Trying to work out what I want to do!

 I am trying to get motivated to do a wall hanging. 

There is a call for entries for the AQIPP exhibition later this year. The theme is Where in the World?

Or I may make something for the Alcove Art Shop's winter exhibition. I have nothing new for it, so should get making. 

I thought I would do some grevillea images, using photographs I have taken in the last year, mainly due to the lockdown and lots of local walks. 

I have had the photos printed up bigger and then used a lightbox to trace them. Then I have traced that onto to Vliesofix and ironed it onto some fabric. So far, so good. The images are not very big, so the cutting out has taken a while. It takes up to an hour for each piece. 

They are turning out ok. But ... I don't really have a plan for how I am going to use them. 

I found an old article about doing something similar with a New Zealand plant, each one done on an individual piece of fabric, then put into a lovely design. I did my usual thing of starting without really knowing where I am going, so they may not fit the same size piece of fabric. 

And ... I have a piece that would be ok as a one-piece background. So ... I will continue to cut out some shapes and then decide what to do.

I have found lots of books on the shelf that I haven't used for years. It has been quite good to get them out and see what I might do. But then I get several ideas. Very confusing. 

I have also discovered that quite of few of my old books are about doing daily,  or weekly, or regular exercises to develop my practice. They are actually quite interesting and I have this, very mild, thought that I might try some. 

One other thing that has happened is that I am looking back at things I have tried in the past and am thinking to try some again. This blog is turning out to be invaluable, I have actually recorded some of the processes I have learnt at various classes and am thinking which ones I might try again. 

Therefore, I am going to put up some pictures of where I am at at the moment, even though it is not all that clear. I might want to look back one day and be reminded. 

So ...

Today I laid out some of the pieces I have cut onto a piece of fabric. I may go with this, I may not. Not to worry, I have recorded it! 

The shared tapestry is almost finished!

 I thought I should post today, it being 12/5/21 - not a wonderful date but still ok. Visually. The 12th of November will be better. 

I have been looking for notes I made at a Jane Sassaman workshop I did years ago - I think it was in 2012, that seems to be when the photos and other blog posts are from. I haven't found the drawings I was looking for but I was able to find some stuff due to the wonderfulness of the blog which is searchable. It gave me something to think about and a date to look up old photos. 

I have a glimmering of an idea for a new piece. It won't be big and I may make it into another bag for my tapestry loom. This was inspired by getting my small loom back on the weekend, due to our shared piece finally being finished. 

I looked it up and we started it in early 2019. It has been to several weavers and is now finished - ta da!!

We didn't rush. We could blame it on Covid lockdowns but I doubt that it would have been much faster. 

We had a cutting off ceremony with our small tapestry weaving group at the Handspinners and Weavers Guild rooms last Saturday. Not all the participants could be there but it was lovely to see most of them. And other members of the group who could not participate in the project. 

The weaving was done on a rolling warp, meaning you can move it around the loom to make it longer than the loom. I have yet to get my head around how to do this! Someone else set it up for us. 

And here she is braiding the warps so it won't all fall apart. 

The piece has gone to one of the weavers to be tidied up and made ready for hanging. The person who volunteered says she loves tidying up - not my thing at all but I am grateful that it is hers. 

Then we will have to decide what to do with her - who will have her, who will have room for her, where might we display our wondrous work, etc. (I couldn't work out where to put the question marks so that I didn't have to put full stops, so left them out.) 

I won't post a photo of it finished, in all its glory, till we have decided what to do with it. We may enter it in an exhibition that doesn't allow you to have published images previously. Watch this space (but don't hold your breath). 

Now I have my favourite loom back, and the bag it has been travelling around in. So I will have to put away the one I have been using lately and it needs a bag - in my opinion. Mind you, that doesn't mean I will make one, just that I am thinking about it. 

Getting there

 Well, I have finished the weaving and cut it off the loom. Then, to my horror, I realised that I hadn't hitched on properly. It is not a disaster as it is half hitched on. But I must have been in some strange state of mind when I started and only did some of the small tapestry hitching on procedure that I learnt in my first tapestry weaving course. 

I finished off properly, thankfully. 

So now I have to put a backing on and hope that it hides the strangeness. 

Also, when I have taken it off the loom and sewn in the warp threads (despite the strangeness of the hitching on) I have realised that it is totally reversible in the portrait orientation. One way shows the dark valley with the sunset coming in, the other shows the sunset with a darkening sky. 

Neither was the original intention, that the background colour changes our perception of the blue rectangle. 

Now I will have to decide how to hang it! But first I have to finish it off.