2020 AtoZ...Letter H...Off the Top of My Head

Letter H...Heddles

 Heddles are weaving loom needles and a weavers threading nightmare.  Multiply threading one needle by...let's be conservative and say 50....times 4 Harnesses.  Harnesses being the frames that hold top and bottom rails that the needles slide on.  Yes, they are moveable and threaded one at a time through the center of each vertical needle.  A threading tool with a hook on the end is used to pull threads through the eye.

Briefly, heddles are essential pieces of a weaving loom whether they be on a Harness Rail or a Ridgid Heddle frame.  I have both and I have to say the Ridgid Heddle Loom is much less of a nightmare to setup and thread.  In fact in comparison it is a Dream. 

However, it is limited somewhat to a plain weave or Tabby Weave. 

Fast, Fun and Fabulous...Right!!!

Then there is Slow, Stressful and Stunning!!!

Worth It....Right!!!

Ending March In Baby Pink...Blue-Green-Yellow-Purple

Baby Blankets have been made on my sewing machine, embroidery machine, quilting machine, knitting machine and crochet needles.  They have been made with quilting cottons, flannel, fleece and stitched with quilting threads, embroidery threads and embellished with buttons, beads and more.

The recipients include my grandchildren, nieces, nephews, charity groups and the babies of those who have purchased them in my shop.

So, as you might imagine, I have quite a collection of all things 'Baby' including a Baby Pattern Binder.  The baby shown in the photo is from one of my collected publications Patons Baby Choice...Paton's Wikipedia history.

Patons was founded in England in the early 1800's and produced yarns for commercial knitting machines.  Through a merge in 1920 they diversified to producing wool for home knitters and publishing knitting pattern booklets.

My Baby Choice booklet has it's original price sticker from Stedmans...a Canadian variety discount department store.  Published in 1981...Stedmans sticker price $4.25...on Amazon in 2020 $6.99 to $9.95.  Needless to say "You've Come A Long Way Baby" from England to Canada to Texas.

And from Knitting Needles to Ridgid Heddles 

I used Paton's crocheted blanket pattern 5 as a reference for my woven blanket.   My Ridgid Heddle Loom is limited in width, so I will use the Baby Choice pattern 5's crocheted border to size the blanket to fit a crib.

For next generation of babies from their Great Grandmother and Great Aunt.

Garage Makeover...New Loom Room

Over the years the garage has been a parking space for about everything except a vehicle.  It has also been a source of contention as a trap/catchall for overflow from one Studio or the other.  Both of the people in our household can take just so much of a chaotic overflow before a major cleanout becomes necessary.  That cleanout happened last month....just in time for another makeover.

Due to the...hopefully...temporary closing of Sue's Fiber Arts Studio at the Chicken Farm Art Center, any weaving done on Sparrow was going to be done at home.  It will work out for the best as Sparrow and all her weaving supplies and tools took up valuable display space at Studio #10.  A big regret will be not being able to demonstrate weaving to visitors who come to the Chicken Farm.

 

I don't know how long the 'Work From Home' will last or if a 'Shelter In Place' will become mandatory or if Sue's Fiber Arts Studio #10 at The Chicken Farm Art Center will get to re-open, but at least 'The Sparrow' has landed in her New Loom Room. 

And she has two New Spring Aprons!

(take up fabric on roller)

Aged Before Beautiful

Sparrow is 50 years old.  My collection of Yarns and Fabrics are from yesterday to 5 years old.  Other tools used in the creations above are somewhere in between.  For example my 'J' crochet hook has been around since the 1970's when crocheting with yarn came on the scene with 'Fringed Ponchos' and 'Granny Squares'. 

Also, somewhere in between those 50 years I collected glassware....lots of glassware.  As a matter of fact...a glassware post 'EAPC Oil Lamp Reaches the Age of Antiquity' has as many pageviews (1461) as I have glassware pieces...close anyway. 

How does that fit in with Aged Before Beautiful?
 

