Monthly Archives: March 2014

March 30, 2014 · 3:48 pm

Tapestry Diary 2014- 3

This week has been insanely busy, with a major new project being on the top of my list, plus a maker’s faire yesterday, AND having to rush to get a vest done that I have been working on as a wedding gift… busy… very busy!

Even so- I have been working on my tapestry diaries….

Here’s where I have gotten to with my latest ‘Dancing Lady’:

The Schacht Mini Loom has been surprisingly satisfying for this small piece (*no affiliations or profit from saying that I do like this little loom*) although, of course, tensioning is pretty minimal!

I still have a whole lotta work to do on her, but that is ongoing.

For April, I will be working on this piece, that is the other half of the warp strands from my first Dancing Lady of the month:

The light is so glaring in my studio right now that I am either getting totally over exposed or under exposed pics. Sorry.

One of the things that has kept me so wildly busy, is that I am participating in a very neat project in Edmonton, Alberta, called, ‘Green Windows City’.

A group of artists have been paired with businesses in Old Strathcona, a very artsy part of Edmonton.

The artists are scrounging up stuff that has been discarded, or donated to the ReUse center, and are creating magical installations in one storefront window of their assigned business.

I chose the theme: ‘Weaving a new world’, and have been busily building a mannequin and loom and stand and props, and will be weaving up all manner of things….
so, here’s the loom warped (I’ll show more about the loom and stand in the upcoming days), but I haven’t got the drawing done for the cartoon yet….

The warp is set at 6 epi, and is soft hemp that was given to me by someone who had given up on weaving. The label said that it was warp, but it’s sure new to me to use hemp as warp! Wish me luck!!!!

The next couple of weeks are going to be sooooooooo busy, as I have to have everything done and ready for the installation on April 17 – eeeeeeeeep!

But, I do feel that the weaving on the loom for the installation is very much part of my diary process, so I will be including it here, and posting about it.

2 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mirrix loom, tapestry, weave along, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as Edmonton Alberta, green projects, Green Windows City, tapestry, Tapestry Diary, tapestry weaving, upcycling

March 21, 2014 · 3:49 pm

Tapestry Diary for Woven Women show – 2

This week, I began a series of small woven figures for my Woven Women show (see previous post LINK).

I joined the Tapestry Diary Weave Along on Ravelry, and I am so pleased that I did.

This is the progression of the first piece, so far:

I warped up my 8 inch Mirrix so I can weave one diary entry on the front of the loom and one on the back.

A Tapestry Diary is a kind of daily journal that, of course, reflects what is happening what is happening in the weaver’s life at that moment….

I’ve been longing for springtime, so it was natural that flowers would appear immediately.

Using my mother’s stash of embroidery floss and yarn has been powerful for me.

Even though she is no longer with us, it is very tender to be working with something that she loved so much.

Each day, I’ve been uploading a pic of my progress in my diary- I find this rather daunting, as the ‘not good enough’ gremlins leap up and bite so uncomfortably! ugh….

I had some concerns about weaving with super slippery rayon embroidery floss, but it was fine…. although, I’ll need to do some serious sewing in on the wrong side.

That’s a bit of tatting that I stitched to the hem of the dress.

I always have a tatting shuttle in my pocket for ‘incidental moments’- it’s wonderfully contemplative, meditative and also so portable that I can take it with me everywhere.

I tat long strips of edging that I then include in my tapestries.

The face is applique’d on – I designed and wove a series of faces in a narrow band, using my double hole rigid heddle loom.

The arms are wrapped wires- I haven’t quite finished the wrapping, which is okay, as I won’t get to finish this piece until I weave the next one that is on the other side of the loom.

Being part of the Weave Along is such a pleasure- the international community of weavers that has formed around this weave along is a generous and supportive group.

I have no way of knowing how the Tapestry Diaries will unfold, but I will be posting as they do.

