Weaving Song

Tapestry Weavers South  celebrated a milestone tonight, twenty years!  Twenty eight weavers gathered on St. Simons Island Thursday for a three day retreat. A beautiful setting to relax and connect with new friends and old.   Lots of looms, lots of weavers and lots of inspiration.  As the retreat was a celebration there was plenty of time to visit with one another and weave.  The coolest thing about the weekend was getting to meet in "real life" weavers whose work you admired and facebook and blog friends. Connie Lippert gave a talk on wedge weave. Jon Eric Riis critiqued submitted work and gave us constructive feedback. This portrait of a cocker spaniel by MJ Lord exuded joy. Jon examines a finely woven piece by  Molly Elkind . Norsk Fjord Fiber 's Sidsel  Moreb discusses her tapestry with Jon. Sarah shared her approach to establishing and maintaining a daily tapestry practice. This wonderful piece is by Pat Williams and one of my favorites. This is Ur...

A small group of tapestry weavers created  Tapestry Weavers South  in the late  1990s.  Tapestry Weavers from all over the southeast United States joined together to promote the artistry of tapestry.  On Saturday, May 6th at the  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center  Filaments, the new tapestry show opened. Here are a few of the pieces from the show. Betty Hilton-Nash  and Leslie Fesperson did a wonderful job of hanging the show. Below are some pictures of the artists with their work at our most recent TWS meeting. It was a pleasure to be part of this show and even better is being a member of this group.  Tommye Scanlon gave an inspiring talk about the process of weaving tapestry.  You can enjoy it here.  TWS Filament .

In an effort to not feel left out by skipping the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival a few of us got together for fiber pursuits. First up, was some rust dyeing.  We wrapped some rusty bits in silk scarf blanks and then simmered the scarves in a pot of yellow onion skins overnight. I tried a new to me technique using steel wool.  I got the idea from  here .  Whenever I dye anything I start by washing it in Synthrapol.  With rust dyeing there is no need to pre-mordant. The materials needed are basic, gloves, an empty wine bottle, a package of steel wool, some string or rubber bands, white vinegar and water. 1.  Wear gloves, the steel wool can cause small cuts on your hands.  I might have learned this the hard way. 2.  Unfold the steel wool into long strips and wrap around the wine bottle. 3.  Take the wet scarf and wrap it in a spiral up to the neck of the wine bottle. 4.  Secure with rubber bands or string.  I used an old rusty strip ...