A free loom and giveaway results.

I warned DH that the bird was making a nest in the gazebo again.  His assignment was to deter it from doing so, otherwise sitting in the gazebo is impossible, because momma bird won't feed her babies if you are there.  That happens just about the time you want to open the pool.
He informed me the other day that he did in fact go out there, and was going to take down the nest that was already completed, until he saw the little blue eggs in it.
So once again this year,  we will be banned until the babies fly the coop, so to speak.

As of today, there are hungry babies in the next.


I will admit that it has been the week from hell.  To be honest, I don't think anyone who has had surgery for Chiari Malformation, ever wants a head cold, complete with violent coughing spasms.
It is just not pleasant.  Whether it is the hole in my skull, (sorry to be so blunt), or the rods in my neck, coughing makes my head hurt in a way that I find difficult to even explain.  It is more severe and disabling that a headache.  So all week, I have done what I could early on in the day, and ended up on the couch with Roy.  I slept a lot.
This is the first cold I have had since my first surgery in August 2012.  Pretty impressive.  I hope it is at least that long or longer before my next one.  I know next week will be better.  Just goes to show,  when you think your life is hard, hold on, something will come along to prove to you that maybe it could be worse.

In my weaving endeavors, I would like to share my troubled warp with you weavers. (otherwise, skip this paragraph, it will bore you to tears)
  I put on 30 yards of 8/2 cotton for a baby wrap for my granddaughter.  768 threads.  I wanted to do 24 ends per inch.  I didn't have a 12 dent reed for my AVL, so I used a 6, which meant putting 4 threads per dent.
As soon as I got it all threaded, and started weaving, I knew I had a problem.  The threads were sticking together so badly, I couldn't throw the shuttle through.  If I cleared the shed with my hand, or pulled the threads tighter across the sticky beam, the shed was great.   But as soon as I changed sheds, the threads stuck together again.   I am not positive, but I think it is threading them 4 to a dent.  The threads are too close, too many, too close.
I have woven with 8/2 cotton on this loom for a year, and never had this issue before.  So I ordered a 12 dent reed from AVL, and weaving is at a stand still until I get it.  I just don't know what else could be the problem.

FREE LOOM

Yes, I am serious.   A while back, I was gifted with a loom.  While it was beautiful, I just did not have room among the 13 or so other looms I already owned, so I re-gifted it to a friend of mine.
Fast forward, she bought a smaller loom that she is smitten with, and she wants to re-gift this loom again.  So.......
It is a 16 harness loom....only 12 on it...........60 inches wide, a jack loom.  Please email me for more information.  I will give you her phone number.  It needs to be picked up in Hudson Falls, NY.

Here it is:

Today was a lovely day with all my daughters, son in laws, and grands here for lunch.
I love them all.   They keep me young.

Without further ado, after subtracting duplicate posts, there were 44 posts in all.

Using random.org, I came up with 36, so the winner is "thotlady".   
Congrats!!   Email me with your mailing information.  My email is on my web page crazyasaloom.com 


Happy Mother's Day everyone.

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Quilter's Home Tour

I belong to a small local guild called Bound Together and almost every year we have a quilter's home tour. It's a fun way to see members' homes, how they use quilts to decorate and of course a glimpse into their sewing space. For those participating it's a great motivation to clean your house!

This year, I was one of the hostesses and I thought you might want a little peek! You've already seen my sewing room here.

It was a nice enough day to hang some quilts on the front porch!

If you're looking for program ideas for your guild - the tour is always one of our favorites. We try to get 2-3 homes that are situated fairly close and caravan from one to the next. Very fun!

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Book Review and a Giveaway.

A while back, I was asked to do a book review by Stackpole Books.

The book, by Tom Knisely, is Weaving Rag Rugs.  Right up my alley, wouldn't you say???

Tom Knisely has been weaving for more than 30 years, and is the manager of The Mannings Handweaving School in East Berlin, Pennsylvania.

I got the book in the mail, and was pleasantly surprised.  It is colorful, and fun, and reading it doesn't feel like reading a textbook at all.
The funny part about it, while I was reading, I remembered learning all the things he talked about.  Years back, when I started my weaving career, I took a somewhat pathetic basic weaving course.  I bought a second hand loom, and spent every bit of spare time I could find, learning my craft.
There were no weavers around.  There was no where to go to find out what I needed to know.  Because it wasn't just about learning to weave, it was a niche all its own, weaving rag rugs.
I read everything I could get my hands on, and searched online for all the information that was out there.

