The Black Thread

It's always refreshing to begin a new series of rugs with a new color of warp thread!  Above you see a picture of 24 cones of poly/cotton warp thread which is needed to begin weaving on either one of my two looms.  I had a very successful garage sale expedition last Friday in which I found lots of great cotton fabric.  And I was especially happy to find a variety of reds in which I will use in my first rug after my loom is warped with the black..

I had no idea how long it was going to take for the new warp thread to arrive; so I warped my old loom with a combination of beige and sage green to make a couple of table runners.  Hopefully, I will begin work on that tomorrow with a nice cotton sheet torn in strips.  Below you will see the loom with the fabric I'm going to use.  I can hardly wait!!

Warping the Loom

To an outsider observing the warping process one would think it is a very teious boring ordeal.  I rather enjoy it.  It is repetitive, soothing, and restful.  It doesn't take a lot of physical effort or mental thought.  You just tie strings and snip with the scissors over and over until all of your warp threads are attached.

The warping I did today will be enough to make a couple table runners. I have almost completely run out of warp thread and so twenty rounds on the warp beam is all I could do with a combination of beige and green...mostly beige.    I've ordered more warp thread and am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the black spools of thread!

A New Day - A New Week - A New Rug!

Monday is the start of a brand new work week.  I look forward to it!  I remember a day when I didn't....I dreaded Monday and the stretch of the long work week ahead of me.  But today life is different and better for me!  Retirement looks good on me as I can do the things I want to do.  I have my perfect little retirement job at the library which does not require a lot of hours and then I have my weaving.

A couple of months ago, Tom and I discovered another two-harness floor loom at an estate sale which we were excited to buy.  We realized that if I had two looms to work on I could always keep one warped for table runners and the other for rugs and that is exactly what I have done!  Today I began and finished a little table mat (I call it a table mat because it is just not very long to be called a table runner) on the very old and restored loom which we purchased at the estate sale.  I am low on warp thread on both of my looms; so I could only make this tiny rug which will still work perfectly as a table mat for just the right person.

As I have so many fabric strips of various colors, I decided to just make a multi-colored rug of leftovers.  Often these are my favorite because you are never quite sure how they will turn out. I randomly pick strips that are calling to me from the pile and which I think will look good.

And soon I have come to the end of warp thread and have no choice but to cut it off my loom.

And I don't always list my rugs on Etsy.  Sometimes I sell them at our booth at River City Trading Post in Jenks, Oklahoma.  And that is where this little rug will go....to the River store!  Come on out and check it out.  It should be there by this Saturday.  And now off to another project!  Oh, sorry....I changed my mind!  It is listed on Etsy!! 

The Finished Project

Yesterday turned into the day that I finished my rug project!  Woo hoo!  And even though I didn't get around to writing a blog, the feeling of satisfaction is still with me today.  The feeling of knowing something did get accomplished in my haphazard world of going from one thing to another. 

The first part of my day was spent weaving the last two feet of the rug, cutting it off the loom, and then knotting the warp thread into fringe at the top and at the bottom.  The picture you see above is where I am in the process of tying it off.  This step is important because the heading would come undone if not tied into knots.  Like other things in this life, if a process is ended incorrectly, the whole thing will become unraveled and what you thought you completed has just been a whole waste of time.  You might as well throw it away.

After finishing the tie off process, I give the fringe a "haircut" to make sure it is even on the top and bottom.  The only thing left after that is a check to make sure all lose threads are trimmed and sewing on the Handwoven by Jeri Groves label.  And now this new creation is listed on my etsy site for sale. www.etsy.com/shop/jerijane

And now I can look at my work and think to myself, "A job well done".    My only hope is that after this temporary life is complete and I've woven my last rug, my Lord can look at me and say the same thing, " A job well done, my good and faithful servant".  And because of this hope, I will look for new ways that I can serve today.  Or I will look for ways to build people us instead of tearing them down. 

Focusing on the Goal

There are so many distractions in this life.  And even though I would love to be able to make at least one rug a day on the loom, other things get in the way.  And some of those things are important; such as walking the pathfinder, eating healthy food, and reading for fun!  I didn't even have to work at the library today.  So why didn't I get the whole house cleaned and a rug woven?  Distractions.  

It is important to focus on what your goal for the day is and that was to weave at least two feet on my rug and that I did accomplish.  And what is it that God expects from me today?  Is it important that I weave a rug?  Is it important that I clean the house?  Is it important that I write this blog?  I believe that today God is giving me the message through His Word and through music on the radio, that the important thing is that I love and live as Christ did.  It really doesn't matter what I finished or what I started.  It's important that I demonstrated the love of Jesus through my words and actions.  

 

Weaving the New Creation

I have made the decision to go with the buttery yellow cotton for the background fabric and add bits of a few other fabrics that you can view in the picture above.  I love the fluffy piles of fabric strips that await my selection at just the right time and place.  Cotton is definitely the best fabric to use in these rugs because you can rip and tear the strips; you don't have to cut them with a rotary cutter like I do sometimes.  Plus, I just love the feel of cotton, don't you?  Real natural fibers are always the best as far as I'm concerned.  Synthetic fibers do serve their purpose in this world; but I don't like the feel of them.

I spent a little time this morning sewing the strips of yellow cotton together so I could wind them on a shuttle.  And then I was ready for the fun part of actually weaving!  So, here I go with a background of yellow and splashes of green, aqua, and a mixed patterned fabric.  Thank you, Lord, for giving me the desires of my heart and allowing me to be the creative person you designed me to be.





The Beginning

Today I decided to be a blogger.  This was not a huge decision on my part, mind you; but it gives me a creative outlet in which I can post the progress and pictures of my newest creation on the loom.  Recent custom orders of handwoven rugs have required some communication involving pictures and descriptions that have resulted in a great deal of satisfaction for my customers.  So, why not a blog, I say. 

The picture above is my loom warped and ready to go, like a blank slate.  I need to decide what fabrics to weave together.  Sometimes it is just one fabric.  Sometimes it is one background fabric with splashes of color packed in to give each rug it's unique personality.  Sometimes it is two background fabrics twisted together with each pass of the shuttle. 

Today I look at fabrics and try and decide what to use.  I have drawers filled with cotton strips just ready to be woven into a rug.  I also have shelves of fabric ready to be cut or torn.  The fabric that caught my eye this morning was a buttery yellow cotton which will make a great background color.  I've yet to decide what delectable colors I will add to make this rug a homespun charmer. 

This is a wonderful aspect of being a child of the living God.  He created us to be creators.  We were created in His image and in His likeness.  Is it no wonder that we get such huge amounts of satisfaction from seeing a finished project that we have woven out of bits and pieces of nothingness?  And so I will return to my loom another day and be given the joy of creating something new out of nothing.