6 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mirrix loom, tapestry, weave along, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as hand weaving, hand woven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Ravelry, Tapestry Diary, tapestry diary weave along, weave, Weave along

March 20, 2014 · 1:35 pm

Handmade wooden buttons

There’s been a nice long hiatus since the winter maker’s faires ended and the spring ones begin.

I’ve taken advantage of the time away from the markets/faires to be extremely productive.

I love making (and using!) handmade wooden buttons, so I have been ‘button, buttoning’ like mad.

(and of course, had to build a display for them, too!)

I am sooooooo pleased with how they have turned out.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.crone-findlay.com

I’ll have them at the next Mercer Maker’s Market on Saturday March 29 from 10 -4 (The Mercer is on the corner of 104 ave and 104 St), so Edmonton peeps, I hope to see you there!

7 Comments

Filed under buttons, craft shows and makers faires, eco crafts & green projects

Tagged as Artisan's faires, hand made wooden buttons, Maker's Markets, Noreen Crone-Findlay, wood buttons, wooden buttons

March 17, 2014 · 6:41 pm

Copper pipe stand for copper pipe tapestry loom

After my husband and I made a set of pivoting clamps for my copper pipe tapestry looms, see this post: LINK

I thought…. oh, would it ever be great if we could make a stand for the looms.

I’ve been using a music stand as an easel, which works great for my little 8 inch Mirrix loom, but it was just not good for the larger copper pipe looms.

Luckily, last fall, I bought a length of 3/4 inch copper tubing at a garage sale- what a deal!

I paid $2(!) for 14 ft of copper tubing! (The people used to run a ‘You Pick’ farm but were selling up all their irrigation equipment, including this unused chunk of copper tubing! wowsa).

I was convinced that we could uncoil it and use it to make a stand.

Jim was not at all convinced!

He insisted that we buy steel conduit, because it was stronger. And straighter. And it hadn’t been coiled up by an over eager giant.

I hated it.

I stuck to my guns, and kept saying that yes, yes, the wonky curves in the tubing will be fiiiiiiiiine!!!!!

Jim was still not convinced.

But, together, we bodgered together a slightly wonky, somewhat Dr Seuss-y stand for my copper pipe looms and

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

We made 2 ‘U’ shapes…. basing the measurement for the inside tube on the width of my looms (we made 3 copper pipe looms that are the same width- at some point I’ll explain why) plus the height I wanted the stand to be.

Then, we made the larger ‘U’ shape to fit around the first ‘U’, so it can fold flat.

I wanted long pivot bolts so I can hang scissors and bobbin baskets and bags off the sides of the loom.

And, yep, the ‘stops’ are boot laces. Humble, but functional!

Yes, it’s a little wonky, but I LOVE it! It’s so much more ergonomically friendly to weave at it now than on the music stand.

And, now I don’t have to set up the saw horses to warp the copper pipe looms.

The loom can be easily rotated in the stand. Bliss.

This photo shows how we put a longer bolt into the pivot clamp so that it can easily pass through the 2 copper pipes of the stand.

I wanted a long bolt because I hang bags for bobbins and yarn, as well as scissors, from it for convenience.

I put a wooden bead between the stand and the pivot clamp (as well as washers) to space it out from the wing nuts of the clamps.

By tightening the bolt on the outside of the pivot, against the stand, it puts enough pressure on the loom to keep it from spinning while you are weaving.

I sit with the lower edge of the loom in my lap, which keeps it from spinning, but, eventually, when I have woven to the top, I can see that I will have to change that position.

Will post about that when I get there!

And, it is very easy to release one loom and transfer another loom onto the stand. 🙂

I am such a happy camper.

Okay, back to my weaving. 🙂

17 Comments

Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tapestry, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as copper pipe, copper pipe loom stand, copper pipe tapestry loom, copper tubing, home made loom stand, loom stand, tapestry loom stand

March 17, 2014 · 1:05 pm

Tapestry Diary for Woven Women show- 1

Even though I haven’t been posting about my solo show of tapestries and woven works (Woven Women) that is opening in August 2014 (eep…. tick tock, tick tock…. eep), I have been working away on new pieces for it.

