Road Trip Fiber Art Shopping

I'm still trying to sort out projects, beads, yarn and warps my loom(s), but we did go on a road trip to Florida at the end of last month/beginning of this month.  When we travel, I try to find bead and yarn shops to stop into.  Every town is different, and I never know what interesting things I'll find in a new bead or yarn shop.

Our first stop was Charleston, South Carolina and I found Beads on Cannon just before we headed out of town.  If you're into strands upon strands of beads, this is a great place. The downstairs was glass, and tons of new styles of beads that have been coming out (including spikes, which I bought a ton of).  The upstairs houses all of their precious metal findings and millions of strands of gemstones and pearls.  They were very limited on seed beads and the place was tight. With the two women working and 3 customers plus 2 husbands in there, it was a bit hard to move around, but I bet it's not usually that busy.  It's a fun little store to visit if you're in the area.

Our next destination was Savannah, Georgia.  I couldn't find a bead store via walking around or Google, but I did find The Frayed Knot, which had a little bead shop area in the back.  I loved the array of yarns they had, and instead of organized by the brand of yarn, it was organized by color.  This is how I organize all of my beads and yarns, so it made it easy for me to shop.  They also had cones of cotton for weavers too, which I was impressed.  The owner was out of town, but her husband was there building her a new cash wrap and he was very helpful and informed.

Naples, had The Bead Boutique. I think I spent two hours in there.  I am always looking for more interesting seed beads and this place was awesome.  I have been on the hunt for more 3-cut size 11 and 12 seed beads.  They're not carried as often in the bead stores I shop at here in Michigan.  I'm not sure if it's because they're costly to carry and also they don't sell quickly because of the price, but the Bead Boutique had them, and yes, they can be around $25 for a long tube (below), but they are beautiful and I re-stocked while I was there.  I also was convinced to try out a "better" beading needle.  I go through needles pretty quickly, so I figured they were worth a try.  The way I pack thread into seed beads is not conducive for these expensive needles though.  The plating on the needle started to shred off on the first project I used it on. Oh well, they were worth a try.  The woman that was talking to me was trying to sell me on using different thread too, but I've tried everything she was suggesting and I prefer to stick to my nymo.  I also purchased a few delicas that I don't already have for colors for the first bangle that I'm making for my Halloween costume.  They had quite the selection of delicas too.  Always the sign of a good bead store for me.

On this trip I also happened to be looking for fabric stores.  I find it really unfortunate that there is usually just a Joann's, even in larger towns.  I struck gold though when we were in Orlando.  The Sewing Studio is just outside of Orlando in Maitland.  It doesn't look like too much from the outside, but walking around in there was amazing.  I don't collect fabric, and if I did, my pocketbook would have been in trouble.  I stuck to my task at hand, looking for the perfect gold base color for my Halloween costume and I lucked out, I found a gorgeous sale fabric that had plenty of yardage for my project.

So now I've been spending time making jewelry to complete groupings to send to Angelwood Gallery and I've re-set at Grove Gallery with some fresh pieces.

Trip to Seattle and the Opening Reception for Small Expressions

I got to hang out in downtown Seattle and do some shopping.  Of which I mostly bought beads and yarn.  They have a great bead store called World Beads.  It's a tiny shop on the corner, and it's packed with seed beads.  I usually use Japanese seed beads and these are Czech. I bought a few and stitched some leaves up to see how they acted and was pleased, so I stopped in one more time at the end of the week to grab some to add to my stash.

The only yarn shop downtown in called So Much Yarn.  I have  a hard time believing that in a city the size of Seattle there's only one yarn shop, but at least its a nice one!  I had done some damage last time I was in there and was hoping to pick up a few more colors of one of the yarns that I really enjoy using in Theo Mooreman inlay.  They were out of that particular yarn, however they did have some other interesting stuff by the same designer so I went that route (the sparkly ones below).

I flew out of Chicago so that on the way back home I could head over to St.. Charles, IL for the Opening Reception of Handweaver's Guild of America's Small Expressions 2013.  My piece, "Uprooted 1" was accepted into this show along with many other amazing pieces.  Below I'm standing next to "Uprooted 1".  The camera on my phone has been on the fritz, so it was hard to get a decent photo. 