It is a matter of combining the aged with the new to create something beautiful.  In the case of my 'Winsor Jewelry Baskets' the yarn basket liner is a cut glass party plate made by the Federal Glass Company in 1975.  The plate pattern is called Winsor and has a jewel like design...perfect as a jewelry holder/box/basket.  I had a dozen plates and none of the punch cups that went with the plate, but had bunches of the EAPC patterned dessert bowls of the same era. 

 

Now for sale in my shop...a dozen Winsor Jewelry Baskets, and Sparrow's Yarn and Fabric Runners.

Oh, by the way...Sparrow is my Leclerc Floor Loom...she is aged to perfection!

Wordless Wed...Woven & Sewn

Weaving Continues Into June

If I failed to mention in the May Pattern Weaving Posts that the WARP is (white vertical threads) 8 yards long...then I'm telling you now...and WOW...that makes for a lot of weaving!  It's all good though!  I have been able to complete the entire 16 pattern sequences of the Rose Path Sampler Project and still have at least 3 maybe 4 yards of warp left.

     I'm learning a lot about drafting/charting both the threading and treadling patterns.  So let me say from the get go that I am a very visual and hands on learner.  With that said, you can imagine my visual brain sorting out the math calculations for figuring, well...all that math stuff. 
     So 'Charting' it all out and focusing on numbers and rows is good for the brain...or so they say for anyone, but especially for Seniors.     
     Wow, that's a category my brain is still wrapping it's self around.  Still....glad to be able to say I fit that saying...It's never to late to learn new things or the old dog...new tricks thingy.  
     It's a good thing that my loom only has 6 treadles.  Some have as many as 8 and 12....to much math for me...right now at least.
     So, another new thingy for me is the 'Boat Shuttle'.  I ordered 3...red, blue and yellow.  That's it there on the loom with purple yarn on the bobbin.  What a difference it makes in speed and tension.  Right tools....ya know!

This Pattern gets a BIG STAR marked on it for future use. 

It's been my favorite in this Sampler Series....well one of my favs!

Happy June, Ya'll.

Keeping Calm & Weaving On...Not EasyPeasy

 I am always trying to keep my Facebook Banners updated with whatever world of Fiber Art in which I am immersed or overdoing.  Currently, I am immersed, involved, caught up, occupied, engaged and engrossed (thanks synonym AtoZ Challenge) in pattern weaving.  As usual with something new to me, the OverDoSue is creeping in with the need to search and sort through pattern books and so far just about every 4 Shaft 6 Treadle Pattern Draft on Pinterest.  OMG there are so many!

In the effort to make said banners interesting and eye catching...I'm getting a chance to highlight some of the weaving patterns done so far.  It's nice to be able to collage together some of my favorites.

 I truly am trying to 'Keep Calm and Weave On'!

Plain Weaver to Pattern Weaver

OverDoSue has struck again!  So much for saying "All I really want to weave is a plain weave...over under-over under...for rugs, runners, bag inserts, etc.".  It seemed the simplest way to start on the a bit over daunting large floor loom...and it was!  Only requiring 2 of the 4 harnesses to clean and set up.  Only requiring 2 of the 6 treadles to tie up.  I have to say, I wasn't bored or over the over under weaving, and would probably continued for no telling how long.

But, when the opportunity to expand and learn more about the art of weaving presented itself...I went for it!  My friend and Master Weaver Audrey offered to take me to the next step as a weaver.  It required adding the other 2 harnesses, tying up all 6 treadles, learning to calculate warp threads, drafting 'Threading Sequences', drafting 'Treadling Sequences' and getting into a 'Pattern Weaving Zone....focus, focus, focus!

In time...it will not seem so 'OverDoSueness'...I hope!

Key To Packing Bags In Baggage

      Many of January's days were filled with Fiber Arts.  That would be weaving on table loom Dorothy, restoring floor loom Sparrow, twinning on rug loom LibbyLula and rag rug crocheting on 'BigQ', and with all that 'Looming'...I managed to keep my one News Year Resolution of posting here on CollectInTexas Gal. 

