Off to Tallahassee, Florida in a couple of days!

I'll be teaching a three day workshop for the Seven Hills Handweavers Guild of Tallahassee on March 30, 31 and April 1 so I've been quite busy with preparations.  I've revised my handout, woven a new sample (always weave yet another one when I'm about to teach a class since I want to work out the direction I'd like for things to go).

I've sorted through my samples boxes and pulled together the ones that will be most pertinent to have with me this time... they were laid out on the table before getting boxed up again:

The class will be a basic tapestry introduction so I'll be presenting meet and separate as the focus, with ways to use two color, then a third color will be added.  After that, challenges of building shapes, moving on diagonals and curves will be done.  Pick and pick will be part of the exploration, as well.  

We'll be using a 6 epi sett, with 12/18 cotton seine twine.  I often ask participants to use that size warp and sett since it's much easier for me to see what's happening with a student's work at that scale.  I'll have other sizes of warps along with me and we'll discuss the differences in the tapestry when smaller setts are used.

I'll be taking along copper pipe looms for several folks to use during the workshop.  So, the packing and stacking of boxes has begun.  I hope to load the car tomorrow and have an early start on Thursday.

I've still got quite a few things to pull together... weft, for instance, and the books I'll be taking.

On another note... a new loom came to live at the studio yesterday afternoon!  I'm quite thrilled to be the new owner of a Macomber loom that came from Pat Williams' studio.  I decided I really needed a wider floor loom and one with more than 4 shafts.  Pat's loom is 40" wide and has 6 shafts; the Macomber frame will accommodate up to 10 shafts and I'll add at least two more, eventually.  But this will be enough for right now.  My floor loom weaving time is my "hobby" weaving... I've mentioned that before.  Although most of my weaving time is spent with tapestry work, I still like to weave functional cloth.  Usually, those weavings are for our home or for gifts.  So, I'm hoping to make a few new curtains for our kitchen soon... maybe this summer will be a good time for that.  

My husband asked me last week, when I was telling him about the transaction Pat & I had in the works: "How many looms have you owned??!"  I had to tell him that I truly didn't know.  Looms have come and gone in my life since 1972 or '73.  I've enjoyed each and every one of them in some way... some more than others, however.  Some of the looms I've sold, some I've given away.  One day I'll make a list of the looms I've owned... maybe!

So... here's the new addition, fresh to the studio, thanks to my nephew, PJ, who drove my husband and me to Pat's yesterday afternoon in his big pickup and was 1/2 of the muscle needed to load up the loom and then to unload it when we got  back!