Pumpkin Spice Overshot Throw

Detail - Star of Bethlehem weaving pattern in the Pumpkin Spice Overshot Throw.

It looks like October, doesn't it?  Warm apple cider and pumpkin spice.  Crunchy fall leaves under foot.

Saw this on FB Marketplace last week listed as:

Groovy diamond print retro orange fabric.  Looks to be attached at the center with thicker abstract outer edges. Could be used for clothing, sewing, or even as a tablecloth. Feels like a thicker more double knit style. No condition issues. 

It was local, and the price was right at $25 (including shipping).  I felt like I needed to rescue it because I knew someone made it -- Someone took the time to hand weave it line-by-line.  The seller didn't really seem to understand what it was.  Double knit? Nope!

I don't think it's antique -- it seems much newer than that.  I think it's all cotton and wool.  It's made in 2 panels with a seam down the middle.  Borders all around.  Might be a baby blanket or a throw from one of Tom Knisley's books?  

 

 

 

I recognized the Star of Bethlehem overshot weaving pattern from Anne Dixon's The Hand Weaver's Pattern Directory [full color] book of weaving drafts.  Or you can get this pattern from Heddlecraft, attributed to Josephine Estes’ publication “Original Miniature Patterns for Hand Weaving”  as seen above.

 

Detail of the fibers and the overshot.  Maybe the orange is wool after all?  It looks hairier than cotton tends to be.   

[I should have turned this photo 90 degrees, as the orange would be woven on the horizontal, but on;ly a weaver would know that!]

 

Here's a detail of the border design.

Here are the photos from the Marketplace listing (for the record and the sake of documentation): 

 

  

 

  

 

 

  

Slow Going Beaming the Sectional Warp

Winding the sectional warp, one section at a time.

It's been very slow going beaming the sectional warp.  I know there's a learning curve ...  

I found a few videos (Part 1; Part 2) on how to do it with a warping board (I'm using my warping mill instead) one bundle at a time.  I don't have a creel or 24 spools to wind on straight from the spools -- I have considered it, but can't justify the space the extra equipment will take up, or the expense, not being a production weaver.  It takes longer to secure the warp chain than it does to wind a 24-end warp.  It's only 3 trips up-and-down with 4 strings.  

 

This is how I secure the cross at the top.  Red marks the top and green marks the lower.  Same for the cross at the bottom.  This will be important later on when I need to insert the lease sticks at the loom. 

 

These are mostly secured with lark's head knots, because they are secure and easy to remove later. 

 

4 x 1-pound cones of 10/2 American Maid natural cotton for the warp. 

 

Normally I use a counter app on my phone to keep track of how many strings I've run in any given warp.  But my phone kept going to sleep before I ran the 12 yards down and back up to the top of the warping mill.  It took too many taps to wake it up and get back to where I could tap the app to track the strings.  I finally gave up and went with an analogue method [See photo above.].  Tried and true.  This works just fine!

The videos worked well enough for the basics, but there were a few things that didn't work so well for me.  I have a tension box (Thank goodness!).  She combed out the strings -- I found that it was easier to snap them.  I don't have the right comb for the strings I'm working with.

I broke a couple of strings in the first 2 bundles.  The first bundle, the loose and broken strings tangled miserably.   The 2nd one, I decided to put a note on it to add 2 repair strings later to hang off the back -- just like olden days.

After that, I was winding 1 bundle at a time, and then trying to wind it onto the sectional warp.  It took about 1 hour to do a single bundle in the beginning.  At this rate, it's going to take me months just to get the loom set up.  I thought this was supposed to simplify things?  

 

I developed a couple of tricks to help --  The one teacher said she doesn't crochet the warp chains, she just coils them into a bag -- That wasn't really working for me.  I started winding it around a piece of cardboard, then realized that I could use the rag shuttles with this loom, so I've been running the individual 24-end bundles on the warping mill, then pulling them off onto the rag shuttles (from the top down) where they keep nice and stable until I can wind them onto the sectional warp in bundles.

 

This is the very simple cross holder my DH made out of some of the leftover cherry.  Very helpful!

 

Here is the tension box, which works great as long as I remember to thread the strings around the pegs.

I will say that the finished bundles look so nice and neat!  So far, I have 22 bundles on the sectional warp.  Only 15more to go! 

This system should solve some problems with tension and the cigar slopping at the ends ...  I am looking forward to that!

Embrace Your Curves - EAA Quilt Challenge 2024: Clyde the Octopus is Complete

Clyde the Octopus

EAA Quilt Challenge 2024 - Embrace Your Curves

What has more curves than an Octopus?

