wintery gathering

As we hunker down into what is sure to be a long winter, our weaving friends gathered at Kathleen’s and Bob’s warm and inviting home. Our upcoming meetings are always inspirational for getting something off of the loom for the show and share part of our group. The day before I had pulled an overshot cotolin table runner off the loom, from the Nov/Dec issue of Handwoven. I might actually have to keep one of these.
Denise arrived wearing a handwoven scarf sewn into a hood that was lovely, warm and practical. Olga’s handknit long jacket was a long a delightful textile. I will have to ask her again where it was created.
I believe the item that we were all in awe of were the 2 journals that Judith shared with us. Both with lovely hand created covers, one of which was woven. The paper inside was sturdy enough to add water color to and the paper colors changed throughout the book. And then there were her drawings and inspirational bits that she had added to mark the days and the seasons in her life. How therapeutic and authentic these images were. It seems to me to be a wonderful way to ground yourself and make meaningful connections with day to day life. Not letting little things just slip by. So we came away excited to do our own journals, maybe by starting with weaving or creating a bit of fabric to personalize them. I can do that but I think the hard part has to be that first blank page and how to overcome the “terror” of getting it right. Then there is the fact that it would take some serious discipline to stick with it, that I may find challenging. But I am still intrigued enough to give it a try. Barb B. is talking about getting together as a group sometime in April and maybe have Judith give us a gentle nudge in how her process works or if nothing else a little hand holding in getting us over the hurdle of just starting. Anyways I will let you know how that transpires.