I had a lovely email last week from Francine who said this:
“I like your work and love doing tapestry but I always wonder with to do with the very small tapestry! What do you do with yours? ”
This question used to really bother me but now I love it because it gives me an opportunity to think about why I weave tapestry at all. The answer also relates to almost everything else I do for fun: knitting, drawing, birding, hiking, reading…
For me weaving my tapestry diary or sketch tapestries is all about the process. My tiny tapestry diary or sketch tapestry pieces are often just 2-4 inches and they’re too small to hang on the wall without being mounted. It is about slowing down, paying attention, and making something with my hands. I’m the same with knitting. I have piles of shawls I’ve knit because I love the process. I can’t possibly wear them all so sometimes I give them away, but the making of them is all that I really care about.
A small tapestry inspired by a hike with friends at Twin Lakes in Colorado to the historic Interlaken site. The blue hexagon represents a six-sided privy they have there and the part below that is the logs as pictured to the left from the side of one of the buildings.
The small sketch tapestry pieces I’ve been making for the last decade are related to specific events in my life and I put tags on them and keep them like a journal. They ARE a journal. I have in past pinned them to my studio wall but since I’ve moved they’re in a plastic box. They each have an informational tag on them and relate back to a journal page with photos and thoughts about that event or thing I saw.
I guess I’m saying that what they’re for doesn’t really matter. The process matters. But I have seen people use these small tapestries as Christmas cards or they’ll mount them and give them as gifts or hang them on the wall. Tapestry isn’t usually functional so this isn’t ever a big deal for me I suppose.
I have had people who really needed a “use” for their small tapestries and I’ve seen them do some of these things with them. If you have other ideas, please pop them in the comments!
Sew or glue them on holiday cards. I think for special people, this is a wonderful use for these magical little works. But only send them to people who will appreciate them!
Use them to make a perpetual calendar which you’ll use every year for birthdays, etc.
Mount them in groups and hang on the wall.
Put them in three-ring binders or other books with the inspiration or sketches related to the work. Keep these references around so you look at them often!
Mug rugs are a thing.
Summer of Tapestry
Summer of Tapestry kicked off with the first prompt this week. This is the class where I teach my favorite thing, sketch tapestry. We learn to simplify ideas and weave from our surroundings. There is still plenty of time to join us. More information is on my website HERE. You get forever access to the class and the joy of being part of a vibrant and international community of tapestry weavers.
One of my sketchbook pages and weavings for Summer of Tapestry this year is this one about a claret cup cactus I saw at Hovenweep.