Tag Archives: Tapestry Diary

May 15, 2016 · 8:10 pm

Thumbelina Loom Tapestry Techniques and Tips

I have been enjoying weaving tiny tapestries on the Thumbelina loom so much!

A tiny heart tapestry on the Thumbelina loom.

A tiny heart tapestry on the Thumbelina loom.

People have been asking me to show them how to weave tapestry techniques on the Thumbelina.

Little heart tapestry with vertical and horizontal stripes

Here’s a YouTube video that I made to show some techniques and tips for weaving tapestries on the Thumbelina Loom.

I hope that this video will inspire you to try some fun things on your Thumbelina loom!

Here is the cartoon for weaving the heart shown in the video:

heart tapestry still 3(c)

Print it so that each little template/cartoon is about 2 1/2 inches tall by 1 1/2 inches wide.

Here’s the link to order them from Dewberry Ridge looms. I designed the Thumbelina, but I don’t make or sell them. That’s not my strong suit… designing fun things to make with the tiny looms is! LINK

Thumbelina has her own page on Facebook, and you are invited to join:

Thumbelina Facebook

Happy weaving! 🙂

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May 13, 2016 · 4:18 pm

Thumbelina Loom Tapestry Diary Tiny Dog

Today’s Tapestry Diary is ‘Tiny Dog’.

A small dog with a huge heart.

This is an homage to a very small dog that we are caring for while his people are dealing with tough stuff.

Raeleen has had a liver transplant and other surgery, so we are helping out by caring for their darling little dog for as long as they need us to.

We have fallen completely in love with him, and he is doing just brilliantly.

It will be hard to have him go home again, but it will also be perfectly fabulous, because it will mean that Rae is well enough to be back at home!

We live in amazing times- medical expertise is astonishing, and our friends are going to have more years together because of that, and I feel blessed.

I was thinking about the miracles around us, and about the love that connects us all- to friends, to animal companions, to family in all the ways it is created. It fills me with gratitude.

To put those thoughts into stitches, I wove this tiny tapestry of a small dog who brings much love into the world, using my Thumbelina loom. LINK

I tried something new- I added a twisted cord (I used the Thumbelina loom to make it… I must show how I did that!) to the outside edge.

And, then I pressed it. Derp.

STEAM tapestry – don’t PRESS it! the lovely corded edge went all floopy from being pressssssssed. sigh.

I know that! I know that….

Trying to get the detail of a Chihuahua face into that small a space proved verrrrrrrrrrrrrry challenging.

That’s okay…. that’s part of the ‘permission form’ with Tapestry diaries:

Feel free to try things and see how it goes- even if it’s not technically perfect, it’s still a learning time, and a time out of the day for quiet contemplation and meditation, so Win/Win.

Here’s to love, in all the ways it shows up! ❤

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Tagged as Dewberry Ridge Looms, gratitude, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Tapestry Diary, tapestry portrait of a chihuahua, Thumbelina Loom

May 11, 2016 · 12:11 pm

Weaving Tiny Tapestries on the Thumbelina loom

The other day, a friend mentioned to me that she has been checking my blog and was concerned that I haven’t been posting lately.

Well, one of the reasons is because I have been working night and day for months, on a new little loom that I have designed- the Thumbelina.

(I also have been working on a ton of other things, and will definitely get around to blogging about them soon)

One of the things that has really captured my imagination with the Thumbelina loom is weaving tapestries on her.

Weaving very tiny Tapestries has some challenges- working my way to achieving a ‘thumbnail’ image that reads clearly what my intentions are can be tricky, and is a fascinating process.

I am utterly hooked by working on such a small scale- I love the sketching process, and then am always surprised by how the weaving and then the embroidering afterwards makes the tiny tapestry so engaging.

Because of the immediacy of weaving at such a small scale, it is the perfect way to weave tapestry diaries.

Tapestry diaries are usually woven in small units of a larger tapestry, as a reflection of the day to day life of the weaver.

