October 17, 2013

Krokbragd Weaving and Books to Treasure

These past weeks I have been busy cutting strips of fabric to use in Krokbragd weaving that I mentioned on my previous post. Cutting proved to take longer than I thought! Krokbragd weaving needs a tight weave. In weaving terms it is called "beating hard", so hard that you hardly see the warp threads. The result is amazing! I'm loving it! The basket full of rag balls looks great in the mean time. Unfortunately they will be used up in the weaving. 

I also have a few books I bought in the last few months to share with you. You never have too many books right? I'm surrounded by books both at work and at home! Books to treasure! 


My melon basket is full of rag balls. Those balls are packed solid. I love to tear the strips, but not all fabric is tear-able. It can be either too thick or too heavy, so I ended up cutting it by hand with scissors.  


This Krokbragd rug is about 1m long and 50cm wide. I think I've woven about half of that now. The red velvet fabric was an old curtain that my supervisor gave me years ago. He bought a motor camper recently and I thought I would give him this rug for his camper!


A close up of the weaving. I'm pleased with the colour placement and the textures of it. I made the warp long enough for two rugs so I thought for the next one I will weave a plain tabby to get it finished quickly. My next set of 4 workshops is starting at the beginning of November and I hope to free the loom by then!

I have bought a few books recently. The first one is the Chintz Quilts from the Poos Collection authored by Kay & Lori Lee Triplett and Xenia Cord, Quiltmania Editions. 


Linda at Quilts in the barn wrote an excellent review of it here. I was lucky to get a copy of it when I visited Quilts in the barn exhibition a few weeks ago. 


I went to Euro Quilt Expo in Barcelona years ago. There I bought myself pre-cut squares of Dutch fabric that I haven't used yet. A lot of antique quilts in this book might inspire me to use these pieces.


The Chintz fabric I bought at the Quilts in the barn exhibition might go well here somewhere. The colour and designs are perfectly suited to the era!


A self published book by Roderick Kiracofe I saw over at Cabbage Quilts  that I have to have! I wasn't disappointed at all.  


A few more books I came across at a local fete last weekend. It was an impulse buy, but 3 books for $5 and the money goes to a good cause, it was money well spent! 


Another book to treasure is this one from Gwen Marston. I love her books, I love her too! I missed meeting her by less than a week both here in Australia, and in New Zealand. The Liberated Medallion book was one of Gwen's retreat at Beaver Island Quilting Retreat. I've included the link to Gwen's talk about hand quilting here for those who may be interested.


Another book I got this year is the Kakishibu, the traditional persimmon dye of Japan by Chris Conrad. Together with the book I also got a bottle of Kakishibu liquid dye. Chris Conrad went to Japan to study about Kakishibu dyeing. After she returned to the US she wrote this valuable book about Kakishibu which is the only book on the subject in English. I can't wait to try dyeing with it. I need very strong sunlight and heat to dye with Kakishibu.

Here is an update on the exhibition "Connecting with Nature". I sent out the invitations for the opening this week. I still have to type out all the descriptions of the display items. I have put a weekend aside to organize all my exhibits. The others exhibitors finished their pieces and will bring to me to set up. 

Until next time
Nat

6 comments:

deanna7trees said...

sounds like every minute of your time is filled with activity. nice group of books to have. you are right, you can't ever have too many books. the weaving is gorgeous.

Bev C said...

Hello Nat,

You are a busy woman. Great choice of books. Love the diversity amongst them. Hopefully I will pick up something tomorrow when I go to the local nursing home fete!
Hope those rugs are off the loom soon.

Enjoy your weekend.
Bev.

BenteOO said...

I've not seen krokbragd in anything else than wool yarn - and I love it!
If I had a loom available right now - I really would have tried to learn it in your way!
Wishing you beautiful creative days from Western Norway.

Sujata Shah said...

What a lovely show and tell. I do admire weaving and your results are stunning! I have to watch out. You have almost made me want to invest into it. Your library just got richer it seems. Have a wonderful weekend Nat!

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Hi Nat...great post...you are busy as usual with all your work! Love that set of books...happy weaving to you xo

Needled Mom said...

Your Krokbragd weaving is really wonderful. I love the diamond shape that you have created with it and the colors are great.

You really picked up some nice books. I, too, am a fan of Gwen Marston.

Good luck with your labeling and sorting project!

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