January 1st is more than just another day, isn’t it? It’s a time to review the past year and bring new dreams into the year ahead. This pivot point calls for gratitude. I am especially grateful for friends like you who walk with me on this weaving journey!
Thick and thin cottolin towels on this warp. One towel to go!The end is near! The end of the warp, that is. Almost ready for the final border of the halvdräll table square. There will be just enough warp left for a short sample piece.
First up in the new year I have thick and thin towels to finish, and the halvdräll is oh so close to the end of the warp (didn’t quite make it for Christmas). And one little girl is off the small tapestry loom, waiting for final finishing, mounting, and framing.
Little girl small tapestry. After finishing the ends, the piece will be mounted on linen-covered foam board and placed in a frame.
The linen on my loom last spring was a secret project. I only showed hints of what I was doing. Now that the “secret” linen project is published, let’s go back to see some of the process. Complete instructions for weaving and sewing these Linen Dice Weave pillows are in the January/February 2016 issue of Handwoven magazine. Read how it all came about in Caught by Surprise – in a Good Way.
Linen arrives!Ready to pre-sley the reed.Warping trapeze in action to beam the linen warp.Ready to thread the heddles.First pillow.Linen dice weave as seen through the warp.Coming around the cloth beam.Ending the pattern.Dice weave.Cutting off celebration!Assembling pillows.Two sets of linen dice weave pillows.Linen dice weave pillows ready to send.
May you and those you love make meaningful memories on this Christmas day.
I’ve been published! The new issue of Handwoven magazine (January/February 2016) is out. Have you seen it? Sarah Jackson, the weaving editor, had noticed my blue dice weave pillows on Pinterest. When she contacted me to ask if I would consider submitting a project for the linen issue, I was caught by surprise. Who, me?! I simply enjoy weaving. I never thought about having something published. But here we are! The dice weave linen pillows project is in print. This is a milestone in my weaving journey; and an opportunity for which I am immensely grateful! (See the blue dice weave pillows in Invisible Zipper.)
Finished linen dice weave pillows are shipped off to Fort Collins, Colorado to meet the Handwoven editorial team.Linen issue of Handwoven has good information and interesting projects, including instructions for linen dice weave pillows.In print!
We think everything is going according to our plans, and then we run into surprises. Even a good surprise involves challenges, stretching us out of our comfort zones. God is completely faithful. He has certainly been faithful to me. I find relief in knowing the Grand Weaver is overseeing the fabric of my life. What seems like a surprise to me is actually part of his carefully designed plan.
May you be caught in the act of making something good.
Do you remember this sturdy linen cloth, that I wove months ago, with the wonderful wool and linen rya? Yesterday I made it into a classy pillow. First, I fashioned the pillow cover, with invisible zipper, and all. Hollow by itself, the pillow cover needs an insert to be usable. So I made a muslin insert to fit, filled lightly. Now I have a cloud-soft rya pillow. (Read about weaving this fabric in Rya, Rya, How Does Your Garden Grow? and Now What Are You Counting?)
Fabric is two-sided point twill with rya knots. 8/2 linen for warp and 8/2 linen, doubled, for weft produces a sturdy base fabric for the hand-tied rya knots.Pillow insert, lightly filled with down-like cluster fiberfill, fits perfectly inside the pillow cover.
This new rya masterpiece makes a perfect lumbar pillow for the antique rocking chair in my living room. This was my great-grandmother’s chair. One thing I know about my great-grandmother is that she was a praying woman. I love to imagine that she rocked her babies in this chair, praying for them and for her future grand- and great-grand-children. She may have prayed for my life in advance.
Each rya knot includes a combination of threads–Åsborya wool, Mora wool, and 16/2 linen.Great-Grandma’s rocking chair. A reminder of love that reaches to the next generation.
I want to be more than what others see on the outside. I need the Lord on the inside. I yearn for God to hear me and for me to hear Him. Without that connection, life is hollow. Prayer is a two-way conversation. That ongoing conversation keeps me from being empty. When I am filled, I am at my best. Could that be an answer to my great-grandmother’s prayers?
Remember this linen dice weave fabric? The brown checks are sets of weft floats over the deep blue warp. I created two throw pillows with this striking linen fabric, and filled them with down and feather inserts. An invisible zipper makes a classy closure for a pillow like this. If you do it just right the little zipper pull is the only clue that there is a zipper in the seam. Fabric this special deserves a classy closure.
Three different weft colors–deep blue (same as warp), royal blue, and teal blue– produce three similar, yet slightly different colors of cloth. The brown linen floats create an interesting checked texture.
If you know the zipper is there, it is not hard to find. But if you are not looking for it, you could miss the invisible zipper, especially if it is inserted by an expert seamstress. Have you thought about noticing other things that are not immediately visible?
Invisible zipper placed in bottom seam of linen pillow cover.Linen dice weave pillows take their place on the sofa.
Faith is seeing the invisible. Faith is assurance that our hope is sound, and conviction that the unseen is true reality. As with the zipper, when you know the invisible is there, it is not hard to find.
May you notice details that are easily overlooked.