Weaving Thumbelina tapestry diaries is kind of a reverse… I am weaving tiny tapestries that I will then be attaching to a larger piece to make them part of a cohesive unit.

Tiny Tapestry Diary pieces woven on the Thumbelina loom.

The first 3 tapestry diaries that I have woven have been meditations on my life this May….

Nature in her abundance (apple blossom beauties),

Tiny Tapestry Diary of May apple tree flowers woven on the Thumbelina loom.

Nature in her ferocious destroyer aspect-

terrible fires (and my prayers for rain),

Tiny Tapestry Diary of a prayer for rain woven on the Thumbelina loom.

and a response to a marvelous dream that I want to remember

(the fairy door).

Tiny Tapestry Diary of a Fairy Door to remember a lovely dream, woven on the Thumbelina loom.

I made a video that shows more of the process of weaving the raindrop tapestry:

I am loving weaving tapestry diaries again. Joy!

I introduced the Thumbelina loom here: LINK

Thumbelina is available from Dewberry Ridge Looms: (I designed and made the prototype, but Gary and Donna have the engineering skills to produce and ship them all over the world. They are great at that and I am not. I am good at designing, so that’s what I stick to 🙂 ) LINK TO ORDER THUMBELINA LOOM

Thumbelina Li'l Weaver

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August 11, 2014 · 11:09 am

July 2014 Tapestry Diary

I’ve been so busy catching up since we got home from holidays that I forgot to post a pic of my July Tapestry diary.

Here it is:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com

The title is: ‘Questions’.

It’s 3 inches wide by 5 inches tall.

I wove it on my wee copper pipe loom at 8 epi.

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July 1, 2014 · 10:55 am

Tapestry diary June 2014 -Doorway

Having committed to weaving a tapestry diary for the year of 2014 has been a wonderful experience for me.

As I have been experimenting with my diary pieces, I have come to a huge ‘aha’ about the ways that I love to work.

I have found that weaving tiny tapestries, 3 inches/7.5 cm by 5 inches/12.5 cm truly makes my heart sing.

Here is my completed tiny tapestry for the month of June:

I wanted to show the small size of the tapestry by placing it in the context of my studio, and I inadvertently included a little self revelation that made me flinch when I first saw the pic.

My little rock with ‘good enough’ in chalk….. not feeling good enough has been a life long struggle for me, and it’s rather ouchie to have my little ‘good enough’ rock in the photo.

BUT, I figured that I am not alone in this struggle, so, what the heck…. if it feels too uncomfortable to leave the pic as is, I can take it down… but… maybe it could be helpful to someone else who navigates that particular minefield, too, so, I’ll leave it for now.

To be honest, the weaving in this piece does have aspects that are not good enough.

But, as I have lived with now for the few days since I finished it, I have decided that there’s more to it than meets the eye, and I like how I have had ‘aha’ moments with it- finding new meaning in it.

One of the rules of the tapestry diary that I have made for myself is that I have to ask myself:

Where am I right now? What am I working on?

And, then do a drawing that feels like it has possibilities to show me more about that.

When I began my June drawing, I was deeply grieving the death of one of our beloved little dogs, as well as several other losses.

It made me really aware of how those we love do come and go, and how tender and precious life is…. and that’s what came up in the drawing and the weaving.

On the other hand, my daughter in law thinks it looks like something out of Star Trek or sci fi.

LOL!!!! That works for me! I say: If you see something in it that I didn’t, then, YAY! that’s a win.

….. and that’s good enough for me…..

🙂

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June 2, 2014 · 4:27 pm

Tapestry Diary May 2014

I have committed to a year long project on Ravelry- weaving a tapestry diary.

I didn’t quite finish my May tapestry diary piece in May…. I just finished it today.

I have been bothered and irritated by one of the eyes and just wasn’t happy, so had to do some serious unweaving and unpicking.

