Friday, June 24, 2011

On the road again.

Tomorrow's plan includes a trip to a neighboring town to try and sell some weaving!

Summertime is such a busy time ~

Lawns to be mown...

Fences to be fixed and built...

Pasture weeds to be sprayed...

Houses to be painted...

etc. etc. etc.

I wonder why I can't find the time to do the things I 'want' to do?

I haven't been weaving much.  What time I can carve out I have been doing some organizing of weft materials and also trying to prepare for a rummage sale.  I'm a little overwhelmed with the STUFF in my life ~  hard to be creative under those conditions!


Hoping for good weather tomorrow ~ You know?  I had to pick from 3 different 125th celebrations that I could have gone to within the area.  Next week there's a couple more I could go to.

You can easily tell when the area was settled.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Rehab

Not that I really have any extra time or energy to rehab a loom.... I brought one home last weekend.


It has some funky hot pink and neon green warp on it.  Can you tell this loom was in a barn?  The warp is gonna come off soon and going in the garbage!

It's a six harness, six treadle jack loom.  I can't find any ID on the loom as to who made it.

This loom had been in the basement, but got wet.  Since then it's been in the barn...  Looks like some critter chewed on it slightly in places.  It's got some water marks and the wood is dry.  The back and front beams need to be reglued and it needs a good cleaning and oiling.

The worst of the damage is in the treadles.  I think I'll probably have someone make me 6 new ones and replace them completely. 

I made the 100 mile one way trip to look at a rug loom.  Maybe I'm spoiled from the sturdiness of my Union, but this doesn't seem to be strong enough to weave a tight rug on!  Not to mention there won't be much of a shed that I can tell.

I think this loom is headed for making tablerunners and scarves if I can get it functional.

I think the price for the loom was fair ~ $25, but when you drive a gas hog pickup 200 miles you're already in the $100 range!  Still, not too bad :)

Who knows when I'll get around to cleaning this up.  Lack of motivation is a problem here these days.

So much to do, it's hard to get started.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Drapes

Would you believe this rug is made from some discarded drapery?

Broke a rule with this one...

I've been told not to use curtains that have the rubber lining.

I do.
On a regular basis.

They make a nice sturdy rug!  The stripes in this curtain made a cool honeycomb type pattern....

Sunday, June 12, 2011

A matching set


These two runner rugs are a matching pair.  At least in color and materials - they do measure a little differently, so maybe they are more of a matched set?   Technicalities :)

I paired two different twin size bed coverlets.  Not sure the vintage~ somewhere in the 60's or 70's.  I remember having this style of bedspread when I was a kid.  I wasn't sure I wanted a solid blue of this color, it seemed too "sweet" of a blue for my taste, and the tan was a little boring.

I think the stripe look turned out great!   These are nice sturdy rugs without being to thick. 

I spent a little time trying to sort weft materials last night.  I am overwhelmed right now with the piles.  I can't see what I have or find what I think I have, so I purchased some clear trash bags and am sorting it out that way.  Should keep everything clean but still be able to see what I have without opening every single bag!

I found two more of this style of bedspreads so I think I'll work them up the same way when the colorway is right.

It's a cool breezy damp day here. 'Twould be good for a nap, but I'm going to try and avoid that :)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Back finally....

I hope this fix lasts!  I spent a little bit purging and sorting and saving to a jump drive any and all files and pics I wanted to save in preparation for a complete reboot and restart.  Lo and behold, it seems to be working right now.  I'm not holding my breath tho....

So, better late than never!  A report for the Fort Sisseton craft fair from last weekend!

I got to take a different route to the festival this year... well, had to, I guess I should say.  My regular road was flooded and closed.  Isn't the panoram pretty?

Beautiful weather this year! 
It was so nice Abe Lincoln and his wife decided to enjoy it with us!  LOL

My booth this year ~  I got a prime corner spot right on the thru lane between the parade grounds and the reenactment camp.  I'm thinking I'll see if I can pay for and reserve that spot for next year!

All weekend there were random gun volleys and cannon shots.  I got personal enjoyment and a couple of good chuckles from watching people that are obviously nervous souls get startled by these random BOOMS!  sorry, can't help it

On Sunday I decided to treat myself to an Indian Taco.  Got me wondering, is this a regional thing or are Indian Tacos nation wide?

Fry bread, taco meat, lettuce, cheese tomato. 

Unfortunately this one wasn't worth the $8 it cost. IMO  Not enough meat or tomatoes and way too much lettuce.  The fry bread was good, made me wish I had just gotten that.  Oh well!


I spent as much time as I dared at the Prairie Fiber Arts tent~ I covet a triangle loom.  This shawl is going to be pretty!

Anyhoo, a successful weekend overall.  The full weekend in between two full weeks of work made for a tired girl by end of day yesterday!

All for now, cross your fingers that this computer is happy again!

Julie

PS... I've got pics of some new rugs that I finished on the eve of the festival.  Pics in the next few days!

Monday, June 6, 2011

computer issues...

I'll keep this short tonite.  Wanted to show pics of my weekend at the festival, but I am currently in "safe mode" on my computer. 

Dang thing.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Um, yeah.

it's 2:46 am.

why am I up?

woke briefly, and then my brain did one of those...

omg things



realized that i thought yesterday was Monday.

it was really Tuesday for those of you as confused as I was.

I missed a haircut and 4-H horse practice.

sigh.

dang it, i hate when I prove that I'm blond.