Tag: Freja tapestry frame

Casita Tapestry

Karen

As Steve and I sign off little by little from activities and responsibilities here in Houston, the taste is bittersweet. Bitter, because moving away from time-tested friends is heart wrenching. Sweet, because an unknown exciting adventure awaits. Bitter, because unknown is uncomfortable. Sweet, because heart-connected friendships are treasures that distance can’t destroy. Bittersweet, but not bitter-ness, or sugary-sweet pretense. It’s life. Texas hill country living and Casita adventures are less than a month away! It’s all good.

Tapestry of our Casita travel trailer.
We are naming our Casita travel trailer “La Perlita” – (“Little Pearl”).
Glimakra Freja tapestry frame. Expressive tapestry weaving.
Large Glimåkra Freja tapestry frame and expressive tapestry weaving.
Tapestry of our new Casita.
Adventures are coming soon…
We will pick up our new little pearl the day after Steve retires and pull it to our hill country home.

May you have friends by your side when you face bittersweet seasons.

All the best,
Karen

Weaving La Perlita

Karen

One reason I am making friends with this large Freja tapestry frame is Steve’s quickly advancing retirement date. The day after his final work day we are picking up La Perlita, our new Casita travel trailer. We are looking forward to some fun times. Steve will have his carving knives for whittling. And I’ll have my loom. And yarn. What more could we ask for?

Making a tapestry cartoon.
For the cartoon, I enlarged the picture from the Casita brochure, and then drew my own background around it.
Tapestry of our new Casita - "La Perlita."
Home again, after staying with and playing with my young grandsons. The weaving represents a week’s worth of naps.
Tapestry of our new Casita travel trailer!
Using technique similar to the four-shaft tapestry on my Glimakra Ideal loom. This gives me a chance to add more depth and texture to the tapestry image. With this technique, some warp does show.

May you have something to look forward to.

Happy weaving,
Karen

Weave Every Day

Karen

I like to weave every day. At least a little bit.

This week, though, I have more important things to do, like playing outside and having pillow pallet parties with grandsons. Do you know how demanding full time motherhood is? I’ve done it, but that was eons ago. Diaper changes, giggles and tears, and squabbling. And forgetting.

Outside

Pillow pallet party

Read with me!

At the park

Way up high

But I did get my big Glimåkra Freja tapestry frame warped…And a header woven…And I wove the first few picks of the tapestry. That’s what nap times are good for.

Tapestry frame

Tapestry frame

Tapestry frame

Little children quickly forget the offense that started a squabble. After nap time, they’re off, giggling together again. Forgiveness forgets. Have you ever had a squabble with God? We’ve all been there. When God forgave us he smudged out the long list of all our offenses. And then he nailed it to the cross of Christ, our squabbles forever forgotten. And in the resulting quiet that’s like a restful nap time, our Lord weaves his image in us.

May your squabbles be few.

Forgiven,
Karen

Sun Rising

Karen

The little village is waking up. Sun rising. This small tapestry is near completion, and I am happy with the things I have learned in the process. Now, I am preparing a cartoon and gathering an array of Fåro wool colors for the next small tapestry. I may be jumping in over my head with this next one, but I will learn new things to practice.

Sun Rising. Small tapestry project on Freja loom.
Little woven village at the start of a new day. Sky is developed with hatching. Small ojos form three birds in the sky. Freja Tapestry Frame.

In my tea and tapestry time (tapestry diary) in the evenings, my intention is to improve my tapestry skills by practicing the little that I know. The concept is to learn by doing. Find what works, and do it more. For example, in the class I recently attended at Weaving Southwest, Teresa Loveless worked with me on the hatching technique. When I came home to this little tapestry village, I wanted to implement that new understanding right away. The sunrise sky, created with hatching, came as a result of Teresa’s coaching and my desire to learn by doing.

Isn’t that how we navigate through life? Take what you know about how to live, and how to please God. And then do it more. Learn by doing. Every new insight builds, not on what we know, but on what we have put into practice.

May you enter a sunrise season of life.

With pleasant anticipation,
Karen

Tools Day: Tapestry Frame on Display

Karen

There is nothing that hinders cello practice more than a good old cello case. Out of sight; out of mind. Many years ago I discovered that if my cello sits out in the open on a cello stand in the corner of the room, I am much more likely to practice. The same is true of weaving on my tapestry frame. By hanging the tapestry frame in a corner of our living room, I have a continual reminder to weave. And we get to enjoy a living piece of artwork in the room–artwork that grows a little each day.

Tapestry diary of little houses.

Steve made this simple holder for my tapestry frame. The 3/4″ x 1 1/2″ (2 cm x 4 cm) pine has two dowels, and is fastened to the wall with countersunk screws. The holder practically disappears behind the tapestry that it puts on display.

Pine holder for small Freja tapestry frame.
Pine board has two dowels on which to set the tapestry frame.
Tapestry frame holder.
Accessibility is the secret to daily tapestry practice. To prevent the tapestry frame from being accidentally knocked off its holder, it is placed in a corner of the room that is not in a walkway.
Super simple tapestry frame holder.
Tapestry frame holder is attached to the wall with two countersunk screws.
Small tapestry diary of little houses.
Tapestry diary for July is a village of little houses.

May you have reminders to practice your art.

In progress,
Karen