Winter finally showed up

 Last post I'd mentioned we were having a mild winter. 

Winter finally showed up this week.  LOL

Got my first snow day of the year today, so my weekend production got a boost.

I wove some on the green rug warp...

I wove some on the greens table runner warp...

I started ripping colored denim for rugs...

And I hemmed, measured and tagged some rugs...

These are corduroy.

Each time I go out to the studio, I try to do at least three things.

Prepping, weaving on 1 or 2 looms, and Finishing.

The snow will continue thru the night but I think I should be able to get to work tomorrow.

All for now,

  

Julie

It's Been Awhile

 It's been awhile since I did a check in/post here in blogger land.

Here are the highlights from the last 6 months....

*My last child/daughter got married in November.

* I retired as a 4-H leader after 36 years of doing that---

*I started remodeling the detached garage into a weaving space.

*More hours and responsibility at my "town job" as a 3rd auto parts store was added to the owners properties.

*Holidays and traveling have been much more manageable this year due to a much milder than normal winter.  Much welcomed as the winters the last few years were nearly unmanageable :)

*Started moving looms and stash materials into the new space even tho it isn't completely done. We aren't sure what to call said space -  don't want she shed. For a bit the kids were calling it the 'bitch barn' lol.  Mostly it gets called 'the shed' or 'the studio'.   Lately it's been tongue in cheek called "the loomy bin".

I don't have everything moved in yet... MOST of the stuff in the house is now out there, but very little from the storage trailer has been moved in yet.  I'm gonna need some muscle for some of it, but it's hard to find that these days.  Everyone is so busy with their own lives.

I'm currently planning out and applying to vendor events for the year - Some of the events I've gone to for years may fall off as they have steadily drawn fewer buyers the last few years.  I may try some new spots if I can find them.

When I get a few more things into the studio - and organized a bit more there will be pictures. 

For now, here are few pictures of the most recent finishes.

All for now,

JULIE

Grams Rugs

 When approached at a vendor event by an older woman who asked if I could help with her 'grams rugs', I visited with her about it and then promptly forgot about it --- lots of times that happens to me lately, LOL.

Several months later, I got a call from her.  She had decided it was time to do SOMETHING with her grams rugs.  They had been in a drawer for many years due to their condition, but she just couldn't bear to just throw them out.  

They were brought to me with the request to make new rugs out of them if possible - she understood I may not be able because of possible dry rot, but I told her I would see what I could do. 

She brought me 6 rugs ( I hadn't realized there were so many!)  But when I got a black and white warp on the loom I decided to give them a shot.

Here they are....

Before and After #1   (This was a crocheted rug, so a big change)

Lost some weft due to rot, but managed a nice size rug...

Rug #2

This rug was originally woven with a twill pattern.  I've got just plain weave capabilities, so this rug ended up longer than the original.  Brightened it up and I think it's a very pretty rug again!

Rug #3

Another rug that was woven twill that became a plain weave rug.  Cute rug!

Rug #4

With this rug I didn't know whether it would be good fit for me to re'new.... It was made with two different fabrics in kind of a bone color.  Original weave was twill and it was colored, so that is what gave this rug it's original design.  What I did was take the two fabrics that were just slightly different and dispersed them thru the rug so it wasn't just started with one and ended with another.  It is a simple understated rug that I think can be appreciated by many.

Rug #5

I somehow lost the original photo of this rug.  It was crocheted and so was circular rings of the blacks, grays and tans.  It was, and now once again is a striking rug.

Rug # 6

So this rug is not getting rewoven.  The fabric in this is dress/quilt cotton, and it is completely dry rotted.  I can't get it pulled out of the crochet without it ripping apart every foot or less.  I stopped trying so maybe someone can do something else creative with it to preserve it, or maybe it is just time to let it go!  I will leave that up to the owner :)

This was kind of a fun project, but a little nerve wracking.  I didn't want to 'ruin' these obviously treasured items.  I'm hoping when I get them to the owner, she will like them. 

All for now,

JULIE

Still here

 I'm still here.... just never seem to find time and desire to sit down and type at the same time.  

I've found a few minutes while the grandbaby is asleep so will try to catch up a little.

