As I begin my quest to realize a lifelong dream—to live in a home bedecked in handwoven textiles, I stopped to look around at what my home already contains. So much of my weaving life has either been for publication, teaching, or for gifts. The work I purchase, I have largely give as gifts. I’ve retained very little for myself, or so it seems to me.
I went though my house room by room and snapped photos of the textiles in my home, and I’ve started mapping out the items I want to add this year. Here is a quick peek at a few of the textiles I live with and use everyday.
A lap blanked made from a mixed warp and a recycled sari silk weft. It is another project made for the first edition of “Weaving Made Easy” that wasn’t used, therefore I get to use it!
A rug designed by Donna Hulka from the book “Crochet Me” by Kim Werker. Interweave held an employee-only silent auction during the holidays to benefit the local United Way. Staffers were able to score items from publishing projects. This is where I go to heat my feet when they get cold!
Inspired by Madelyn van der Hoogt’s book “The Complete Book of Drafting” I wove a set of the Princess weaves (plain weave, twill, and satin) and the Queenly weave (overshot, doubleweave, and spot weave) in cotton dyed with indigo. They hang on the wall behind my desk.
My father and stepmother gave me this rug as a gift nearly twenty years ago. It was form a local dealer in my hometown whose shop we used to frequent regularly.
While traveling in Ecuador I visited the studio of a tapestry weaver whose name I did not write down. I’m sure my traveling companion remembers, but I have the mind of a steel sieve. This bug rug had to go home with me.
I have two Alice Schlein pillows that I adore. Alice is an amazing Jacquard weaver.
The mug rug that sits on my desk was a sample made for some article long forgotten. The Mason jar coozie is another example of my stepmother’s handiwork.
In the foreground is a sash woven in Peru, a gift from a friend. In the background is my grandmother’s quilt made from scraps salvaged from old clothing.
Most of my handwoven goods live in the yarn room, where I store the bulk of the items I’ve made over the years for teaching or publishing projects. Not very glamorous, but so is the life of a working weaver.
Candle alternatives, woven on a wire warp. They were made for the first edition of “Weaving Made Easy”, that also didn’t make the final cut. Little LED votives give them a lovely glow.
The place mats were a gift, and made by a weaver in Virginia. The napkins were made by Sharon Alderman as a Handwoven contributor’s gift.
My linen drawer is full of place mats and napkins all woven or sewn by someone—none by me! The place mats at right were woven in Guatemala on a backstrap loom, and they are some of my favorites.
My kitchen drawer is filled with towels and dish cloths given as gifts through the years. The blue towel is one that my mother’s wove when working as an Occupational Therapy Aid at the University of Virginia where I was first exposed to weaving.
My stepmother is a great yarn worker and sewer. This hemp wash cloth and crocheted scrubby have lasted years of daily use.
My husband loves to visit the Mennonite thrift store when we visit my family in Virginia. This is a rag rug made of jeans.
Pillows from “Weaving Made Easy” woven in an alternate color way for an article in Handwoven.
I bought these from a dealer in Denver. They are from Mexico, but I don’t know much more than that. Buster (the dog) uses them as a launch pad to jump on the bed so he doesn’t slip on the wood floor.
A turkish textile given as a gift by Marilyn Murphy when I left Interweave. I love the weft tassels—whimsical and time saving!
These Gullah Sweetgrass trivets were some of my grandmother’s prized possessions and I treasure them.
I am the repository for all family textiles. This is a coaster from my mother’s side of the family probably made in Vermont if not by my great-grandmother then one of her sisters. (The pillow sham is more of my stepmother’s work.)
