summer flowers

summer flowers

Monday, April 10, 2017

Saturday, April 8, 2017

April Showers

We have been getting more rain than usual and warm weather.  My spring flowers have been beautiful and the blooming trees around town have been great to see.
Flowering Pear Tree
This tree is beautiful, I am told it does not have a good fragrance.  But because my sense of smell is so undeveloped, I love seeing this tree bloom each spring.

 Golden Crocus
The golden crocus are gone now, but they always give me a good feeling when I see them.  They make me smile!

The Sarah Jackson workshop was great fun.  I always love spending 2 or 3 days with my weaving buddies, but I got to look at color in a new way.

Color Wrappings

We did color wrappings, picking colors looking at a picture or a fabric.  Sarah had a table full of great colors of 8/2 cotton.  I do not have that good of a collection of cotton, but I decided that I could come up with a good color scheme from a picture or something by using embroidery floss.  That comes in many colors and is not too expensive.  That way I can find a color scheme that I want to play with and then work on the weaving yarns to do a piece.
Finished plain weave samplers
We all got to play with a beautifully colored warp and we got to try all different colors to cross it with.  The mixes of warp and weft color made some great designs.  A good place to start from when designing.

I did not get my warp finished by time the class was done, and I have not been able to get to it with all I have been trying to finish.  I need to focus and get some things done while I am between teaching classes.

My Scarf in the show
Along with the workshop, we had a show and it is fantastic.  There are so many great pieces in the show.  We have weaving, stitchery, quilting, bobbin lace...it is a true fiber arts show.  I was so pleased to get the HGA prize for my scarf.  This is one that I wove in singles linen and worked to get a collapse cloth.  I ended up using my spinning wheel to add twist to the weft and when I took it off the loom and wet it, it did just what I wanted it to.  I love this scarf and wear it more than any other of my scarves.

I also went on a trip with my sisters.  We took Mom on a long weekend to Albuquerque.  For various reasons we drove, we stayed in a nice BnB house and enjoyed a couple of days.  We went to museums, walked around "Old Town", bought Indian jewelry and enjoyed each other's company.  
Georgia O'Keeffe
  I saw some great color combinations at the Georgia O'Keeffe gallery, beautiful stained glass at the local churches and I spent way too much money.  (However, I do not regret any purchase!)
Santa Fe Cathedral 
And Mom took a picture of the four of us at the house.
Four Sisters - Artists
We are a good looking bunch...even if I complain about that old lady that looks back at me in the mirror.