 

Detail of a tentacle, and the "buttons" that are standing in for suckers. 

 

Here's a detail of the quilting in the borders.  Free-motion swirls, indicative of the sea, waves, or fiddlehead ferns (akin to seaweed).  I should have waited to quilt the borders AFTER doing the binding.  Some of the swirls got lost under the binding.

I also added a flash of color with an orange-y flange with the binding. 

 

 

After cutting out the pieces, I fused them together as 1 unit, and then fused it to a piece of black fabric.   Don't worry-- This is only to stabilize the applique.  The black won't be visible in the final quilt.  

 Next, I added tear-away stabilizer on the back, and started stitching.

I used invisible thread and a zigzag stitch to sew down all the edges to the black background fabric.

 

Then I used a satin stitch and the glossy embroidery threads to finish those edges properly, so that nothing pops up unexpectedly in the future.  Above, you can see some of the thread colors involved. 

I did not satin stitch around the suckers. That would have been utter madness!  Instead, I free motion stitched the edges of all those circles.

 

Here's a detail shot of one of the tentacles, showing how all the edges are stitched and secured with satin stitch or free-motion circles. 

 

Here it is from the back as seen from the tear-away stabilizer side.  As you might guess, the stabilizer is torn away before layering it with batting and backing. 

The next step is to cut out the applique.  The black fabric is not a background, but more of another stabilizer for the applique, allowing it to coalesce into a single unit that can then be appliqued to the green seaweed-y hand-dyed fabric -- I used Dream Wool batting as the stabilizer at this stage.   I cut the black fabric about 1/4 inch from the edges of the octopus, and then appliqued that to the dark green background using the invisible thread (again) and a nondescript zigzag stitch.

Once it was appliqued and stuck fast, I added the backing and outlined the Octopus by stitching about 1/4-inch away from it.  This helps it pop out for a 3D Trapunto-like effect.

 

Here it is from the back.  And again -- In real life, it is square.

 These are most of the thread colors used in this piece.  I wanted to have a record of this before I put them away.

Plans for the Wandering Vine Coverlet

Chosen Yarns for the Wandering Vine Coverlet Project

Yarns

Warp: 10/2 American Maid Cotton, Natural -- Yes, It's strong enough for warp! Although other 10/2 Cottons will break and are not suitable for warp.  This is what I used for the warp on the Mountain Cucumber Coverlet.

Tabby: 20/2 American Maid Cotton, Natural   - 1 spool should be enough.  A little goes a long way!  I may try the 10/2 cotton for the tabby.  It depends on how much space the pattern wool takes up.

Pattern: Wool, Cranberry (purchased on Etsy)   I'll have to do some testing -- wondering if this wool might be too thick?  It says it's fingerling, but seems thicker than that in real life.

I spent the most time with the basic pattern from Carol Strickler's American Woven Coverlets Book page 118.  We even worked out borders, until we realized that including side borders would mean re-threading, because the diagonal pitch of the overall pattern would not allow for taking panel 2 and turning it to be along side panel 1 without changing the diagonal to be it's opposite, or flipping it over to be the positive/negative. This is a much wider pattern motif -- 4 pattern repeats span about 1 yard across per panel.  I can do top and bottom borders.

I also studied the wandering vine pattern from Margarete Davison's "The Green Book," with 7 pattern repeats.  It's on a slightly smaller scale.  This is the pattern The Curmudgeon used for making towels [See below ...]  Initial math says I only need 6 yards of warp for 2 panels that will be about 36 inches wide.  I don't believe that, so I'm going to double the warp calculation to make sure there's enough for loom waste, experimentation and testing, and all the rest.  I ran out of warp on the last project ...  and besides-- now I have a sectional warp, so why wouldn't I want to put on a longer warp?  If there's extra warp, I can always make towels, or make a 3rd panel. 

I also spent several hours on multiple days studying Helen Bress's Coverlets Book HB37, because it has the borders mapped out.  But in the end, I concluded that even my "big loom" isn't quite big enough to make that version of Cattrack / Wandering Vine.  I don't have enough heddles (974 heddles for about 38 inches wide), and don't quite have the mental agility yet to use all 8 shafts for a 4 shaft pattern.  It's a giant pattern even with a single pattern (no repeats) across the panel.  And my brand new sectional warp can't go beyond 38 inches at the widest.

