Tapestry Studio Happenings, 2014

Dreams for the new year are many. Some will be realized, some probably won't be as I
run out of time and energy
overestimate my abilities
spend all my time weaving tapestries.

Wait! Maybe this year they will all be realized. I have dreams of being able to hire someone to help me make that happen. Now there is an idea.

Running a tapestry studio that is not part of my home was a huge undertaking in 2013. I love my time in the studio and hope for a lot more of it in 2014.

I am busy creating here in Santa Fe. I love to make things with my hands and I also love to create with my brain... which mostly ends up as classes I teach. There are many new opportunities coming up in 2014. Here are some of them. Stay tuned, there will be more!

1. January 19-23, 2014: Color Gradation Techniques for Tapestry, 5-day class in my studio in Santa Fe. This class is full but let me know if you want to get on the waiting list.
2. February 8, 2014: lecture about my work and my experiences weaving tapestry in the southwestern US, Las Tejadoras Weavers Guild Meeting, Santa Fe. Contact me for details.
3. March 24-26, 2014: Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry, 3-day class in my studio in Santa Fe. There are still a few spots left in this beginning tapestry class. More information is on my website HERE.
4. June 10-13, 2014, Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry, 4-day class at The Recycled Lamb in Golden, CO. More information HERE.
5. Convergence 2014, July 14-19, Providence, RI. Classes I am teaching are: 

• Color Gradation Techniques for Tapestry in a 2-day format 7/15-16
• The Mobile Tapestry Weaver: Weaving Tapestry on a Hokett Loom in a 1-day format 7/17
• Creating Without Pain: Ergonomics for Fiber Artists in a 3-hour lecture on 7/19. 
• See HGA's website or the teaching page on my website for more information.

And here are the things that are in the works and are definitely going to happen, but I don't have all the details yet... just so you can marinate about them for a bit.

1. Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry will be offered as an online class.
2.  September 13-14: 2-day lecture and class in Southern California
3. Creating Without Pain: Ergonomics for Fiber Artists will be offered as a lecture at Convergence 2014 (for sure--see above) and in e-book or video form by the end of the year.
4. Many more blog and video projects sharing the fun world of tapestry. 

Check out my YouTube channel if you have missed some of my videos. I am shooting more every week for the online class and a few of them will make their way to YouTube for all of you to see. (Did you know you can subscribe to YouTube channels so you get an email when a new video is posted?)

You can sign up for my newsletter HERE. In 2014 I will be sending out two newsletters a month with updates on my classes and with information about the world of tapestry.

I also offer private classes in my studio. You can find more information about that on my website HERE. If you want to come to Santa Fe for a few days or a week and you want to get in some tapestry time in my studio, let me know! It doesn't have to be a scheduled workshop.

And the big dreams:
Weave a lot of tapestries! Because I love messing about with yarn.

New beginnings

New Years always brings out blog posts about new beginnings and resolutions and such, doesn't it? But it really is a good time to make some goals. I have made some and will share some of them with you in the next few weeks.

I spent much of last week in the cold of the Colorado mountains watching a new baby come about. She scared us all half to death, but in the end everything went well and she is beautiful and healthy and I am so grateful for that.

And this is how cold it was when we went to the hospital for the arrival.

I know that won't impress those of you suffering through an extended cold spell in the northern USA and Canada, but it was mighty cold (as you may remember from when I lived there last winter!)

Today I am back in my studio trying to catch up with all of your questions and scheduling my classes and activities for 2014. There are great things coming! Expect a post with a list of classes and lectures later this week.

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter, you can do so HERE. I will send out two each month in 2014 with information about my upcoming events, teaching resources, videos, blog posts, and most importantly, stuff about tapestry!

Happy New Year!

New Years Blessings (or surviving Trader Joes on New Year's Eve)

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. I survived a run to the Santa Fe Trader Joes at 10:45 this morning. (You have no idea. People. Every. Square. Inch.) Rest assured, I got the walnuts and the green beans though I had to dodge an old lady wearing a dead animal, 52 shopping baskets whose owners were perusing the cheese, and 17 exceptionally helpful TJs employees, some of whom already needed a shower.

Today is my last studio day before some time with the family in Colorado. A baby that has not arrived yet will be here very soon. Thursday in fact. We call it "Baby Day". It is a pretty good way to start a new year I'd say... with a new niece or nephew. (No, my sister and brother-in-law do not know whether it is a boy or a girl and no amount of "but how will I choose the knitting colors" could change their minds. This kid is getting a whole bunch of blue, green, orange, and purple handknits. Really the only color I feel I have to steer clear of is pink. So I guess it is okay not knowing yet.)

My dreams for 2014 include more tapestries than I could possibly weave, many conversations with friends and colleagues online and in the real world, a lot of teaching, hiking some long trails, hanging with the little people in my life, and unknown new horizons. Thanks so much for following along with me on my fantastic ride!

In celebration of that kicky little kid my sister is going to birth soon and with big wishes for your own tapestry weaving practice, I wish you many blessings for the new year.

Weavers Bazaar tapestry yarn and a new project

I have always loved getting things in the mail. I am a mail-box haunter even now when most things come through the computer. I wish people still sent birthday cards with real messages or doodled pictures at the bottom of hand-written letters. Today I was excited to receive the yarn I have been waiting for from the UK. Yippee!!!

