Color and Pizazz in Handwoven Shawls

Betsy brought shawls to our latest meeting.  What a flair for color she has.  Look at the iridescence with the bright yellow green and the coral warp underneath.  This shawl is a bit weft faced in a diamond twill pattern.  I believe this shawl is woven in 5/2 cottons and sett at 10epi.

 

This shawl was probably woven on the same warp as the one above and this time Betsy used a bamboo weft. The softness of the lavender along with the burnt orange and coral make for a very striking piece.

 

 

Betsy had enough warp for this little square table runner.  She wove the hems with some great rainbow colored sewing thread and her efforts were supported with an almost immediate sale to one of her customers.

 

Bridal Shower Towels

Jackie Hervey brought towels to the meeting on Tuesday.  They are gifts for a bridal shower and Jackie set out to match the couple's new blue dinnerware. She designed this draft herself and combined two features, the huck blocks and float squares. When you see the towels from a distance, those bright solid float colors are prominent.  These towels are woven with a darker blue weft than is in the warp so that the huck looks embossed.

 

This towel was woven without the colored floats - same threading, different treadling sequence.

 

And this towel has the same light blue weft as is in the warp.

 

The towels are woven from 8/2 cotton, are sett at 20 epi. and measured almost 20" in the reed.  Would you like to weave your own?  Jackie reduced her design to a four shaft draft which you can see here.  The original towels are on 10 shafts to get that special float square between the huck blocks.  If you have 10 shafts, the drafts are on the same page.  Also, it was pointed out at the Not 2 Square meeting, that you could use pick up to do the float squares if you don't have 10 shafts on your loom.

Quilter's Throw Away - Weaver's Delight

Sue Robertson and her mother are both quilters.  I understand that quilters cut off the selvedges before they use their cloth and I suspect that most quilters throw them away;  not Sue and her mother.  She had a big bag of these treasures and put them into this handwoven runner.  Some were thicker than others and you can still see the writing on some of them, which makes this piece all the more interesting.  Hooray for finding a creative use for the quilter's throw away!

Perfect Score Tapestry

 

Sue Habegger designed and wove this wonderful wall hanging.  At the Nevada County Fair, she won first prize in the wall hanging category - but even more impressive, Sue received a perfect score of 50 points out of a possible 50 points from the judge.

 

Sue has woven a similar piece and got the idea  of putting the flowers sideways from a table runner she saw in a magazine.  But, the flowers and colors are all her own.  A stunning piece - and a big congratulations to Sue.