Inspiration

Today, I had the good fortune to spend time with the beautiful and exceptionally bright lady of Thread and Meadow. She has an Etsy shop. She is also on Instagram, which is how we "met."

I was most impressed at what she can do on a rigid heddle loom with a pair of heddles and pick up sticks. She makes the most beautiful tea towels. I was so impressed, I invited her to come down and try her hand at weaving on a floor loom.

We had an enjoyable visit and talked and talked about weaving, which made for an enjoyable day.

While she was here, I was able to finish the warp on the Beast. While exciting to pull the fabric off the loom, for the first time in a very long time, I realized I did not have a warp ready and waiting to go on him.

Beast is the most versatile of all my looms, as he is the largest; however, I do not save him for only the wide projects, last year, I did a run of 37 cotton/linen waffle weave face cloths that were only 15" wide.

My list of projects is a mile long, I just did not know what I wanted to do next.

After my new friend left, I realized I was already dressed and had make up on, which for someone who rarely sees people because she usually telecommutes for work, is a rarity. I needed to run a couple of errands, including dropping by to visit someone special with a delivery.

The mom of one of my friends is Miss Bobbie.

Miss Bobbie is a force of nature, and one of loveliest ladies I know.

She frequently comments on my weaving posts on FB. Her kind and encouraging words always make me smile. With my last warp on Lil Miss, I decided to dedicate a couple of towels for her, in her favorite colors.

While I pulled them the loom and finished them before Christmas, I had not had a chance to deliver them.

Well, today was the perfect day.

She answered when I called and said she was available.

In addition to her towels, I had made a large pot of white bean soup and baked a small loaf of fresh bread. There was more than enough to share, so I packaged some up to take over with me.

When I pulled up to her home, I realized I had been there before.

We moved to Texas in 1998, and Miss Bobbie's house was one of the first we looked at purchasing. Walking up to the house, another memory was jogged, and I thought Miss Bobbie may also have been the real estate agent who toured this house with us.

Soon after she invited me in, I presented the towels, which she LOVED. Her husband joined us in the kitchen, and after he inspected the towels, he announced there was something in the back room I needed to see.

My word, I was completely blown away.

I love overshot weaving.

I am in awe of 19th century overshot coverlets, as they are uniquely American. Here is a bit of history on them.

Here are three quick shots I took of some of what she had:





As I drove away, I knew exactly what my next project for the Beast would be!

An overshot blanket using wool.

This has been on my mind for a while. Three years ago, I did a narrow sample:


This is the front:


This is the mirror image on the back:


Here it is with a second sample using a heavier wool for the pattern:


The original coverlets were made of cotton, but as these will be blankets, I am going with wool. 

It has been a GREAT day!


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