This yarn took some sleuthing to find. I started with a suggestion by Tal Landeau who visited my studio recently that she was interested in some yarn that Joan Griffin was using. I contacted Joan who identified that particular yarn as one I was already familiar with but then told me about her favorite dream yarn which she used in a Joan Baxter workshop many years ago. She sent me some samples of this awesome yarn (clipped from the back of her sampler no less--she didn't have more! Thanks so much Joan) though she didn't know what it was... and from there I had to contact Joan Baxter myself. I had to know what the yarn was. Joan Baxter is an amazing tapestry artist from Scotland. Her piece Hallaig in ATB8 (American Tapestry Biennial 8) was my favorite piece in the show (though there were many outstanding ones). Her color mixing abilities are phenomenal. I am greatly looking forward to her 2014 US teaching tour!

So you can imagine I was pretty disappointed to find out that the yarn is no longer made. But she gave me hope. Two English tapestry weavers, Lin Squires and Matty Smith, have started selling a new bit of yarn which Joan suggested I try. Lin and Matty of Weaver's Bazaar certainly do have some great yarn. I know because this package of it arrived today. I can't wait to see how it dyes. But because I knew I wouldn't be able to wait to dye it to give it a whirl, I also ordered some already dyed yarn. Here it is!

One of my many projects for 2014 includes an exploration of the list of tapestry yarns generated by this blog post: Where to purchase tapestry yarn.  I received some great suggestions from weavers all over the world and I have collected some of them and am working on some little samples. Of course, a tapestry yarn is a pretty personal choice and what I like may well not be what you like. But judging from the pile of various yarns I have so far accumulated, they are going to be quite different and some of them quite lovely. I'll let you know what happens.

I think the Weavers Bazaar yarn just moved to the top of the pile though. Maybe it is because it came straight from England. (I know, a bunch of the other yarns came from Sweden and Australia and Norway... but they came through people in the US and I didn't get to see the postage from over the pond. I am easily pleased and have probably been watching too much Doctor Who. And then there was the suggestion from Joan Baxter herself... can't beat that.)

Here are a few more photos.
I couldn't resist.

Color cards are available!

I do love playing with yarn.

A tapestry studio Christmas

Have a very Merry Christmas!

My best wishes for a happy holiday season to all of you. And my continuing thanks for reading this blog!

I continue to enjoy folding paper cranes and this year made a Christmas decoration with them. (My big wedding crane project is HERE.)

 Amazing gluten free pecan tassies made by the love of my life.

May the end of 2013 be peaceful and may you enjoy the love and gratitude that abounds in this world. Cheers!!!  Rebecca

The blessings of children

Progress in the studio has gotten a bit derailed the last week. You see, there is a family baby on the way. This baby does not live in the same town as I do. In fact, it lives in the very coldest place in the nation and when your nose hairs are frozen and you can't breathe, you'd insist the coldest place in the world. Just watch your weather map for the next 6 weeks or so. If Alamosa, Colorado doesn't come up as the coldest place anywhere (or at least in the continental USA) at least a few times in that period, I'll eat my hat. Last winter I lived here. I was so looking forward to Christmas in Santa Fe where the weather is significantly warmer. Even if it is cold enough to be snowing, it can be 50 degrees warmer than Alamosa. But there is a baby who wants to be born sometime soon and so I am back here in my woolies waiting.

It isn't a bad time to be waiting for a miracle. I know of course that December 25th wasn't really Jesus's birthday, but that is when many people celebrate his birth. And Christmas is a magical time anyway. Hopefully it is a good time to be born.

For myself, I never wanted kids. I know that many many people don't understand this. I still get asked (even though I'm past 40 now) when I am having kids... and then inevitably the asker tells me that it is "not too late" and their cousin-neice-friend-sister had a baby when she was 53 and I could still be a mother. I just don't want to. I think the world should be grateful for that.

Fortunately I am blessed with many children in other ways. I have the cutest niece you've ever seen. And I moonlight as an occupational therapist working with kids a few days a week. Kids have a way of pointing out the things adults tend to miss. And the joy they spread if given the chance is infectious.

The new baby could come today. Or in two weeks. We don't know. That is part of the miracle I suppose! Celebrate your blessings. I know today that I am deeply blessed.

A little bit overboard

Have you ever reached that moment when you suddenly realized you had gone completely overboard and if you didn't stop yourself you'd have lost the whole day into the black hole of perfectionism?


I reached that moment when I was packaging this tapestry for shipment to it's new owner.

Cherry Lake, 8 x 13 inches, hand-dyed wool tapestry

I had already gone to three stores for packaging material and as I was putting the tapestry between pieces of foam core I was absolutely sure I needed some binder clips to hold the whole thing together. Completely sure the tapestry couldn't be shipped without binder clips. I picked up my keys and was halfway out the door when it hit me. I had spent the last 3 hours packaging a tapestry which honestly would be fine just rolled in muslin and it was going to be fine without the binder clips. I slapped some plastic tape on the edges, liberally applied bubble wrap, and headed for FedEx (to stand in line for on two consecutive days as it turned out).

For whatever reason this tapestry ended up velcroed to foam core with wooden shims on the sides so the tapestry didn't get squished. It was some Home Depot-inspired scheme I think. The excessive choices available in that store led to a hyper-packaged tapestry. At least that is my story.

I really liked this little piece. It just came home from Small Tapestry International 3. I am glad it has found a new home.