The end is near...

The top (really is the right border) of the tapestry is well in sight! I may be able to finish to the hem line tomorrow. The 2" hem, to be woven in a solid color for a turn-back, will probably take another 1/2 day to weave and then I'll secure the edge with half-hitches.

Pat W. has scheduled a photo session with the photographer she uses. We'll share the session and I'm hoping to take this piece, along with the black walnut tapestry, to have slides done. The delivery for new members exhibit to Piedmont Craftsmen is by February 29--still more finishing once the tapestry is off the loom but I should be able to do it without rush.

I'm interested to see what the weight of this tapestry will be. I'm using a heavy cotton seine twine, set at 6 epi, for the warp. The weft is five-fold, three strands of Vevgarn (wool & Spelsau) and two strands of a smaller worsted wool. Since the piece will turn 90˚ to hang and will be pretty heavy, I decided to make the weft connections as secure as I could without using double or single weft interlock throughout the piece. So, I've been either weaving slits and stitching every other pass (and I'm linking warp to warp as I stitch) or I've used single weft interlock to join many of the shapes throughout the border areas.

Because the border color values are close I felt the single weft interlock "toothiness" would be hidden. The contours of the shapes also meander around without needing to be smooth. The interior part with trunk and limbs has been mostly woven with slits since the delineation between many of the shapes needed to be more crisp and clean.

The distance from bottom beam to working area of this loom is greater than I have on most of the other looms that have cloth beams. Thus, I've been able to see more of the tapestry as it's underway. I'll probably wind forward one more time before finishing up but will most likely only hide the hem area...should still be able to view the whole thing before cutting it off. Of course, I have to turn my head sideways to get a view of how it will really look!