embroidery – Warped for Good

Handwoven Applique for Christmas

December 15, 2020December 13, 2020 Karen

Our family celebrated a birth-day last week. Meet baby Isaac, our ninth grandchild! Also, this week, I am finishing up the pictorial scene of another celebrated birth-day. Each appliqué piece is stitched to the background, using various threads, needles, and simple embroidery stitches to help convey the details of this humble historical event.

Newborn baby — Welcome to our family, baby Isaac.

Handwoven remnants for Christmas tree skirt.

Many firsts are represented in these handwoven scraps. My first floor loom project, first handwoven curtains, first 8-shaft weave, first linen warp, first drawloom piece, etc. There are some special family memories here, too—wedding gifts, baby wrap, housewarming… Humble beginnings and handwoven treasures generated by love.

Reverse side of handwoven Nativity project.

Birth is a picture of the fullness of God’s grace. The birth of our ninth grandchild is as glorious as the birth of the first. Each new child brings yet-unwrapped gifts. The birth of baby Jesus is a picture of the fullness of God’s grace brought within reach of all. His humble beginnings, with manger bed and young parents, animals and stars watching—all so wondrous to ponder. Christ Jesus came into the world, to be wrapped in scraps of cloth! We are still unwrapping the gifts he brought to us from heaven—forgiveness, peace, and enduring joy. God with us, Immanuel.

Christmas tree skirt Nativity. All handwoven!

May your home be filled with heavenly treasures.

Christmas blessings,
Karen

Handwoven Blankets for Babies

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 Karen

Handwoven baby blankets are for cuddling babies. It is a pleasure to weave a baby blanket for a dear friend’s first grandchild. As long as I’m dressing the loom, it makes sense to weave more than one. So the second baby blanket is for cuddling my own grand-babies when they come to visit.

Double weave baby blankets. Cutting off! — Double weave baby blankets unrolled from the cloth beam, ready to be cut off.

Hemming double weave baby blanket. — Double weave top and bottom layers are stitched together by hand at the hems. Contrasting thread is used for a decorative embroidered look.

Embroidered edge of handwoven baby blanket. — Whipstitch in contrasting thread.

Handwoven baby blankets super soft for baby's skin. — Blankets are triple washed for softness. Ready to touch baby’s skin.

Double weave baby blanket. — Double weave has reverse pattern on the back.

Handwoven baby blanket for newborn. — Meet Julian, my friend’s new grandson, wrapped in love.

Handwoven baby blanket. (Resting on his great-great-grandmother's quilt.) — Meet Benjamin, our newest grandson, wrapped in love. (Resting on his great-great-grandmother’s quilt.)

A resting baby is a picture of hope. Hope for the next feeding, hope in the mother’s tender love, hope in the father’s secure arms. No arrogance, no illusion of grandeur. Just quiet rest. Hope in the Lord looks like this. Hope for today, the future, and forever. My soul is at rest—in complete rest and trust. Like a resting baby in his mother’s arms. Like a baby wrapped in a blanket woven especially for him.

May you find rest.

Blessed,
Karen

Hint of Shadows

September 15, 2017September 14, 2017 Karen

I hope this isn’t cheating, but I added a teeny bit of embroidery to the finished bluebonnets. One thing I learned with this transparency is that an image that looks flat can be improved with a hint of shadows.

Woven transparency just off the loom! — Cutting off! First moment of seeing the entire finished transparency from the front.

I’m thankful for my husband’s artful eye. He helped me identify the “off-screen sunlight” that would produce natural shadows. I am adding a few darker stitches to the right-hand side of some of the lighter areas, and a touch at the sides and lower end of the flower stems. My hope is to give the picture a bit more depth.

Embroidery added to finished woven transparency. — A single strand of mora wool in a darker shade is used to embroider some outline stitches on the right side of some of the bluebonnet petals.

Shadows tell us something: There is a light source. Find out where the light is coming from. That is what it’s like for those seeking God. There are shadows everywhere you look. We see the shadows–the effects of a shining light. And we want to find the source.

Texas Bluebonnets transparency. Karen Isenhower — Hint of shadows helps give shape to the otherwise flat transparency.

Go on a search and exploration expedition. Start with small shadows that you see, the circumstances and blessings that hint at an outside light source. Such seekers may discover that God is just off-screen, waiting to be found.

May you follow where the shadows lead.

With joy,
Karen

Little Chapel Tapestry

September 18, 2015September 17, 2015 Karen

This little chapel tapestry is growing line by line. I am weaving from the back, left to right, a single line at a time, following a cartoon. I create shades of color by blending three strands of soft Fåro wool in seemingly thousands of combinations.

Weaving small tapestry while traveling. — Weaving small chapel while waiting for my delayed flight at the airport. Chapel steeple in cartoon presents a challenge.

I knew all along that the slim spire of the steeple would be a challenge. Will I have to leave off the uppermost thin line and cross? Honestly, leave the cross off the chapel? I don’t think so. Maybe wrap around a single warp end with half-hitches, and weave the short horizontal line over just three warps… Hmm, that doesn’t work–too robust for this little chapel spire.

First steeple cross attempt fails. — First attempt to weave the steeple cross. Bulky and distracting.

Take it out.

Working on the steeple cross. — Black yarn that formed the cross is removed, leaving a gap.

Weave through the empty spaces.

Undoing part of the tapestry. — Some of the sky is removed in order to sufficiently weave over the gap.

Weaving small tapestry from the back. — Closing the gap by weaving existing threads across, and weaving removed threads back in.

Study the scene…

Adding a cross to the small chapel steeple. — Chapel steeple without a cross.

Aha! …Embroider a single-thread cross.

Embroidery on a small tapestry. — Single strand of Fåro wool is used to backstitch a cross on the steeple top.

Yes, that works.

Small tapestry chapel. Karen Isenhower — Elevated cross on the chapel’s steeple gives meaning to the woven scene.

Keep your eyes on the destination. If a cross is needed on the tip of the spire, keep trying until you find a way. With your heart set on the destination, the Lord gives strength for the journey. Don’t give up when things are not working out. Take a step back to view the whole scene, and you will see how the cross completes the picture.

May you have strength for the journey.

With love,
Karen