Placemats

Just in time for Christmas, I finished 5 (of my 6) placemats.   Just enough for my small Christmas gathering.  These were so much fun!  I used 3 different weaving patterns, just for some variety, but kept the stripes the same for continuity.

This the first one, just off the loom. I gave it a wash and it tightened up some.  It is far from perfect, but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt.

 

This was the pattern I chose for my second pair of placemats.  I think I saw it called "Cat's Cradle", but I'm probably remembering that wrong.  I can't find it again for the life of me, so, it will remain a mystery :)

 

A New Adventure

 I'm a quilter at heart, and I expect I always will be. But OMG, I've found a new hobby!

Over the summer, I visited my sister and we went to a small fair in her neighborhood.  I saw a weaving demonstration there, and I was entralled. How did she do that?  The weaver had created a sampler that was 2" squares, and every square was a different pattern. I could understand every row (or set of rows) being different, but how did she get the pattern to change ACROSS the row?  My engineering brain latched onto it immediately!  

I chatted with the weaver for a while, and got a general understanding of how it works, but now I wanted to know how to create those designs.  I went home still thinking about it, and not being a very patient person, I found myself trolling Kijiji for looms within a week.  And trolling, and thinking, and missing out...  And then I found one. And my wonderful sister was kind enough to deliver from Prince Edward County all the way to Ottawa.

I of course had to load something up right away.  This was a complete mess - I lost my cross so the threads were a complete mess, but I did my best to turn it into something I could play on.  I broke about 3 warp threads, and learned a whole of what not to do :)

 

 

But I pushed through, played with some different treadle patterns, and got my first "piece" off the loom. then I tossed the rest of the warp threads (all 2 1/2 yards) that were irretrievably tangled.  The weft is some chunky yarn I had on hand - my original plan was to weave all my yarn stash into "something".

 

That's still an option, but...  I needed a few odds and ends (and a few more, and some more) for the loom as it came with no accessories at all.  So, when I ordered my shuttles I added some weaving yarn to the package. I thought I could make some Christmas placemats. For NEXT Christmas, because I'm not completely crazy.  So, the fancy cotton arrived, I found a neat "starter" project from a book that included all the details about how to calculate number of threads, and length, and everything.  Added a bit - because why make 4 placemats when you could make 6.  And, more carefully the time, warped my loom.

And here is some practice with more scrap yarn.

 

 

After which I jumped right in, and voila!  Placemat number 1.  I learned that you can actually unload a piece off the loom, and retie the warp to continue the next project.  A friend - the weaver from way up top and also the previous owner of my loom - suggested taking the opportunity to wash & dry this piece, because I was unhappy with the density (very loose) on the loom. It tightened up nicely, so now I go onward!

And here is the start of placemat #3. A different weaving pattern, because it's important to keep things interesting :)

Wedding Quilt

 My son got married last year, so I asked him and his wife if they would like a quilt. I was fully ready for a "no thank you", because I gave them a quilt at Christmas the year before, and my son has 2 or 3 others from when he was at school/graduation.  But, they said yes!

I don't quilt to order, but I asked what colours they liked, and was told "happy, spring colours" and her favourite colour is yellow.  

The Alaska quilt had been crossing my feed a lot around then, and I really liked it, so I decided that was going to be their quilt.  I changed up the colours from "Alaska Rainbow" to add in more yellow and highlight the center a bit more.  I also needed it bigger, so it would fit their queen size bed, so I designed borders for it.

I started and finished the top (minus the borders) in one weekend at a retreat.  The borders got added at my next retreat. I custom quilted it, because a wedding quilt needed special handling, and here it is, all complete.

I love this backing. When I was making the quilt, I knew exactly what I wanted to use on the back - I put this - in black - on the back of a different quilt about 4-5 years ago.  Which of course means it's likely out of print. But the internet is a wonderful thing. I managed to find a shop, in my province even, that still had some so I ordered immediately.  It's called "Radiance" by Henry Glass, and it's perfect.  I used the leftover to make a storage bag for the quilt.