Just concluded a weaving weekend at the studio. I LOVE this house. It has an ambience that is hard to explain. Maybe it is all the years of living that it has seen, I don't know. I only know that it feels good to be here.
Judy was my student and weaving companion for the weekend. She arrived Friday night, and started right in weaving. I set her to work on the Leclerc studio loom that was already warped. I gave her simple instructions on throwing the shuttle, and advancing the warp, and left her to it, just to get the feel of it.
I made pasta........whole wheat penne with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, fresh basil, garlic and olive oil. With a great green salad. We had a late dinner, and went to bed........she had a long trip here, and I had a long week!
Saturday we cut the warp off the Leclerc, and she began to wind her own warp. We didn't put a long warp on, I think sometimes that it isn't necessary to put on a long warp in order to know how to do it, and then I don't have to feel guilty about weaving it off, or not. So she put a short warp on the loom, got it all beamed on, threaded, and sleyed. It was a red boucle warp. She used a purple variegated thread for the weft, and did plain weave with stripes of twill. She made a runner that turned out to be at least 3 ft long. It is beautiful.........I said, "WOW".......either you are a really good student, or I am a great teacher.....we decided that both could be true!
We cleaned up and went out to dinner with my husband and my mother, and then to a show....."Footloose" at the Charles Wood Theatre....by the Adirondack Childrens' Theater group......it was very good. Long day, we were exhausted.
Sunday....today.....she wove a rug.....yes, an entire rug......made from loopers.....a gumball rug....about 2'x3', and she did another awesome job.
She tried a little spinning.....but I think after all that weaving, her heart wasn't in it.
We ate Mexican......and once again.....we are beat.
Where did this weekend go??? The time flew by, I enjoyed teaching her to weave......and I hope that she enjoyed her weekend at Crazy as a Loom.

Mimi's Vintage Rag Rugs

Quite some time ago, I acquired a stash of fabric on bolts......prints from Joann's......nice cottons in lots of bright colors. I cut it into strips with my Eastman Chickadee cutter, each no more than 24" long, some shorter, then set out to sew them all back together randomly. I roll them into balls, and put a colorful warp on the loom, red, light green, turquoise, purple, lilac, orange, yellow, and bright blue.
The rugs that are woven with this fabric are Mimi's Vintage Rag Rugs. They are modern day "hit n' miss"........instead of using bits and pieces of old worn out clothes, I use leftover fabric, the brighter the better.
I have cut my strips thinner and thinner, so they are lightweight rugs, much like the antique rugs that I have.
The whole process is a lot of work, but I think the result is worth it, and in fact, I think these are my favorite woven rugs.
It is amazing though, how quickly I have gone through the shelves of fabric that I thought would last for a year.