    

My primary goal was the once a week 52 Ancestor Challenge...and I did it...5 of those post in January...only 57 weeks to go.  The other once a week Family History meme I participated in was photo prompt Sepia Saturday.  Again, I did it with 4 Sepia Saturday photo prompt posts.

     All together 2019 January's 20 posts are somewhat of a record after the record low posting in 2018. I'm sort of breaking my arm patting myself on the back. 

     Well, not really breaking...I need both arms and hands to 'Pack My Bags' in my Vintage Monarch Baggage. 

     Is this a cool piece of baggage or what?  About this suitcase, I can say, "They don't make them like this any more." 
     Although the company is still producing luggage today,  you don't see this made for train travel suitcase or it's companion piece the 'Train Case' makeup bag. 
     Saw a set on eBay for $65.  Don't know what the original cost was for a set, but I paid $4 for this one piece at Junktique Shop.
     Now if you are familiar with vintage/used luggage there is almost always one thing missing!

The Key.

Fiber Arts Collage Maker...There's an APP for That

     The typical definition of 'Collage' reads like this, "From the French word coller, "to glue", is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole".  
     In todays visual arts, technology has impacted Collage Makers in such a way that "to glue" requires "no glue".  As an 'Old School Elmer's Glue-Meister", it's intriguing to envision collaging without some form of glue....even for a Fiber Collage Maker.  Yes, I use glue...it's called Fabric Glue and comes in a Spray Can and a Squeeze Bottle.

     Typical collaging can be a mixed media of paper, paint, scraps of this and that, and whatever.  So, how did Technology take those hands on 'GlueIt Together' materials to a 'ClickIt Together' visual art form.  They created an APP for that!  Next question...what's an APP?  I love this answer because it so fits a 'Fiber' collage makers thinking.  *"Simply put, an APP is a type of software...yeeeesss....that allows you to perform specific tasks."  

Perfect...I work with software...I'm all over this!

     Then the App'ers go on to say, "Applications for desktop or laptop computers are sometimes called desktop applications...yada yada mobile devices yada yada.  When you open an application, it runs inside the operating system until you close it." 

Yippee, more I got this!!! 

 *My operating system sewing machine is computerized, has a desk type top and it's mobile.

     There's more!  The APP Collage'ers  go on to give very specific 'APP's' for creating a collage.  Again, I couldn't be happier to be ahead of the Technology Collage Game.  First, there's the Picasa APP...really, I studied all about Piccaso in college Art History, and can even name most of his famous collage looking paintings...back then it was called Cubism.

     This one caught my attention...PicMonkey!  Now, how in the world does that relate to my method of picking from the stacks of fabric or picking from drawers, boxes, and bags for trim, buttons, dodads and so on.  I'm no monkey...or am I?  I studied 'Evolution' in collage college, too. 

Now, here's an APP I can totally related to, and use as a Computer Collage Technologist. 

 Photo Collage!!! 

As soon as I finish up here with posting these Photo Collages of my new line of

Fiber Art 'Collage Bags'...

...I need to get back to that 'Simply put APP'*

WordlessWed Followup...Slaying The Dragon

The Sparrow has Landed!  That was yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo only post. 

 So today here are the 'Words'....and more photos...of course.

I know it's not a lunar landing, but I'm loving my Old/New Loom to the moon and back. To dramatic? There's been a bit of drama with refinishing the maple wood, removing corrosion on metal parts and refitting the 'Brake System'...thank goodness for Google and internet links to the manufactures schematics on this...their oldest models brake system.
That's the brake system in photo one with a few shinny new 'S' hooks added to the old ones along with a new brake release cord.  First time I pulled on the old one it snapped in two.  I suspect barn mice had used it for weaving their nests.  On to threading heddles shown in photos two and three. I won't bore you with that tedious process, but know that it is time consuming and not a favorite part of getting ready to weave.  Next...'Slaying the Dragon'...also known in loom talk as Slaying the Reed.

