Montana Weavers Conference Exhibit

The MAWS conference was the same day as the big Quilting in the Country outdoor event and I did very well there as a vendor last year so the choice of which one to do was easy. It would have been fun to meet some of the local weavers and to see what was going on with weaving in the state too. However, there was a fiber show at the conference and I entered several items in the various categories. Two of my blankets won ribbons and I was really excited about that.



I entered this blanket in the handwoven household items category and it won a red ribbon. One of the blankets was the runner up for the best of show people's choice award and I'm not sure which one it was but I think it was this one. This one is my favorite anyway. It is doublewoven on 4H on a 40" loom. All the yarn is natural colored and handspun 2ply. The border is on all 4 sides and the design converges in the corners.



One year as an impulse buy at a small livestock swap, we bought a little black JacobxCorriedale ewe lamb we named Iris. Her wool was an interesting springy texture and the first 2 years was a dark brown. Then the third year I was shocked to see when I sheared her that she was a silver gray underneath. So I had wool from her that was dark and lighter and didn't know exactly what to do with it since it was such a strange texture. I spun it in singles and dyed a lot of it but still didn't have a plan for using it. One day I brought it out and figured if it would weave into anything well, it would probably make a nice blanket. It is also doublewoven and has various color and weave patterns in plain weave. The hand of the fabric is awesome because the singles fulled up nicely and the springy yarn makes a wonderful cozy blanket.



Someone wove the ribbons and they are quite pretty. The warp is the solid color, maybe embroidery floss and the weft is a metallic yarn. It looks like some sort of multi-harness pattern but I don't know what. No doubt these took some time and work and so it was extra special to get them.

Last year when I was at the quilt show, early in the morning as the show opened, a woman came up and bought a mostly red purse that I had. This year even before the show opened, one of the workers came and bought the one red purse I had. So this week I have been carding and spinning some more red wools for another red purse. I love working with reds but I didn't realize that it was such a popular color so I'm happy to have the excuse to do some more with red. Not sure when I will get back to working on the tapestry since I'm excited to weave some purses and work best when I'm enthused about what I'm working on.