15 dent reed sleyed at 2-2-1 threads / dent for 24 epi.  I don't have a 12-dent reed for the big loom, and purchasing a new one wold be about $250.  I think I'll make do with what I have in stock.

The epi of the coverlet the Strickler book was based on 40 wpi ...  I wonder if I'll have enough heddles for this one?  And the antique coverlet I purchased to study looks to have a warp and tabby that fine as well.  It may be that the structure is twill-ier than the Mountain Cucumber, hence needing more stability in the tabby?

I did count heddles on all 8 shafts today.  There are about 150 heddles (give or take) on each of 8 shafts, for a total of 1200 heddles.   The Curmudgeon Weaves had a video [at about 12 minutes in ...] about using heddles on other unused shafts if you need more heddles than you have available.  He has a loom with those lightweight string heddles and they are a pain to switch.  It's not so bad on my Kessenich looms.  I've done it before, but never thought of ammending the draft to take advantage of heddles on unused shafts. -- One of the benefits of having more shafts, I guess.  

Even with the Strickler draft, it looks like I'd need another 130 (or so heddles) spread out on 4 shafts, so I ordered some from Ability Weavers.  No one makes the flat steel heddles on my old Kessenich looms anymore (although you can sometimes buy the old flat steel heddles).  I ordered some of the inserted eye type--like Tom Kniesley uses.  We'll see how that works ...  It seems you can mix and match heddles, as long as they hold the thread where you want it.   Think about it -- if I put in a repair heddle, it's string, not steel, and it works just fine!

I'm going to try out my brand new sectional warp for this project -- although, perhaps I should try it out on a smaller project first?

I still have 2+ pages of math to figure out the specifics for this project, but I am making progress by starting with the decisions above.

 

Retrofit LeClerc Sectional Warp Beam on The Big Kessenich Loom

Last summer, I got a rare bonus at work, and decided to purchase a sectional warp beam for the Big Loom.  Mary Meigs Atwater even says sectional warping is the way to go for hassle-free weaving, because it mitigates so many tension issues.   But when I called Kessenich Looms to order one, Bruce the proprietor said he's moving into retirement and spends his days talking to Kessenich Loom owners and won't make a sectional warp unless I order a whole new loom -- which I'm not going to do.  He thought I could make one myself or find a local woodworker to do it.  Easy for him to suggest that!

I wound up buying the LeClerc (a Canadian company) sectional warp rails from The Woolery.   Since then, My Dear Husband has been planning and figuring out how to retrofit them for my 1960s Kessenich loom.  He has so many notes about it, I'm sure he will do a guest post about what he did in case anyone else wants to try it.

1 trip around the rails equals about 1 yard, so that will make it easy to count when I'm winding on.

And the unit is easily removable for when I need to switch the tie ups for the treadles.  The old warp reel is still there if I want to use that one, too.  They use the same crank.  

Octopus (So Far): Embrace Your Curves - EAA Quilt Challenge 2024

I was trying hard to make this idea fit the March Madness Quilt Challenge with the Roman Glass fabric, but it just wasn't quite working ...  Since this challenge only required the curves (as a motif or technique), and no particular fabric, I had a few more options to make this one come to life.

My husband wanted it -- otherwise, I don't think I'd want to spend so much time with "all those suckers." 

Don't you think that button fabric looks like Octopus suckers? 

I thought the hand-dyed green background looks like seaweed, or deep ocean.

This is just the fused stage.  There will be a border, thread-painting, and quilting ...

More to come ...  

Heavy Black and Red Wool Coverlet

Yes -- another coverlet!    A little eye candy while I'm busy planning the next coverlet (Nothing to show as yet ...)

 

This one seems to have a satin binding.   It's very heavy and sturdy for a twin bed size.  A little stiffer than I like, but the density makes it warmer, too.

 

 

For the record, here is the documentation from the eBay listing:

 

 

Antique Wool Jacquard Coverlet 1800's Hand Woven 89” x 49” Red & Black VGC!

$68.00Unit price $68.00

Item number:126166929030

Sold by: tr3atsGalore (17608)

Item specifics

Condition   Pre-owned: An item that has been used or worn previously. 

Pattern: Woven

Character: Antique Folk Art

Size: 9” X 49”

Color: Red & Black

Fill Material: Heavy Wool/ No Fill

Material: Wool

Set Includes: Coverlet

Item Length 89”

Brand Jacquard

Type: Coverlet

Care Instructions

A True Antique

Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original

Style

Antique

Time Period Manufactured: 1850-1899

Production Technique: Hand Woven & Trimmed

Item Width 49”