Sunday, March 14, 2010

Finally! Just in the Nick of Time

CastelgrandeOK

The stupid thing is that I finished my Enchanted Pathways tapestry, “Mille Fleurs Minus 978,” back in November.  Then I couldn’t stand to waste all that extra warp, so I decided to weave another tapestry on the back side of the frame loom. It’s from a photo I took of Castelgrande, a castle in Bellinzona, Ticino, the Italian canton of Switzerland. Here it is, all finished.

Appleton 743A few weeks ago, I realized I’d better finish it , so I could cut them both off and send my entry to New Mexico. Then I ran out of a color. I thought I had plenty of it, but it turns out the color I had was slightly different.  Even though it was only 1/3 of the weft bundle, it was sky, and I was afraid the difference would be noticeable.

Luckily I found a lovely website that carries Appleton, among other things. It’s the Needlework Corner. Appleton 2 colors Then life intervened, and next thing I knew, I was at UPS, paying way too much money to have my tapestry delivered in 48 hours. Whew, it was worth every penny, but the exhibit chair had a brilliant idea: next time we should get everyone to send in their entries early, and donate the savings to ATA!

I’m not sure how we’d get all the procrastinators to change their ways…..er, I mean OUR ways!

Milles Fleurs Minus 978detailIn case you’ve forgotten, I’d prefer that you all be surprised when you see my tapestry, so I won’t post a photo here until the show opens.  The title is because my Mille Fleurs tapestry has only 22 flowers, instead of the thousand that the title implies. All the flowers are Swiss alpine wildflowers. Here are 2 Edelweiss.

5 comments:

K Spoering said...

Terrific, Jan! And a wonderful example of why one would choose to weave something sideways.

Jan said...

That reminds me of the time you posted 2 versions of a tapestry, I think it was a light-house, one woven sideways, one straight up. Yes, this one was pretty obvious, I thought, and I used it as an example for my students the other day. But as I pointed out to them, it's usually possible to weave it either way, the decision comes down to what you value the most.

Unknown said...

Thank you,Jan You made really made me laugh and sympathize at the same time! O, the irony! I love the idea of donating the money that would be saved, but I would still figure out someway to send it at the last minute, but on time. I always do even if the work has been finished for years and is ready to mail! My new pieces are always finished seconds before they need to be finished and shipped.Maybe shows could have two rates for shipping.Just pay them up front for being late.
Procrastination seems to be my middle name. I actually like it better then my real middle name.
kathe

OzWeaver said...

Lovely tapestry with a nice sense of place!

Edith said...

Oh that little piece of your Mille Fleurs tapestry looks so enticingly enchanting!! I want to see it all !!!! How I wish that I was going to be there!!
As a matter of interesthow many strands of Appletons do you use in your weft bundle? I know it depends on the epi...so whats the count?? I have quite a lot of Appletons which I have used for crewel embroidery and it never occured to me to use it in tapestry!
Your tapestry of the buildings and THAT sky are gorgeous. Very atmospheric!