I said I would and I did (think I've used that before as a post title...)

Well, I'd said I hoped to finish the bloodroot tapestry by the end of August--and I DID!  In fact, I finished weaving it and cut it off the loom a couple of days ago.  Here's the finishing few clips as I cut it off the loom; my husband took the photo as I as snipping away:

And, here I am holding the tapestry once it was free from the loom:

There are many more hours to go in finishing work before the tapestry is ready to be shown... like this:

This is the piece ready to have weft ends clipped.

After that, I blocked the piece:

I've pinned the tapestry down to the dimensions that fit the smallest edges and I'm spritzing with water...

Then I cover the piece with a dampened press cloth and press with a wool setting, using more heat where there's irregular areas to shrink those more.  Thanks, Kathy Spoering, for posting about this method of blocking on your blog a few years ago... shrinking wool rather than trying to stretch it.  It's worked for me!

Here's the piece as it looked, pinned up on my wall yesterday.  There is still finishing work of hemming and getting a mounting board ready, then stitching to that and having the piece framed.  Many more hours before this tapestry is ready for its close up!  But at least I'm not weaving it anymore.  The colors are richer and more subtle than this photo shows and once I have a professional photographer (Tim Barnwell) shoot it, I'll post it again. 

To move ahead...  I'm at Lillian E. Smith Center now.  I got here today for a two week residency.  I have spent the day getting here (the Center is in driving distance for me so I load up my car with everything I though I might need over the next two weeks and threw in a few more things), unloading all that stuff at the cottage I'm in and in the studio I'll be using.  I am so happy to be here at the LES Center again.  A beautiful place.  With a red door.