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Showing posts from May, 2017

Island Time

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Tapestry Weavers South  celebrated a milestone tonight, twenty years!  Twenty eight weavers gathered on St. Simons Island Thursday for a three day retreat. A beautiful setting to relax and connect with new friends and old.   Lots of looms, lots of weavers and lots of inspiration.  As the retreat was a celebration there was plenty of time to visit with one another and weave.  The coolest thing about the weekend was getting to meet in "real life" weavers whose work you admired and facebook and blog friends. Connie Lippert gave a talk on wedge weave. Jon Eric Riis critiqued submitted work and gave us constructive feedback. This portrait of a cocker spaniel by MJ Lord exuded joy. Jon examines a finely woven piece by  Molly Elkind . Norsk Fjord Fiber 's Sidsel  Moreb discusses her tapestry with Jon. Sarah shared her approach to establishing and maintaining a daily tapestry practice. This wonderful piece is by Pat Williams and one of my favorites. This is Ur...

Filament - New Work from TWS

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A small group of tapestry weavers created  Tapestry Weavers South  in the late  1990s.  Tapestry Weavers from all over the southeast United States joined together to promote the artistry of tapestry.  On Saturday, May 6th at the  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center  Filaments, the new tapestry show opened. Here are a few of the pieces from the show. Betty Hilton-Nash  and Leslie Fesperson did a wonderful job of hanging the show. Below are some pictures of the artists with their work at our most recent TWS meeting. It was a pleasure to be part of this show and even better is being a member of this group.  Tommye Scanlon gave an inspiring talk about the process of weaving tapestry.  You can enjoy it here.  TWS Filament .

Rust Dyeing

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In an effort to not feel left out by skipping the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival a few of us got together for fiber pursuits. First up, was some rust dyeing.  We wrapped some rusty bits in silk scarf blanks and then simmered the scarves in a pot of yellow onion skins overnight. I tried a new to me technique using steel wool.  I got the idea from  here .  Whenever I dye anything I start by washing it in Synthrapol.  With rust dyeing there is no need to pre-mordant. The materials needed are basic, gloves, an empty wine bottle, a package of steel wool, some string or rubber bands, white vinegar and water. 1.  Wear gloves, the steel wool can cause small cuts on your hands.  I might have learned this the hard way. 2.  Unfold the steel wool into long strips and wrap around the wine bottle. 3.  Take the wet scarf and wrap it in a spiral up to the neck of the wine bottle. 4.  Secure with rubber bands or string.  I used an old rusty strip ...

Peppertree Rescue's Furry Fun Run

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What's the most fun you can have on the run? I think it's the Furry Fun Run. It's a great 5K to benefit Peppertree Rescue group, and the best thing about the event is that you can run with your dog. We got both Ike and Brooks from Peppertree (and maybe someday they'll find us a new furry friend.) So Mike decided to run in memory of Kelly and Ike.   I loved seeing so many different breeds of dogs represented. And they all got along.  And the race is on! Here they are at the finish line. Mike made it! We were glad to be a part and support Peppertree Rescue. We even made a new friend, Bernie.

Zeke's Movie Night #MyDogsPurpose

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#MyDogsPurpose This is a sponsored post. BY ZEKE I was standing in the kitchen chowing down on my crunchy munchy kibble when my mind started wandering, as it tends to do because I'm only a three-year-old golden retriever, and can't concentrate on any one thing too long and I started thinking about my purpose. What is my purpose? Visions of taking my humans for walks and helping devour all that pesky bacon in the refrigerator flashed before my eyes, but before I could find an answer to that perplexing question...my humans came along and told me it was time for Family Movie Night. Well that begged the question, what is the purpose of movie night? I think it's to bring all the family together--with me in the center of course--to share in a mutually bonding experience. We all sat around in my human grandparents' living room. I visit here often. My best friend in the whole wide world, Ike, used to live here, but he went over the rainbow bridge just five weeks ago. I miss...