Sprang and Weaving Piece to Exhibit in "Small Expressions"

One piece from my "Green Impelling" series has been juried into HGA's Small Expressions, an annual international juried exhibit sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., to showcase fiber art on a small scale.  The exhibit will be at the Milwaukee Art Museum, July 23 through August 14, 2016, as part of HGA's Convergence fiber arts conference.

These small pieces were a study in expanding my boldness with color, trying out some juxtapositions that I found, hmm... challenging.
 

This is the first time my work has been accepted into this exhibit.  Exciting!

Upcoming Workshop: Layering Sprang on Woven Cloth

In about three weeks I'll be leading a workshop in making these sprang designs on a twill cloth.  We'll be using a supplementary warp technique to float some warps over the fabric, then plaiting the warps.  The stretchy fabric that results forms an interesting curved shape.

Participants can make a sampler, trying out different size, shape and placement of the motifs as well as various weave structures and even different yarns, or they can choose to repeat a pattern and create a scarf like this one.

To register for the workshop, you can visit this page at the Southern California Handweavers' Guild site.

More Lacy-ness

That doup leno fabric would not leave my head.  I had to try it again in another colorway.  These scarves are in a slightly lighter weight cotton yarn than the previous ones.

Five scarves from this green series available for purchase at my Etsy shop.

"Bestla's Mantle" doup leno fabric

This is the fabric I ended up weaving for this project.  I used a finer weft than in my sample, and added a little glitz.  I used 16 shafts including the ones needed for the doup and standard heddles.

Next Samples

Here are the next doup leno samples I made, by making some of the warps white to contrast with the various blues I had in the first sample.

The white warp is more clearly showing off the lozenge-like shapes I wanted to see.

I tried out the different blues in the weft to see what they would do.

A darker-valued weft emphasizes a different patterning.

I think the white weft is coming closest to what I am after for my current purpose.  I like how all the white lines are working together making all these fractured-looking shapes like cracks running through.

Which is ironic, since the white weft was what I thought was making it not work on the previous warp.

On the reverse side, distinct little diamond shapes are formed.

Doup Leno Lace Sampling

Well, my sample didn't do exactly what I'd hoped.  My intent is to design yardage from which to make some lace curtains.  But even when the piece is backlit, the white weft overpowers the really interesting things happening in the warp.

To de-emphasize the weft, I did a little bit using sewing thread and then with monofilament.  Here the warp pairs dancing with each other are really apparent.  I notice that it shows a little better when one set of warps is a lighter color.  This gives me the idea to try using white as part of the warp instead of in the weft.  This will be fodder for the next sample.

But as for the current sample, it will just become a nice scarf.

Winter Lace

Sample for the latest project, casting an intricate shadow in midwinter afternoon sun.

It's a leno weave, hopefully for a project to submit for next summer's Convergence yardage exhibit.  The colors I've chosen are cold, but the sun coming in my window is keeping me warm as I weave.