be okay again soon.

Saturday morning, Steveio wanted to take the motorhome out for a test run.  He had replaced the idler pulley with another one from fellow Safari-ite Mel.  Thanks Mel!   He had to change a location of one lug on it to properly fit on our engine.  Yes, it worked wonderfully, and we are no longer holding our tension on the pulley with a wire tie!  

(if you read my blog of our last day home from our vacation, we had to use wire-ties to hold our pulley under tension, or risk not having the alternator properly charge our system while driving)   

We loaded up the dogs for the test drive this morning, and drove the rig over to Oconto Falls to fuel up with diesel.  Our tank had been about 1/4 full when we got home 2 weeks ago, and needed to be filled up.  The cost of diesel keeps going higher and higher.  We filled at $4.07 a gallon, $300 worth, and saw on the highway it was at $4.17 a gallon there!!!    

We backed the rig into the driveway, opened the door and let the dogs out.  DRAT!  We tricked them!  They thought they were going *somewhere* and just ended up back home in their own yard.  Duke had his normal temper tantrum and didn't want to come in the house. 

We had a nice surprise on Saturday afternoon...  Daughter Erin and her husband Mark wanted to finish some lawn work, do a few trips to the dump, clean their garage and haul some stuff up to GoodWill.  So they left little Monster Baby Chelsea Beedle Bug with us for the day!  

We played, 

we ate lunch, 

we teased Granfaddah, 

we played "fetch" with Duke... 

(she called it "gatch" in her baby talk)  

we looked for birdies, 

and we napped.  

WHEW! 

They came and stole her away before bedtime, as they said they missed her so much.  We had been hoping to keep her overnight, but no....  they took her away back home again.  It sure was fun!


That was okay though because I had a lot planned for Sunday.  I got a few more rugs done in the loom room....  and off the loom and tying up the fringes on some.

I have an rug order to prepare for next up on the looms.  It's a large Birch Tree rug made from "sock loopers".  Let me explain:  The type of factory-made socks that you buy in the stores are made on machines.  During the manufacturing process, they have loops or rings of knit fabric that are discarded after socks are cut apart and the seam sewn on the toes.  Bales of these factory-waste knit loopers are tossed in the landfills. So in the effort of recycling and reusing and keeping things out of the landfills, various weavers get them by the bale before they get tossed.   Then weavers like myself buy them by the pound and loop them together into long chains.  The chains are then woven into interesting heavy rugs.  They remind me of birch bark, so I call them my Birch Tree Rugs.

The lady that ordered the rug for this week would like it more colorful, so I am dying loopers today into greens and browns, and it will turn out similar to this rug.....  (which has long ago sold)

Today's project is to bag up the sock loopers into mesh lingerie bags, and steam them in large pots of dye.  I do this outside on a propane burner stand from a turkey fryer setup.  I keep some stainless steel pots marked for dyes only, so they never get used for food.

Here are some shots from some other times I have dyed the loopers for other rugs.  Here are the mesh lingerie bags that I had tossed in the dryer to take out the final dampness before chaining them.

or if it's sunny outside, I have a large rack made from PVC pipe and plastic mesh to dry them

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about sock loopers, eh?  But I needed a break from tasks today to sit down a bit, and thought I would ramble on about the process to you, my faithful blog readers.  Some of you are family, some are RVers, some are weavers and some are just friends.....

By now you should know, we blend our RVing adventures with my fiber pursuits.  Next weekend we are heading down to Beloit area, actually a tiny town of Shopiere, to Vavning Studio.  We will be staying in the motorhome all weekend while I attend some classes and help hostess the event with Juanita Hofstrom, the owner of the studio.  Having the motorhome nearby makes it easier to attend the classes, saves on hotel fees, prevents us from having to board the dogs somewhere and we can make our own meals instead of eating in restaurants.  So it's the best of both worlds!

And that is about it for us non-camping folks this weekend.  Sigh.