Is There Any Hope?

I "finished" my peony tapestry.  I say finished, but I feel like I am not finished with it.  First of all, even if all was as I had hoped, then it still needs to be blocked, the ends trimmed, and the seams for the woven frame sewn to the main tapestry.  However, I am VERY UNHAPPY with this tapestry.  It really doesn't look like a peony at all.

I am trying to decide how much time and effort to put into trying to fix this tapestry, versus just putting it away and saying well here is what I did right, and here is where it went wrong, and then packing it away as a major learning experience.  Not all, okay, none of my tapestries turn out the way I envision them in my head, but at least I tend to like them.  This one, I can't say I like it, even a smidgeon.  I think the main issue is that the grey shadows are way too dark, and the middle just looks a bunch of red blobby stitches.

I really don't think there is much hope for this mess, but I may still try and salvage it this week before I completely give up.  Helena Hernmarck's tapestry method does allow for sewing in some new stitches.  I might be able to add some more white highlights in a way that will make this grey blobby mess look more like flower pedals.

I do like the red frame that I wove for it.  In the meantime, I have a few minor adjustments to make on the portrait of my daughter.  Her tapestry came off the loom at the same time as the peony.  It has been on there for a while.  The weaving on her face needs a few minor adjustments as does the beret, but I am far happier with the outcome.  Maybe my hopes for submitting these to the ATA biennial are done for, but we'll see as I try and salvage both of them this week.

Here is hoping your weavings are going more successfully.

A Change of Venue

After our move, I have mourned the loss of my tiny, but bright studio in Virginia.  I had a great skylight that got lots of light, and windows to our front yard and a window into our kitchen.  The studio was never dark, and I loved my little space.  Our house in Bainbridge has lovely views.  We traded the green hills of Virginia for the ever changing water views of the Puget Sound.  I love our new views.  I miss seeing my horses out in our fields, and the kids and I miss our land, but I also love our new views.  The water of the sound are ever-changing: one day fog, the next sun, calm blue water, dark grey water with white caps and spray.  However, my studio is dark, dark, dark, with no lighting.  I cannot see the colors to weave, so I have not woven on my big loom since we moved here.  Last week while my husband was on a business trip, I folded up my loom, dragged it out of my dark cave into my well lit bedroom with views of the water.  My husband came home and said, "Wow, I thought our bedroom was much larger, maybe I am just used to the hotel room I was in!"  It took him a while to notice the loom though.  Good soul that he is, he has not really complained, and I can finally get back to weaving.

Here you can see my loom in its new home with the early morning light.  ( I apologize for the questionable quality of the photo.  It was shot with an iPhone, my son now has our nice big camera for his photography class.   Maybe I can hire him as my photographer for my blogs after this semester!)  Now, I can comfortably sit weaving in the light listening to Craftlit!  (I just finished with The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde, and are now starting The Scarlet Letter.  These are two books that I have never read!)

My goal is to finish this tapestry by next Friday.  Hopefully,  I can cut it off the loom and get both tapestries that are on this loom off and finished in time to submit them both to American Tapestry Alliance's Biennial.  This biennial will have a showing in Tacoma, so it just seems fated that I must get in, right?  Tacoma is so close.  Well, you never know, but I can always dream....