A mostly unplanned tapestry.

 As promised, I am posting about the tapestry I am playing with at the moment. 

I have a very vague plan - just some lines drawn on a piece of paper, no colours, no textural suggestions, just shapes. 

I have a collection of leftover thrums as well a some yarns I have bought over the years and have never used, of varying types. Some are wool, mohair, silk and wool mixes, dyed spun wool, etc. I am hoping to use the thrums but some are small amounts, so that might affect my colourway quite a bit. As you might gather, I really don't have a plan!

One good outcome is that I have learnt how to make the hanks of yarn into balls.

At a meeting of my tapestry weaving group a couple of months ago, we mentioned using coloured warp. I have never tried that so came home all enthused and ordered some. I have no idea what I am thinking to achieve with it but I have warped the loom with yellow. 

Because of the warp, my collection of thrums and other yarns includes a lot of yellow! 

Christmas Day 2022

Well, how time has rushed by! 

Happy Christmas to you - wherever you are, whatever conditions are dominant. 

I took some photos recently, of the hydrangeas that are in a pot at our front door. I take photos most years as they are gorgeous and always remind me that Christmas is coming! 

We have had some unseasonably cold weather leading up to Christmas and I was wondering if the flowers were affected, they were rather pale. 

The weather has warmed up (it was hot today - all of a sudden, we haven't had a good chance to get used to the hotter weather) and the flowers have changed colour.

They also let you know when they are thirsty - I love that they revive when you water them, that it isn't too late. 

The dark hollyhocks are in flower again too. I cannot resist picking the ones that are shrivelling. I may have to find some fabric to dye - again. They give a good colour usually. I haven't dyed with them, or anything much, for ages (exception was the stink lily recently but that was just using leftover bits and pieces of silk). 

Fortunately, it will be the summer holidays and I 'should' have time to play around. Just need the energy. 

I am trying to do some tapestry weaving, will post about that another day - maybe this year, maybe next year!

Trying to get motivated

 I have warped up a loom!! Hooray - I think.

I had an in-person meeting with my tapestry weaving group in November, we tried to meet in December but circumstances decided otherwise. Train disruptions, Covid, broken bones and surgery meant that several members could not attend. 

At our last in-person meeting, I had been enthused about buying some coloured warp. Yesterday I actually used some of the warp thread that I had ordered. Then I realised that is would give me a coloured edge! Not a huge problem but something to consider. 

I have a vague plan for my next piece - the theme is Where Threads Meet. Not a theme that speaks to me. But I decided to have a play around. I have warped up the loom. I even put in a coloured floor - then realised that it will be pulled out and I hadn't needed to use the coloured warp. Oh well, live and learn. 

Today I started to weave - using a very vague plan, if you could actually call it a plan. 

Then I saw a piece that a friend had woven and given to me and I decided I might like to try that idea - which totally doesn't work with my 'plan'. So I have temporarily stopped. But I think I will just keep on weaving and hope that something eventuates. 

I came across a whole lot of yarns that are not specifically for tapestry weaving but that I have had for years and not used. So they have become my 'plan'. I'll start weaving and see what develops - hopefully something doable. 

Just in case I need to use ATW yarns, I have got some out, in the colourway that I think I am going to end up with. Do you get the feeling that this is not a very well-planned piece? I don't care!!

I am also going to to use some yarns that have been saved from previous weavings, waste not want not. 

It sounds random, and is, but it is a start - and it is getting me weaving. 

Losing Patience

 The weather has been changeable - to say the least! It was cool, thundery with hail, occasionally, and sunny. So I decided that I really didn't want to leave the fabric in the solution with the stink lilies any longer. 

I got them out and had some trouble with knowing what was what, plant or fabric. The colour has leeched out of the petals and looked a bit like the fabric, big thick petals.  

I rinsed it out, put the leftover flowers into the new green waste bin we have, and have now put the fabric on the line to dry - under cover and in the wind. 

Some of the fabrics took the purple, others have done more traditional (in my mind) eco dyeing. The one on the end is a piece of old underwear, pure silk, that already had colour, so I am not too disappointed that it didn't take the purple, it is still rather interesting. 

The two pieces that took the colour best are the lightest weight silk, the others are bits and pieces I had, don't really know what silk they are, just that they are silk. 

At the moment, I see a cloudy sky in the making, with the various greys and purples. Not sure what to do with the browner noil silk but I'm sure it will come in handy. 

Also, the date is 12/12/22. Not fabulous but ok. 

Another mildly interesting date - 10/12/22.

 What to post about?? 

Our local tapestry group was supposed to meet for the last time this year today. But the trains were not running normally for three of our participants who travel a fair distance, another has had a recent operation and another has a broken ankle. So we decided not to meet. Hopefully we will be better (health-wise and organised) next year. 

I have joined a small group that meets fortnightly to do paper collages and we have been asked to make a piece for one other person in the group. We meet next Thursday. I thought I had better get going, in case anything comes up during the week. So I did some at home today - very rare for me, I usually only do it at the cafe. 

I did the Christmas one and then one about summer - our last theme that hardly anyone worked on when we last met - we didn't seem to be in the mood. 

I find that I don't have a preconceived idea, I just flip through the magazines and catalogues and let the images suggest themselves. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. (And now that I am looking at the photo, rather than the actual piece, I can see that I didn't stick it straight - bother!)

It is that time of year when you start to think about what to do in January, when nothing much is happening. Hopefully, the lovely cool summer weather we are having in our part of the world will continue and I won't feel too wiped out. I did hear that it might reach 48° in the Pilbara today - that lots of areas in Australia are having a heat wave. So strange to think that we are having such different weather down south. 

Another tiny piece!

 I have tried again to make a miniature piece. This time I had been given some little frames, so tried to work to that size. Once again, I just started and working to that size didn't come into my initial calculations. So I had to choose one part and cut the rest off - big decision needed. 

I ended up using the frame I had been given and just making the piece fit! I chose the landscape orientation. 

I have finished it and have put it into the Alcove Art Shop's Christmas A'Fair exhibition, which opened last night.

There were some lovely pieces. I especially loved the works by our newer members who are filters. 

Australian Tapestry Workshop exhibition

 I bravely used public transport to get to the ATW this week - no way was I going to try to drive there at 5.30, especially as I rarely drive in that part of the world. 

The trams were not all going to their destinations, some had bus replacements for parts of the trip. My tram was ok but everyone had to use it to get to the next stop for the buses, so it was very crowded at first. I wore my mask!!

There was an exhibition of past and present weavers from the ATW, showcasing the works they do now. Some continue with tapestry weaving, others have ventured into other fields. It was very interesting to see the different works. It was also lovely to catch up with people I have met through learning tapestry weaving, including several who have been my teachers. 

I didn't take all that many pictures of the works, I was too busy chatting and admiring and generally having a good time. 

There was an added bonus in that the weavers had finished the piece that they have been working on for over a year now, just before we arrived. That was special!!

One very tired but happy weaver. 

Here is a link to some information about it - it is huge. It has had to be woven in two sections that will be hung together to make one very large piece. I think it is the second largest tapestry in Australia (but don't quote me on that).

The painting has a line down near the middle, delineating the two parts of the tapestry. 

I suppose this relates back to my previous post, about keeping up my Artist Dates. Now I just need to get up the energy to actually do some art work!! Hopefully I'll get my act together soon - says she who has been saying this for quite a while now.