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Here and There -

6/25/2019

 
Picture
Yesterday, I  mailed a tapestry to New Zealand.

Stitched to a piece of cardboard,
 stamped and addressed,
it is now somewhere
​between there and here,
​hopefully having a swell time
with all the other mail.
Picture
 Here and There is the name
of the exhibition for which I wove it --
an international tapestry post card exchange
organized by the American Tapestry Alliance.
​
Sue, my post card pal 
(we were randomly paired)
 lives in New Zealand
so my tapestry will live its life
on the other side of the globe
where upside down is right side up,

and there is here with a t.
Or here is there, without one.
Picture
After months of immersion
in the sartorial and cellulosic,
it was delightfully familiar
to wind a wool warp
onto a tapestry loom--
(or four selvedge jig as per the photo below).
​
Indeed, weaving a little tapestry 
proved to be its own sort of vacation--
 a great way to recover from recent actual travel!
Picture
And wool is such a sweet friend.
​

 Friendly and forgiving,
it is comfy under my butt
(the blue and yellow tuffet two photos up 
is stuffed with fleece I didn't want to spin),
and my hands know just how to keep the tension even
​as I wind and space and lash things into position.
Picture
Weaving this post card
using the Four Selvedge technique
was not even a question--
--in part because four selvedge is my fave
-- in part because of the clean edge finish.
Picture
My hands also relished 
the ease of tapping yummy strands
of wool weft into place
 and weaving in the ends.
Picture
Weaving in the ends
is incredibly satisfying to me--
both as I do it
​and after it is done.
It also makes for a smooth back,

so the tapestry nestles flush against the cardboard
and the whole thing is smooth and even.
Picture
Sometimes it is actually hard
to tell the front from the back.
Other times, it turns out
that the back actually is the front,
rendering irrelevent,
some of our tapestry angst
about which way to work. 
Picture
NOTE: This end-weaving-in thing
is a personal preference

and I have no wish to imposed it on anyone else
(I may be teensy bit obsessed with the subject),
but if you want to know more,
check out post linked above,
or type 'weaving in the ends' 
into  to the search box at the top of the page.
Picture
At any rate,
after releasing the tapestry from the loom
I stitched the side walls of the houses
and the edges of many of the letters.
Zooming across the world
in a box full of mail,

is not a thing I have experienced in this life,
but I worried a bit about
its fellow travelers
getting caught in open slits.
Picture
Then came a hot soapy bath
​(what's not to love about that),
Picture
a good press with a steamy iron,
and the final stitching onto the cardboard
as per the instructions on the ATA website .
Picture
Stamp
air mail sticker,
an address, 
and a brief message
came last of all.
Picture
​Then we biked to the Post Office
made our last farewells.
​and off it went.
Picture
Lucky tapestry
going to New Zealand.

Lucky me,
​staying home.
Picture
Velma Bolyard
6/25/2019 03:28:12 pm

as all luck would have it; have it both ways; lucky ducks. did you consider weaving duck?

Debra Thomas
6/25/2019 03:43:49 pm

Thank you for this post. I am about to begin weaving my tapestry postcard, and the links and your comments are perfectly timed!
Also, I want to thank you for your posts on Coptic book binding. After reading them, and admiring your adorable little books, I jumped at the chance to take a workshop and learn this fun technique. Thank you again for all the inspiration!

Debra Sposa link
6/25/2019 03:45:58 pm

Oh to be Sue!! Lucky ducky

Patti Kirch
6/25/2019 03:51:10 pm

I've got my 4 selvedge warp on and post card ready to weave and will sink in my ends and plunge/sink it into a sink before I send it off too. Love your blog and instagram grams Sarah!

nancy malcolm
6/25/2019 04:14:59 pm

I agree lucky Sue!! I so enjoy your weavings, your paintings and most of all your posts!!! I get excited to see your email in my inbox!

Beth Emmott link
6/25/2019 04:16:53 pm

you make me smile!

elizaduckie
6/25/2019 07:27:47 pm

Delightful, quirky and it made me smile. Whoever receives that postcard will be so lucky!

doris strand
6/27/2019 07:44:46 am

this is SO sweet!


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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