I noticed that the Tapestry weaving group on Ravelry (the facebook of the fibre arts world) is having a weave along in which people are weaving ‘Tapestry Diaries’.

That means that they are weaving daily, weekly or monthly, on pieces that reflect their lives in those given moments.

I have wanted to do this for several years, but just have never started one…. until, the other day, I had an ‘Aha!’ moment.

I have been contemplating a series of small woven figures- I’ve woven the faces for them, but haven’t started the bodies.

It struck me that weaving the bodies for these figures would work beautifully as a Tapestry Diary.

I got all excited about doing this, and then took the plunge and asked the moderator if I could join, even if I am late to the party.

She graciously said that I could, and so I am!

I love that the online community creates ‘Virtual Guilds’ with members from all over the planet inspiring and encouraging each other. It’s just awesome.

I decided to warp up my 8 inch Mirrix tapestry loom to get started, but I can see that I may want to warp up my 16 inch Mirrix for this, too.

Some people choose to weave very specific shapes in their tapestry diaries, like little squares or rectangles, that are quite uniform in size.

I have decided that my shape is going to be one that I have loved working with over the decades.

It’s an hourglass motif that has shown up in embroidery, weaving, stitchery, stone and metal work for thousands of years.

It’s sometimes called. ‘The Shepherdess’ motif.

I did a bunch of drawings, until I was happy with a very simple, basic shape that I think will give me lots of options for experimenting with color and pattern. Of course, I have no idea how they will turn out. 🙂

I chose to weave these figures in a fairly narrow configuration- only 3 inches wide, set at 8 ends per inch.

Here’s my loom warped up, heddled, and with the first little bit woven.

I inherited my mother’s stash of embroidery floss and threads, and will be using them in this series.

Thanks, Mom….. hope you like what I am doing with your treasures……

Prayer/healing Shawls

The Truth and Reconciliation Hearings are coming to Edmonton at the end of March.

They are a response to the horrors of the Canadian Residential School System that brutalized the children that were forced into them.

The survivors are invited to speak at the Truth and Reconciliation hearings, and each one will be given a prayer/healing shawl as a symbol of being heard and cared for.

The call went out, asking for 500 prayer shawls from the crafting folk of Edmonton and area.

I’ve knitted 3 shawls, with love and with hope for healing…. may they bring peace and be a visible reminder that even though the person who receives each one will never meet me, that I do care about what happened to them.

I wish them peace and healing, and all the best, in all ways…. always…..

4 Comments

Filed under knitting

Tagged as Canadian Residential School System, healing shawls, prayer shawls, Truth and Reconciliation Hearings

March 14, 2014 · 9:48 pm

Another new friend for Tottie Tomato

Tottie Tomato looked outside the studio window and saw someone tobogganing on the snowbanks….

She astonished Tottie by fluttering up into the tree….. and Tottie realized that the fluttery little person was a fairy!

The fairy looked awfully familiar…..

Tottie Tomato saw that she was shivering- it was so cold!

So, she invited the Winter Fairy in for a cup of tea….

Tottie Tomato had been watching the progress of the Winter Fairy coming to life, so she was surprised to see her outside!

Winter Fairy said that she felt that, once she had her wings, she really ought to see what Winter was all about.

Sledding was fun – but chilly.

The Winter Fairy told Tottie Tomato that she prefers to experience winter from the warm side of the window, so she has decided to take up permanent residence in the studio and perhaps wait until springtime before venturing outside again.

Tottie Tomato is looking forward to many pleasant cups of tea with the Winter Fairy.

She plans on showing her around the studio and introducing her to all manner of lovely folks.

Tottie Tomato is very happy that I took part in the Zoom Loom Doll Weave Along on Ravelry- otherwise, the Winter Fairy would never have joined us here in the studio!

2 Comments

Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Tottie Tomato Loves, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as doll making, hand weaving, hand woven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Ravelry, Tottie Tomato, Weave along, woven doll, woven fairy doll, Zoom Loom