I found a couple of weavers online, that I became friends with.  I badgered them with phone calls and emails, with questions and rants.  I made so many mistakes, and learned so many things the hardest way possible.
My point is that I could have written about every subject in Tom's book, the hows and the whys, but I didn't.   My book would have been "the long way around".
Oh, how I wish I had this book way back when.

It starts with basics, so that if you only have rudimentary skills, you can brush up.   Especially welcome to the new weaver, there is a wealth  of information on what to do and how to get started before you are ready to sit down and weave.  Because while weaving is the best part, good technique and skill at setting up your loom, and prepping your materials, is invaluable.

Throughout this lovely book, there are pictures showing you how to do all of it.  As someone who has tried taking pictures of projects for this blog, I can appreciate how great Tom's photos are, and how informative.

I laughed when I read his description of tying fringe, holding one thread back.  I thought I was that was some strange deviation of mine.  Tom shares with you those helpful hints that he has learned over all his weaving career.  They are priceless.


I have met many rag rug weavers.  One of them told me a long time ago, that we are all unique, and our choices of colors and patterns, and styles make our rugs special, and only ours. 

I am a spontaneous kind of girl, and love to design random and wild colors at the loom.  That being said, that method doesn't work for everyone.  Many weavers are intimidated by weaving without a plan.
In Tom's book, he gives you specific plans for weaving 30+ incredible rag rugs.  From plain weave to twill, flannel to denim, there is something for everyone.

I think that once the weaver has tried a few of these designs, they will be more than ready to design rag rugs  on their own.

This is a great book, easy to read, one you will go back to again and again.

Now all you have to do to win this book, is leave a comment.  I will do a random draw on Sunday,  Mother's Day.  What better time to get something special?

I have immersed myself in rag rug weaving for the last decade plus,  I have taught many people to weave over that time.   I think this book would be a great addition to anyone's weaving library, student or old timer.

This is my favorite.  I can't wait to make one of these.

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Look Up

I once said I wouldn't use Facebook.   I am so glad I changed my mind, and got with the program.  While it can be addictive to some, and a big time waster, for me it is a way to instantly see a picture my clever daughter took with a tripod and timer.  A way to stay in touch.

This is her beautiful family.

That being said, I do worry about the future of  all of us, who are so tuned in to our computers and our smart phones.  Including me.

There are people on FB that I read about often, I know a lot about their lives.  They are people from my hometown, people I have met along the way, people who I know, but people who I would know NOTHING about, if it were not for FB.  I would not visit their houses, I would not call them on the phone.    I would not drop them a note in the mail.
Why is that?

I think about how different it was for me growing up, as for many of you.
If I got to watch an hour of TV in the evening, I considered myself lucky.

We played outside.  Our imaginations ran wild.

One particular memory is of me, and four friends.......Gayle, Jill, Amy, and Sally.
We started a "Horse Club", because we were all 'horse crazy', or so our parents said.
My father, who had a used furniture/junk business, acquired a black buggy somewhere.

We took turns, being the passengers in the buggy, and the horses who pulled it.
All around the neighborhood, we trotted.

There is something precious about that childlike innovation and wonder.  I still remember that time and smile. 
We would sit in a circle on the floor in my attic, and pore over horse books.  We gave each other tests about the anatomy of a horse.  I still can recite them to this day.
When I was 13, and graduated from 8th grade, my parents bought me a Royal typewriter out of the Sears Roebuck catalog.  I longed for it.
It was $88, which I now realize was a LOT of money back then.  I taught myself to type from the book that came with it, and by the time I was a sophomore in high school, ready to take typing, I could already type 50 wmp, and I am sure I was a total annoyance to the teacher.

We hiked up the mountain weekly.  We swam in the lake, or skated on it.   We played BASEBALL in any field we could find.  Or dodge ball.

Ah, what a childhood I had.   And at 9, my father bought me a horse that wanted to kill me.
But what fun, what adventure.  Life was incredible and good and new every day.
And when it was time to stay in, I huddled in my room with books, and notebooks, and dreams.
Why the hell did I need a smart phone? Or a computer?  

