Palette Scout: Choosing colors for tapestry and other fiber art applications

Palette Scout: Choosing colors for tapestry and other fiber art applications

I’ve been teaching color for tapestry weaving in Vermont and New Hampshire this month and I was excited to add this color tool to my toolbox just before I left on the trip. We were able to use the Palette Scout in both of the workshops I taught.

There is a lot of power in a color swatch tool like this. There are many color tools out there and I introduce many of my favorites in various online classes such as Design Solutions, but this one is different in that each hue is on a different card. That means that you can move the cards around as you create a palette and that makes all the difference.

What is it like to run your own tapestry education business? A recorded Change the Shed episode

What is it like to run your own tapestry education business? A recorded Change the Shed episode

Before I left for my teaching trip in Vermont and New Hampshire, I recorded a short Change the Shed episode to air on June 12, 2024. I wanted to address some of the questions I’ve been asked mostly about my business in recent months. The questions range from how big my team is (you might be surprised) to what I do with tiny tapestries. I suspect that person was wondering the bigger question, what good is tapestry really? And that quickly morphs into why do we even make art? I promise I don’t get into that in the video, but I definitely do in some of the online classes. It is a short episode at about 15 minutes.

Tapestry of Light: a weaving mystery set in Santa Fe!

Tapestry of Light: a weaving mystery set in Santa Fe!

If you’re looking for a fun summer mystery which involves tapestry weaving, Betty Lucke’s new mystery, Tapestry of Light, might be for you. The story takes place in Santa Fe, NM. Karen is a tapestry weaver who is trying to finish a large tapestry for a show in a Santa Fe gallery. Her subject is racism and the imagery was developed after she witnessed an unfortunate incident with a child being bullied in a coffee shop.

Weaving the lake: sketch tapestry adventures

Weaving the lake: sketch tapestry adventures

Twin Lakes is a lovely spot on the Colorado Trail in central Colorado. I’ve hiked through there many times on the trail, usually resupplying at the store there. I’ve also done a trail crew based near there working on the Colorado Trail and had some fun times camping and snowshoeing in the area.

Places I return to over and over again often get woven about. This little sketch tapestry is one I did in 2022 and since I didn’t finish it on the trip where it was started, I wove some of it on Change the Shed, the free YouTube program I do a couple times a month.

Your summer adventure kit | Tapestry looms, tools, and materials

Your summer adventure kit | Tapestry looms, tools, and materials

This week on Change the Shed I talked about my travel tapestry kit. I’ve definitely talked about this before on Change the Shed as well as on the blog, but since many of you here are new to my summer shenanigans, here is what I’m currently using for the kit I take with me when I leave the studio.

I do have different items in the kit depending on what I’m doing. If I’m backpacking, I’m bringing a kit that is hopefully less than 8 ounces and includes a Turkish spindle and flick carder. If I’m traveling by car, I might have significantly more gear and larger looms with me depending on how much time I’ll have to weave.

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Summer of Tapestry free mini-course

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Summer of Tapestry free mini-course

Every year I run a class I call Summer of Tapestry. It revolves around a practice I’ve had for many years now of bringing a small loom with me when I’m hiking or traveling and weaving something about what I experienced or saw. I often call the practice sketch tapestry because my goal is to capture something interesting about the experience, not to replicate whatever it was necessarily in any realistic way.

I find that the practice of really looking at something and then weaving about it makes me pay attention instead of just rushing blindly through life. The inspirations I’ve woven something about are things that I remember months and years later.

I’ve linked many of these sorts of tapestries on my blog over the years and you can find some of these stories under the tapestry diary category. The concept is simple. It is a way of paying attention to something in my experience that caught my eye or had some sort of meaning. Making a tiny piece of art about it allows me more time to sink into the experience and I find that I remember the things I wove about clearly in the future.