 Here is the Before (top) and After shot of the refurbished reed. Again, so as not to bore with details, cleaning the rusted reed was comparable to cleaning dragon teeth with a steel wool toothbrush...after knocking off the rusty surface with a belt sander.  Then a 21st century 'Arty Duck Tape' upgrade over the 1960's version covering the frame.

The Dragon/Reed fits in a two part maple wood frame called the Beater Bar...photo 1 and 2.  Once it is secured in Beater Bar, the Dragon/Reed is ready to slay....really that's what it's called. After pulling all those threads through every other reed/tooth with a tool resembling a flossing pick with a hook on the end, I dubbed myself....

Dragon Slayer Sue, Mechanical Brake Engineer, and Duck Tape Specialist!

Impressive additions to my 'Resume'...don't you think!

WordlessWed...The Sparrow Has Landed

Dorothy The Weaving Wizzard

In case you have forgotten or didn't know, Dorothy is my LeClerc Table Loom.  She was so named by her maker in Canada and is made of maple wood...of course.  She has been my go to weaving gal since August of last year, and together we have been fairly productive.  Mainly making strips from scrap yarn and fabric...like this one. 

 So, what do I do with a six yard strip?

Cut it up...of course! 

Naturally, I stabilize the weaving before cutting with a zigzag stitch on the waste strips between each section.  This six yard strip yielded 10 sections.  What's next?

A Bird Bag!

One done and nine to go.

Speaking of Birds...Meet Sparrow!

     My Old/New to me LeClerec Floor Loom!  She too was made in Canada, of maple and named Nilus.  She came to Texas sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's, and made her way to Studio #14 from first owner, several second and third owners and finally to my artist friend Beverly.  This maple beauty was stored in several different barns, and finally moved to a garage of my longtime friend and artist Beverly.  Beverly is a painter, not a weaver and offered the loom to me. 

     I have spent the last week cleaning and refurbishing the beautiful maple wood, removing years of corrosion on the metal parts and putting it back together to make ready for warping and weaving.  This week I will finish warping and hopefully begin my first weaving of a rag rug.

     I renamed her 'Sparrow' for the symbolism of a sparrow's diligence as a weaver of nests and for their spirit of joy in being productive. 

Neat, huh...I'm a weaver, a nest builder and find joy in being productive.

New Year 'Change-O-Lutions' Not 'Res-O-Lutions

Starting a New Year off with something that represents the first month of the year has become a common theme here on this blog.  Or so previous years indicate as I looked back at January 1st posts.


I've been a full year blogger since 2010, so that amounts to 9 years of January 1st posts...counting this one.  I won't review all of them, but I do have a favorite or two.


 Like THIS one from 2010 where I pictured myself back in 1951 via a calendar collection from that year.  I was 4 years old, and the pictures were taken by my Mother with her Kodak.


Another favorite post HERE from 2016.  It was about making New Years resolutions...or Not!   Did you know that the #1 resolution for most people over the years has been to lose weight?  Here's what Erma Bombeck had to say about losing weight...

In two decades I've lost a total of 789 pounds. 

 I should be hanging from a charm bracelet. 

 

For the New Year 2019...I'm doing Change-O-Lutions...not Res-O-Lutions!
 #1...Sue's Fiber Arts Studio...name change.
(Check out my Facebook Banner and posts HERE)

#2...Studio14 Work Space...making room for Floor Loom.

(Loom is a photo shopped in picture like the one that will arrive in a few weeks)

 #3...Inventory...more Art Yarn, Woven Wall Art, Woven Rugs, Bags & Wearables.

New Sign at Studio #14 at The Chicken Farm Art Center

Bows, Bags and Bits&Bobbles of Weaving

I have a Red Bow theme going on in my Shop this year.   They are decorating the door wreath, the wire mannequin by the front steps and directing shoppers to the 'Red Bow & Tinsel' Sale. 