Watch this, dear blogger friends.  Tell me what you think.  It's our new world, not necessarily a better one.  Think back.

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Plugging along.

Two posts in two days.  Whoa.

I guess I should confess.   I have been worried all week.  My head has been slamming......8 days in a row....who's counting, right?
I am hoping that it is the horrible weather in the northeast, but of course, the worry is that the bone is growing again, between the rods in my head, and pressing on my brain.
I suppose I could have an MRI, but to be honest, if it doesn't let up after a few weeks, the MRI will be just a formality.
I can't even think about it.
So mostly, I don't.

But it may have something to do with why I struggle with what to say.

Took the baby blankets off the loom yesterday, hemmed and washed them......this is my favorite.  It belongs to baby Dale.

 

So today, I pulled my stool up close to the loom, and started rethreading for my next project.

 

 

When the beater bar and the breast beam are removed, I can pull my stool right up close, the work  is right in front of me, so it doesn't bother my neck.

I got over half of it done, and left the rest for tomorrow.

Took time for a small snack.

I am happy with my decision to not totally renovate the kitchen.

I like the "vintage" look that it has.

Those prints over the stove are particularly sentimental to me.

 

My old cupboard is also very dear to me.

 

 Not messing with the old windows was also very important.  I love the wavy glass.  I love that they have been where they are for 200 years plus.

So now, just waiting for the new countertop to arrive.

On top of having a slammer, I also have acquired a lovely head cold to go along with it.
So when I had enough of threading, I went to the grocery store, and then came home and made some wild rice soup.

 

It was very easy, found a great recipe online.

And had I gone to the doctor, I am sure that it would be exactly what he ordered.

 

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Friday thoughts.

Sometimes I don't know how I feel about blogging.   Maybe I have less to say, because my life has changed.  Is that true for any of you??

The person who started this blog seven (yikes!!!! seven?????) years ago,  is not exactly the same person I am today.

If you've been following, you already know what I mean.

I feel sometimes, like I am in that dark hallway.  The door behind me is closing, but the doors in front of me are not open either.  So I don't exactly know where I am going.

So I concentrate on doing "one day at a time"....my old stand by.
It has worked for me before, and it still sustains me.

First baby blanket off the loom.

 It has rained on and off all week long.   I have always LOVED the rain, but my head HATES it.

There was some thread left on the blanket warp, so I sat Lois down to test drive the AVL.  She has resisted weaving on it since I got it last year.

She was getting very comfortable with it........and her selvedges look great.

The next warp is ready to go.  This is going to be a baby wrap for my sweet baby Dale.

Lois and I got it on the loom, tomorrow let the threading begin.

 Whenever I feel overwhelmed, not sure of what is next, I look at this face, and somehow it just doesn't seem all that important.

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Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Hop

It's always fun to see the blocks included in each issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks! I think the biannual magazine has become a must-have resource in many quilters' libraries. I'm excited to have a block included in Volume 9!

This block is one I designed about 12 years ago for a block-of-the-month program at Patches, Etc, a local shop in St Louis. The quilt was called "Patches of Main" and each block depicted one of the stores in our historic district of St. Charles. We had a cute little book store at the time and so a shelf of books seemed perfect!

I'd been thinking about this block recently with all the wonderful text fabric we have available today and just had to try it updated, bright and happy. My block is called "Read" and is #880.

Wouldn't it look cute on the front of a book bag? Think Summer trips to the library!

My second thought was how adorable it would be in a kid's room - with a very important reminder!

 I decided to mount the piece on a 16" x 20"canvas board I picked up at my local craft store. To make it fit I added 1/2" to each of the side pieces. That meant I had to add 1" to my top and bottom pieces to make it a 12" x 13" block.

The letters are pieced from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman - Refrigerator Magnets. They're 3" tall and I added another 2" finished background piece to the top. The borders were cut 4" wide and are wrapped around to the back of the canvas board and stapled in place.

So here's your chance to win a copy of the latest Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. Leave me a comment and I'll choose a winner on Monday. Have you read a good book lately? I'm always looking for an interesting read!!

For more chances to win, be sure to pop over to the Quilty Pleasures Blog.

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