I am still not quite there with it, but it’s going to be on the loom until I weave the next diary piece (I warped enough to weave several small diary entries) so, I can puzzle over it more, or simply accept it as is.

It’s called: Woven Women- Spiral Eyes.

Here it is in progress:

And here it is in it’s ~almost finished~ state (of course, it will have to be ‘really finished’ later when it comes off the loom, but that won’t be happening right away)

It’s about how we spiral inward when we are faced with difficult events in our lives-

May was very challenging for us, with the death of one of dear old dogs, the destruction of my website by hackers, then, learning that the gallery that was supposed to be hosting the solo show of my tapestries and other woven works has been botched by the builders, so the gallery can’t open this year- so my show is cancelled.

Then, we learned that a long, long time friend is very ill.

Rough, rough month…. and in the news, the school girls in Nigeria still not being released, as well as troubles all over the planet…. oh my….

And, the thing that I take away from my personal journey and looking at what others are facing,

is that we simply have to come from a place of compassion….

which is what the spirals represent to me-

spiral in, spiral out.

The eyes, of course, are about seeing….

the blue around her face represents tears,

the green in the spirals is all about hope.

So… that’s what’s woven into a very tiny tapestry. (It’s 3 inches by 5 inches)
I will be framing it in one of my painted plaster frames when it comes off the loom.

On a very happy note, I was thrilled today to receive the most gorgeous package of yarn from LeiLaniSue of Heavenly Fibers LINK

Thank you, thank you, LeiLani!

So very beautiful!!!!!!! and soooooooooooooo appreciated!!!!!

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May 15, 2014 · 4:38 pm

Woven Women- Blue Dress

Today, I finished another of my tiny tapestries: “Woven Women- Blue Dress”.

I wove her on the very small copper pipe loom that Jim built for me:

And then blocked her:

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

And, finally….

framed her:

Details:

The tapestry is 3 inches by 5 inches (approximately).

The frame is about 5 inches by about 7 inches (also approximate).

Woven at 8 epi.

Warp: Cotton Seine Twine

Weft: Wool tapestry yarn.

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May 5, 2014 · 7:15 pm

Tapestry Diary tiny Woven Women

As part of my ongoing participation in a year long weave along of tapestry diaries, I am weaving small images for my Woven Women show of tapestries and other woven works.

I have just finished 2 new tiny woven pieces – they were both on the same loom, so I had to finish the second one so I could cut them both off the loom and finish them.

And, here they are: (They are each 11 inches tall).

‘Woven Women: Dreaming of Flowers’:

and,

‘Woven Women: Looking Skywards’

Now that the loom is finally empty, I warped up, using a ‘Four selvedges’ technique.

I have begun a series of very very small tapestries that are 3 inches by 5 inches.

This is ‘Woven Women- May Day’:

I am making plaster frames for the series of 3 inch by 5 inch tapestries, and have started experimenting with how I will be painting them…. right now, the first one looks like a black blob, so there’s not much point in photographing it, but I will soon.

Weaving the tapestry diary pieces is just pure joy. 🙂

I am working on some larger pieces, too. Must take some photos….

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April 7, 2014 · 11:07 am

Tapestry Diary – 4

I’ve been working on a series of little woven ‘dancing ladies’ for my Woven Women show.

And, I am participating in a tapestry weave along on Ravelry.

This week, I finished one of my Dancing Ladies- “Snowy Spring”.

I have a thing about red shoes, so, I just had to make red patent leather shoes for her….

And I even made heels for them (the soles and heels are heavy leather, the uppers are very thin patent leather)

She’s about 13 inches tall/33 cm tall.

I wove her on the Schacht Mini loom, which is a small plastic loom that I quite like.

I was surprised by how well it worked for tapestry weaving- I wasn’t sure about tensioning on it, but that was not a problem. (I wove in a tiny thin dowel at the top, which worked beautifully as a shed stick, and provided some tension).

She delights me.

I love how the tapestry diary is leading me in unexpected directions.

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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.

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