Five of my favorite handwoven works are on display in a local exhibit. The Southwest Gourd and Fiber Fine Art Show is the current exhibit (through July 1) at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center in Kerrville, Texas. This is a competitive show featuring artists from across the US. Steve made beautiful wooden hanging and mounting devices for my pieces. Winter Window is a double-binding rag rug that is displayed as a wall hanging. I thoroughly enjoyed the design process for this rag rug, so I am happy that Winter Window received a Judge’s Special Award.
Southwest Gourd and Fiber Fine Art Show at Kerr Arts and Cultural Center in Kerrville, Texas.Light as Air Lace Draped Lace in Three-ShaftLace Weave Warp: Linen Weft: LinenChristmas Snowflakes Triptych Banners in Six-Shaft Irregular Satin, Drawloom 30 pattern shafts, 148 single units Warp: Linen/Cotton blend Weft: LinenJoseph’s Coat Wall Hanging in Four-Shaft Swedish Monksbelt Warp: Cotton Weft: Wool and CottonWinter Window Rag Rug in Four-Shaft Double Binding Warp: Cotton Weft: Cotton fabric stripsEye of the Beholder Pictorial Tapestry in Four-Shaft Rosepath Warp: Linen Weft: Wool and LinenArtist Reception and Awards evening. Winter Window receives a Judge’s Special Award.
If you hang a rag rug on the wall it becomes fine art. And I’m ok with that.
I made this rug longer than I had planned. Midway, I decided to increase the number of repeats in the design. This means I don’t know exactly how long this rug will be, so there is a bit of suspense as I wait to see the outcome.
Rug is completed with woven hem, warp thread header, and scrap weft. A few warping slats are inserted as spacers before starting the final stretch. The warping slats highlight the graphic nature of the overall pattern in the rug.Spacing is needed between rugs so that I have adequate length to tie warp ends into knots. After knotting the ends, the hems of the rug will be folded under and hand-stitched.End of warp is on the back tie-on bar, seen just above the warp beam. This is enough warp left to get a nice small rug. I have ideas for designing on the fly that are getting me excited about finishing this off!
I have a bit of warp left. It’s a good way to use up some of my cut fabric strips. This is my chance to play around, designing on the fly. That’s an exciting way to end a satisfying set of spaced rep rag rugs. Leave room for unencumbered play. And when you can go no further, end the suspense and see what you’ve got!
It pays to check your work. I have reached a new level of experience in distributing patterns shafts. I know how to do it backwards and forwards now. Literally. Unfortunately, I moved almost all of the pattern shafts before noticing that the spacing between units is not quite right. Uh oh! So, one by one, I reversed the distribution of pattern shafts to get back to the point of error—the very beginning. The reverse move was …more complicated.
Distribution of pattern shafts is part of the setup for the drawloom. It is a multi-step process that moves the pattern shafts, one at a time, from the heddle bar at the back of the loom to the pattern shaft holders just behind the ground shafts at the front of the loom. Sound complicated? It’s not that hard, and is fun to do after you’ve done it a few times.
Lesson learned:Check my work. I am off by only one unit of threads. That small miss, however, is enough to sabotage the whole project if not corrected. The sooner I check my work against the master plan the better. Fortunately, everything at the loom is fixable. It’s never too late to start again.
First, I use an old inkle band to slip between heddles that I am separating to transfer to a pattern shaft. Because I am using a combination of pattern shafts AND single units, I separate the heddles on the “front” side. If I were usining only pattern shafts and no single units, I could separate the heddles from the back while standing behind the loom.I insert a pattern shaft through the separated pattern heddles. Then I remove the inkle band and hang it around my neck, ready for the next transfer.I slip the waiting heddle bar through the pattern shafts that have not been separated……and remove the first heddle bar. This releases the separated pattern heddles onto the pattern shaft, which is hanging in a pair of holding cords. From here, the pattern shaft is moved forward to the pattern shaft holders. (I also adjust the clip overhead that connects the thread unit to a single unit draw cord.)After backtracking and starting over, I now diligently check the number and spacing of units on the heddle bar after every pattern shaft is moved into position. Success!Twelve pattern shafts, plus one X shaft. This project uses pattern shafts for the borders only – top, bottom, and sides. The rest of the pattern areas will use single-unit designs.
The sooner I check my life against God’s master plan the better. Fortunately, everything is forgivable. It’s never too late to start again.
All set and ready to go! Everything works. After a bit more testing of weft colors and patterns, it’s critter time. Watch for Mr. Armadillo first!
Combination drawloom. Pattern heddles hang on the heddling bars in units of 6 threads each. Each pattern unit is attached to an overhead single-unit draw cord with a lift heddle attached to a small metal clip. I use the clips so that I can leave the single-unit draw cords on the loom all the time, instead of removing and adding them for each project.
I’m one step closer to weaving these critter napkins. All the pattern heddles are hanging from the heddling bars in front of the back beam. I use little metal clips on lift heddles to attach each 6-thread unit to the single-unit draw cords. The next activity is distributing the pattern shafts—only thirteen this time, including the X shaft.
I hope you can overlook my “drawloom speak,” and just dream with me about the woven critters that will show up here soon!
May you keep getting ready for your next adventure.
It is no small matter to have this much setup completed on the drawloom. Now that I think of it, all of it is the fun part! Yes, I am looking forward to getting the single unit cords ready and distributing the pattern shafts. And yes, I am super eager to be sitting on the loom bench reaching for draw cords and pull handles, but I can wait.
Just look at that flatness! This is what I appreciate about the leveling string–it makes the warp ready for weft right at the beginning.
I am taking my time, determined to enjoy every intricate part of the process. I’m deeply grateful to know the satisfaction of being a weaver. Patience is built in.
