Rag Rugs and Penny Rugs with Lorri

Lorri's Penny Rug detail

Our Buellwood Weavers and Fiber Arts Guild meet on March 17^th . I almost forgot to post a blog about our meeting! For those of you who are waiting for our guild news and pictures they will follow shortly

my warp nice rust and gold colors

What had my attention is that I am finally done re warping my loom to the for fabric yardage. I thought I was so smart to finally plan a warp that was wide enough and long enough to make a stunning garment at Mary Sue Fenner ’s May  19 - 21 Jacket workshop in Hancock.  I used rayon yarn from my Ester’s stash and some rayon/linen I bought from Elizabeth’s Stash. I warped 7 yards at 36 inches wide, plenty for the Jacket I want to make.

I figured the EPI to be 13 as I wrapped 22 wraps in an inch and divided that by 2 (for tabby weave) and got 11 so I thought 13 EPI would be great.  I proceeded to wind my warp on the loom, thread the heddles and the reed and weave about a yard of fabric……It looked ok! But then I remembered I made a number of scarves with a similar rayon yarn. So I pulled out my records -after the fact of course - and discovered I warped these scarves at 16 ends per inch because I was thinking of weaving twill on some of them.  I wove them in Tabby and they really had a nice drape. They turned out very nice at 16 EPI so I thought I had better ask Mary Sue!  Well she recommended 16 EPI.

"NOT that I wanted to unweave and redo my warp at 16 EPI" but Mary Sue is usually right – so I unwove 36 inches of fabric and cut the warp so that I could rethread the reed at 16 EPI.  I was also able to correct a couple of mistakes in my original threading and I now have almost 4 yards woven. I only wasted one day on this it actually went faster than I thought.  The only downside is the width of the fabric is now 30 inches and not 36 inches.  Hopefully that will not be a problem as my largest pattern piece is about 30 inches wide.  A tight squeeze if the fabric shrinks when fulled, but I should have enough length to cut out my entire jacket. 

This is ‘my excuse’ for not sharing our guild meeting pictures with you until today. Not because I had escaped the never ending winter and flew to CA or FL to enjoy some sunshine or that I was out enjoying our winter wonderland skiing and snow shoeing.  I too have to deal with ‘extreme’ cabin fever so I weave!

We had a great Show and Tell on March 17^th and we had two visitors to our guild meeting, who also weave and sell Rag Rugs. Fran and Carol from South Range, MI came to our meeting because Lorri Oikarinen presented a Rag Rug and Penny Rug trunk show.  Also Pat from the Marsin Retreat center came to enjoy the Rag Rug Presentation as she was once a member of our guild. 

For show and tell Pekka (Peter Olson) shared a couple of carved wood items he has been working on and promises when his weaving building is done he will have us out to his house to see it. We are waiting and we know it will be a beautiful building that will fit his loom and weaving equipment. 

Eve shared her multicolor bookmarks and a table runner she made with

Eve's hand dyes warp - woven bookmarks

the 2 shuttle rag rug technique we learned from Wynne Matila’s workshop in 2012

Carol Beadwork

Fran's Rugs 2 samples on one warp.

Our guest Carol showed us her beaded bracelets and her sister Fran shared her Rag Rugs all made from one warp. Beautiful work ladies! 

They have a business ‘Rugs by Fran’ and ‘Carol’s Stained Glass Creations’. Check out their handiwork at local events in the Houghton Hancock area.

Deb has been sampling on her loom and brought a large yellow sampler to share with the guild she also selected her favorite weave and wove a larger sample with this pattern.

Deb's sampling favorite

Deb has also been working on her fabric for Mary Sue Fenner’s workshop at Finlandia May 19-21^st . There is still room available in this workshop: contact Debra Goldman at 906-482-3727 to reserve your spot.  This is a fun and informative workshop and Mary Sue is great with beginners as long as you know how to use a sewing machine! If you cannot make the workshop consider attending her Trunk Show on Monday May 19^th 9am – about 11am.

I shared my knit hat made from handspun singles yarn in a rainbow of

knit hat and scarf

colors, a knit scarf made with sock yarn and an apron I made from a recycled card table cloth I was given.

 

recycled card tablecloth Apron

 

Rag Rug and Penny Rug' Trunk Show 

Lorri rug nice finishing of her Rag Rugs

Lorri’s did a fantastic job with her 'Rag Rug Penny Rug' Trunk Show. 

Lorri's many Rag Rugs

She shared many rugs she has been working on including the Finnish 3 shuttle rug from Wynne Matila’s workshop, her rugs are made from mostly cotton fabric. Most impressive was her choice of colors and her finishing techniques which really added quality to her rag rugs. 

Finnish 3 shuttle rag rug

Lorri also works with children at the Calumet Art Center and brought a number of her sample created by the children in her classes. Most of these were woven on warps that were forgotten on looms at the center. She had a number of very nice samples to show us. 

 

Lorri's Penny Rug collection is incredible! Lorri uses recycled wool for her

Rugs and for the Penny designs. This requires a lot of hand sewing using the blanket stitch with embroidery floss. Lorri uses old designs and creates

her own designs for these rugs. Beautiful work Lorri! and Thank You for sharing with our Guild.

 

Our Next guild meeting will be April 21 at Gloria Dei Church in Hancock at noon, bring your lunch and show and tell and join us for an interesting presentation of RUG Basics and Finishing Techniques by Jean Lind.  

***After the meeting we are to go to Elizabeth’s house with Lynn for a stash reduction sale of yarn, books and magazines. 

**Reminder of our Mary Sue Fenner workshop One of a Kind Jackets planned for May 19-21 with her Trunk Show at 9am on Monday. Contact Debra Goldman for information and cost. 

Class Description:

This class is designed for all fiber artists: weavers, felters, dyers, and surface designers–to inspire and help you make a beautiful, unique jacket from your own handmade and/or purchased fabrics. We’ll begin with a Mary Sue Jacket Trunk Show. With help you’ll choose a suitable style for you and your fabric (approx. 5 yards of 30″ width), alter your pattern if needed, and sew, using contemporary and classic sewing methods.

 

 Ruth Manning is scheduled to teach a tapestry class at the Porcupine Mountain Folk School this summer on Sunday, July 13. Contact the porkies folk school online for cost and more information.

Ruth can also teach a six hour Creative Design class for the guild and others the day before, Saturday, July 12.  We have reserved space at the Gloria Dei Church.  This class would break even if a minimum of 8 people are interested in attending at a cost of $42 per person.  The class information is as follows.  Please let me know if you would be interested in the class.  A firm commitment is not needed at this point.  More information on Ruth may be found at Ruthmanningtapestry.com. contact Leslie Toombs if interested. 

Creative Design by Ruth Manning.

Do you want to develop new ideas that give your weaving, quilting, garment making, or felted pieces more personal meaning? This class will help any fiber artist look at ideas in a new way. The class will explore the use of metaphor to investigate a theme and connect those ideas to our own work. We will use existing images and drawing materials to create designs as a group and individually. The elements of art will help guide you as you link these ideas to your chosen media. Understanding your materials and refining your technique is important; now learn how to expand your knowledge and create new possibilities. Instructor will provide student supply list prior to class.