For now the sale is 25% off...you know...that magic Christmas number.  Before the last days before Christmas...which will be Saturday the 22nd...all the 'Red Bow & Tinsel' tags will be 50% off...at least most of them...for sure the ones that are for Christmas. 


I've been collecting Christmas Gift Bags since the Thrift shops put them out.  It's amazing how many people donate them to GW, SA and others I shop usually once a week.  I only buy the ones that are that weeks half off tag or marked down and in excellent condition.


Of course I cleaned out my own collection of saved gift bags and added them to the thrift shopped ones.  Shoppers at my Studio Shop seem to really appreciate getting the bags with their purchases.  I'll continue this thrifty bag shopping throughout the year...for special occasions, holidays and birthdays.  Always see lots of Birthday Bags.

And now for Bits&Bobbles of Weaving!

I'm having sooooo much fun weaving on Dorothy...my table loom.  About 15 inches is as wide as the piece can be, but the length can be quite long depending on the warp...the white lines you see on this piece.  All of the horizontal bits and bobbles are called the weave.  This piece is about 14x16 and was made to finish off a 6 yard warp.  It will be a wall hanging when finished.  I have more bits and bobbles to embellish...probably will be an OverDoSue thingy!!

WordlessWed...Saori Moon&Stars

Sue's She Shops OverDoSue MakeOver

We hear a lot about 'Boys and their toys.  You know...power tools, dream cars like Jags and Corvettes.  And how about all the hoopla about guys and their 'Man Caves'!

It's high time gals like me...Fiberistas...have 'She Caves'.  I'll call mine 'Sue's She Shop'.  Of course you know I talking about Sue's MadeWith Fabric&Fiber Studio14....which just this past week got a total OverDoSue Makeover!

Why?  I had to make room for a new to me Fiber Toy...a Leclerc Table Loom 4 Harness Dorothy model.  Naturally I'll name her Dorothy.  Adding Dorothy to Studio 14 resulted in this post on Facebook.

Studio 14 Makeover Mess! So, this is what happens when I get a new (to me) Fiber Toy...a Table Top Loom which is about 22" wide x 24" tall x 20" deep and sits on a table 20"x28". 

 Now you would think something that small would slip right in to my about 16ft x 20ft studio. Nope, it required a total move of every shelf, table, cabinet and rearrangement of nearly every skein of yarn, bolt of fabric and finished goods. 

It was all good though...the fiber dust bunnies, lint, dropped pins, buttons etc. accumulated over almost a year got swept and dusted. Tomorrow....the Reveal. Oh, and you will be able to get in the door. I think I need a Re-Grand Opening to celebrate my Table Top Loom...one more off my Fiber Bucket List. Now to find time to WEAVE!

The Reveals

Check out Counter left front. Yarn Blending and RagRug Supplies right front. Spinning and Weaving back left. Sewing center on back wall behind the Roving Bins.

 

 Reveal part 2...The Sales Floor Areas!!

Welcome...come on in...the AC is on and there is lots to see and do at Sue's Studio!

Yellow Tag Sale still going on for Aprons...you don't have to cook to wear one! Just sayin'. Lots of NEW Microwave Bowl Cozies...Found some great Texas Fabrics in my Stash. NO MORE TO HOT TO HANDLE bowls out of the Microwave. Always a good supply of these best sellers. Also have a rack of Yellow Tag Rag Rugs plus a good stock of new designs...always have a rug on the loom or on the hook.

I know it's still HOT, but I've been busy with knitting needles and crochet hooks

 getting ready for Fall and Winter....THINK COOL/COLD/GIFTS.

Do you Love Vintage...like me? I have a wonderful collection of Vintage Quilts....wall and bed sizes. I also make bags, pillows and more from vintage fabrics, crochet and embroidery. They will bring back sweet memories of mothers and grandmothers. 

So, Yes, I DO All that the sign says and sometimes have to stop and unwind by rewinding. 

 I always have plenty to go around!