Warp Core Breach

Ok, maybe not a full on breach, but I've got some warp problems on my second weaving piece.

I'm not sure what is going on here.... it's not supposed to be all crisscrossed like this behind the reed.

 And it's not supposed to be in three layers in front of the reed like this. I will be reaching out for the collective wisdom of weavers on the web to figure out what's going on.

But the actual weaving is going well.  This yarn is a sport-weight soy silk, so while it's still a bit thin for the reed, it's working fine.

And yeah, purple again.  I'm not sure how I ended up with so much purple in my stash.

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

when first we practice to... uh... weave.


Here's my first woven project.  I learned quite a bit, which is just a nice way to say that I messed up a lot.

There's not a ton that you can do wrong basic weaving, I mean it's just sending the shuttle full of yarn back and forth.  But the edges get wonky if you're not careful, and I tried to get fancy tying off the fringe and it looks a bit sloppy.  I also misjudged how long to make the warp (vertical) yarns because I hadn't factored in how much would be needed to tie the yarn onto the loom but which wouldn't actually become part of the weaving.

The biggest issue I had was that I used the wrong sized yarn for the reed that came with my loom.  The reed is the wood & plastic thing in the middle that the warp yarn goes through.  Reeds are spaced wider for thicker yarns and narrower for thinner yarns.  Since the spaces on my reed were bigger than needed for the lace-weight yarn I used, it ended up being a very loose, drape-y weave.  Which isn't necessarily a problem.  But it's one of those things that is supposed to be a choice and not an accident.  Which it was. ;)

Oh well. I've already got another project on the loom and hopefully it will turn out a bit better.

New Toy!

As if I didn't have enough projects in the works already, I bought myself a new toy - an Ashford 16" Rigid Heddle Loom.

It comes unfinished and un-assembled, so I get a bonus project of getting to pick out a stain, and put it all together.  I say this with all sincerity... I love putting stuff together!

First-up, staining with a "Colonial Maple" color.  It was a bit cold outside, so I skipped the second coat.  But considering it will only be used inside, I think that's sufficient.

Next, assembly.  Easy-peasy.

But then comes the tough part... actually 'warping' the loom - putting the yarn through all the little slots on the reed.

It took about two hours to warp the loom.  I actually gave up before I'd threaded each slot.  I figured it was wide enough for a first scarf.

Once I had warped the loom I was off and weaving.  The actual mechanics are pretty straight forward, and I watched a you-tube video to get a couple hints.  It's still very much a first project... the sides are sloppy and I've discovered that the reed I'm using is too big for the weight of yarn I chose so it's going to be a bit loosely woven when all is said and done.  But that won't necessarily be a bad thing... we'll just have to wait and see.

WIPs

Here are a few other quilts that I have in progress.  I'm really trying to finish these up before starting anything new because I am absolutely itching to buy an Ashford rigid heddle loom so I can learn to weave.  But as craft-crazy as I am, I do know that if I keep starting new hobbies, I'll never get any of these done!

Evergreen pyramids:

I had actually gotten as far as cutting out all the pieces and laying out the design, but then I decided that there were entirely too many light-light colors in the mix, so I kinda brought it back to square one and started buying more fabric.  I have several more dark greens now, and plan to start cutting them out this weekend.


Half-square triangle quilt, part 2:

I've been trying to transition my quilting stash into batiks, so I've cut up a good bit of my non-batiks to make these little half square triangles.  I have a couple pinwheel blocks left over from two previous quilts, and lots and lots and lots of HSTs.  I haven't yet settled on a design idea yet, I may just set all the triangles going the same way, but I might do some kind of zig-zag design.  I have to look at how many squares of each color I have to see what will work.


Scrabble part 2:

As soon as I finished up my first scrabble quilt for J., my sister declared that she wanted one as well.  Fortunately I bought most of the fabrics at the Fabric Depot outdoor sale (back when they had outdoor sales!) and had to buy full yard cuts... so I had enough of most of them to make both quilts.  I just had to order more of the letter fabric.

I've been plugging away on this one.  Putting together one quadrant at a time is really quick (takes about an hour) and very satisfying.  So this has been an easy project to work on here and there despite my classes & homework.


Thailand:

Gah - for such a small project this one is taking forever to finish up!  I was so inspired to do a project to represent my time in Thailand, and now I've been back for longer than I was gone and it's still not done!  I pull it out every couple months and kinda look at it, try to figure out how to get my ideas to translate into fabric.  This one is getting dangerously close to 'UFO' territory.


Amor:

I've been wanting to do a series of monochromatic quilts just to play with the colors.  I've actually sewn a bunch of these strips together but then, again, decided there were too many light-lights for the effect I was looking for.  So I went out and bought more dark red fabrics and need to go back to the cutting mat as it were.  The series will be all lap-sized quilts, and simple stripes, so they won't take me very long.... but with everything else on the table, who knows when I'll get them done.



Super secret incredibly awesome if I ever actually get it finished quilt:

I've got the fabrics, I've got a pattern sketched out, I've even put together a bit of a prototype for it.  I'm excited, but I feel like I will need a lot of free time and mental space to work on this... it's not really suited for putting together one small part & putting it away like the scrabble quilt is.  So, I plan to devote most of the month-long break between summer term and fall term to work on it.

The UFOs:

Yeah, I've still got this one hanging around (literally... in the closet).  And I've still got the two quilt tops I inherited from older relatives.  Someday.  SOMEDAY!  Some magical day when I don't have classes and don't have any more pressing / more interesting projects to work on I may actually pull these out and get them quilted up. Someday.

Pretty Pinwheels

Well, I took about every shortcut possible quilting up Pinwheels, but it still took a while to get it all done.  

I just used diagonal wavy-lines for the pinwheel portion, stripes for the inner border and I was *not* about to outline-quilt each and every one of the 'piano-keys' so I just stitched a few lines on each side - just enough to tack it down.  Then machine stitched the binding.  Finished size is a bit under 45"x60"... a good lap size / baby quilt.

The backing - ugh.  I'm so lazy sometimes.  I didn't even check to see if it was all lined up properly before I started quilting it.   Oh well, maybe slanty quilt backings are the new 'modern' technique. ;)

Cannon Beach

I've been feeling rather drained lately, and have really needed to get away to recharge.  I managed to pick the absolutely most perfect day to head to the beach.  The weather was amazing - sunny and warm with only a little wind.  Gorgeous!

Pinwheels in progress

Believe it or not I have been trying to squeeze in working on some quilts between work and taking Spanish classes.  I'd hoped to finish one up over spring break... but I'm not quite there yet.

Back well before 2008 I had decided to make a flower-basket type quilt for my niece.  This was the general plan:

 

And here were the first few fabrics I'd cut out :

But... it sat in a box for a good long time.  Finally last year I opened it up and did a test block.  I didn't like it and made a vague decision to just make a bunch of half-square triangles and then see what else I could do with them.  

HSTs are a bit addictive though... once you start it's hard to stop. 

Anytime I was bored (aka procrastinating to avoid writing a Spanish paper) I'd just cut up some 3 1/2" squares and spend an hour sewing them up.  I've probably got enough for a full sized quilt... but I don't like making big quilts so I'll probably make two smaller quilts.

First up - pinwheels!

That pink is not the background or anything - it's just the back of another quilt I'm using as a 'design wall' of sorts.  

I've actually added a 'piano keys' scrap border... and am about to start the quilting.  Hopefully I'll manage to finish this one up before I get swamped with homework from my next class!!