The winter that never ended finally did.  Vendor shows were difficult to get to, missed one totally due to being blizzarded in (yes that is a word in my world)  and another one, the drive both ways took 4 white knuckle hours instead of the normal 2 ish hours.  

Spring lasted all of 22 hours, ha, and then it was full on summer.  It was getting dry, but the last week or so we've finally gotten some moisture.

June vendor shows happened too,  Had a good show for the first weekend, selling more than my average year on the Saturday.  Then Sunday happened and not a thing went to a new home.  Weird.   Second show was slower than normal - Odd vibe there, not many people buying anything unless something really grabbed them.  Seemed show wide, not just my booth.

We've got a new little one here.  Buzz had a colt June 10th.   She held onto this one way longer than we expected.  She was huge and very uncomfortable.  We found one little one in a pen with 5 mares aged from 1 yr - 26 years wasn't working well (the little guy got bumped around alot with the flies being miserable)  so we decided to try mom and baby alone- so far so good, mom is enjoying the lack of competition and protection is a little easier on the both.  This will be the last baby for Buzz - this one was hard on her.

Flutter didn't produce a baby this year - either didn't settle or she sloughed one this nasty winter.  We aren't sure on the plan for her yet this summer, whether we will send her to stud or not is to be determined.

On the weaving front I have been doing alot of "special requests/orders"  reweaves, rags provided, etc and I'm trying to catch up on those.  Of course, less time weaving in the summer due to mowing, gardening, outdoor stuff.

This weekend my son is getting married.  My daughter (twin sister to the daughter I live with) is engaged and excitedly planning her wedding for Nov.   Busy busy busy.  No time to get bored.

Fall shows are booked with the possibility of adding a few - all depends on my mood!

All for now, 
JULIE

Snow day productivity

 Had another snow day where I couldn't get to work.  

So I worked...   at home~

Finished, tagged and priced 16 tablerunners.

Finalized the hems on the last of the specialty width rugs (28 inch wide)   I've got one 90 inch long, and seven 45-46 inch long ones ... plus 4 random color/fiber rugs from this warping.

And the cutest little helper while I was measuring and taking pictures...

All for now.

JULIE

PS.  Hope not too many more snow days.  I've missed 3 full days in the last 2 weeks.  Paycheck is gonna be light.

Special request

 So about a year ago...  I got a request for a denim rug with dimensions of 28 x 90.   Yes, I can make them that size, but I don't usually.  My normal width has become 24 inches wide.  

So after explaining that I didn't know when I would get to it, the "order" was made with the understanding that time was not an issue :)

2022 did not bode well for timeliness in regards to production of rugs.  I just plain didn't have time to weave as much as I wanted to.

But I finally got moved on to the 28 inch wide rugs.  I put about half the length of warp as my usual run and got busy.  

Here is the finished "special order" rug -

This rug left today, we'll hold our breath it arrives safely and is all that she hoped for!

Now I'm working on finishing up that warp so I can move on to greens and browns.

Some of the already finished rugs.  As you can see, I had a product tester while I was trying for photos :)

Pretty sure the rest of the batch will be denim.  Those are in progress.

So is ONE YEAR too long for a customer to wait for a special order?   I feel it is, that's why I take on so few of them.  

All for now,
JULIE

Winter blues

 Seems like I'm forever doing blues.

Blue jean rugs are a staple.

Popular with my buyers.

Easy to source materials.

Durable.

Good thing I like 'em.

This time around I happened to also be doing the blues on the table runner warp.

Photos just don't work that well in the winter.  The light is flat if it's a sunny day.

And if the sun's not shining, it is just too dang dark to get a good photo.

The runner shown is from a vintage table cloth.  It had a pattern that I 'managed' so it ended up with a pattern of it's own in it's new life.

The blues are done on the table runner warp - I'm doing a short run of mug rugs. 

As much as I really don't like making them, (too piddly)

I had many requests for them last year after I was out of them.

The Union Loom tho, is rewarped in blues for a special order.  I needed a width of 28 inches,

so I'm doing a run of those, too.  Just getting started on that. 

The winter blues are knocking on my mental door, too.   This time of year is a challenge for me.

All for now,

JULIE