I always want to get more beading done while I travel.  I'm not sure why, but I'm convinced that between sitting in the airport, on the airplane, driving around and having hotel down time, I should get a few pieces done.  I only finished one lariat necklace, but I'm please with that. It's also a note to self to travel with less beads!

Brown and Green Lariat Necklace





Back on the Loom!

Do not leave yarn to run rampant on your loom, as it may jump into your nearby wine!

The next Technology Innovation Center showing has the theme of "Where the Heart is" and I got inspired.  I'm taking a look at my shift from being raised on the farm and being a home body to loving living in a city (or multiple cities) and being close to everything.  It has to start with the barn I grew up playing in.  It stands alone as the place to escape to when you wanted to get away and feel the warmth of old wood and dry alfalfa flakes.  I guess it represents the me that never wanted to go anywhere or do anything, I remember saying that I had no need to travel or want to go anywhere because it was expensive and if I never saw it, then I never knew what I was missing.  I guess I've grown since then and am so excited to go to Europe for the first time in March.  Yay!  Below is my cartoon sketch that I pin to my tapestry as I weave.  I love to make my work become it's own thing, so the colors are not necessarily going to be what it ends up looking like.  I do the same with beadwork.  It's the lines that are most important to me in my sketches.

The shifting colored spirals have been with me and within my artwork for as long as I can remember.  I think they're the one this that will always exist in my work.  They not only represent my love of natural forms, but of movement and lack of control.  Spirals and vines fly out of my drawing utensils while I'm not even looking, it's my constant daydream.

I have also been enjoying tapestry weaving because it is so easy to use up my stash. I love picking up yarns and remembering the trip I was on when I found a particular one.  This piece will have hints of Mendocino and Oakland California, living in Madison Wisconsin, the stockings I knitted this Christmas, and the warp on the loom is the leftover from the wraps I wove my bridesmaids in March of 2009.  And yes, this is my first weaving since!

I know it doesn't look like a lot right now, and we won't know exactly what it looks like until I pull it completely off the loom.  It's much quicker to work from the back of a tapestry than the front.  Plus it helps push me along to finish  because I really want to know what the end-product will look like.  Each of my pieces have a bit of a mind of their own.

Hopefully I'll be able to get this tapestry off loom and ready to hang by its due date for TIC!

Beads and Yarn in the Upper Peninsula!

We just got back from a short trip to go skiing at Marquette Mountain and then visiting friends in the village of L'Anse.  Who knew that there are great little bead and yarn shops up there?!

After a great ski day we popped into Bella Beads in downtown Marquette.  When I walk into a bead store I tend to take a good long look around and see what catches my eye. Unless I have a specific project in mind I look for beads that I haven't seen before.  I also rate a bead store on its selection of seed beads.  I mostly look for 15/0 (teeny tiny) and 11/0 (standard seed bead size).  When I walked into Bella Beads I found a whole WALL of seed beads, yay!  I was wishing I had the supply list for the Huib Petersen class I will be taking in February since I have very little bugle beads and I have no idea what size I need. I did remember that I need to teach myself herringbone stitch before this class so I picked up a fantastic book at Bella Beads by Carol Wilcox Wells "The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving."  I was told to purchase her first book, but this one seemed to have what I needed with an updated twist.  I used it all weekend!  I also purchased some beautiful seed beads to work with that weekend and add to my stash.

The second place I came upon was in downtown Houghton.  Mary has learned how to crochet and as far as she knew, the only close yarn store was Michaels.  I can spot yarn or beads from a mile away.  We popped into a little store that seems to have everything fibers for Houghton.  At first I thought it was just a sewing shop but then I saw yarn in the window and we were pleasantly surprised!  Sew Irresistible Creations had lots of yummy yarn! (They do not appear to have a website so the link has their contact information)  I don't normally spend more than $10 on a ball of yarn, but this was one of those instances where I knew I would be pining over this yarn when I headed back down state.  (I will get a picture/info for it up asap). 

The last related stop that Mary and I had in Houghton was Silver Rae Beading Studio.  It's easy to miss, the only sign we saw was right in our way on the sidewalk with BEADS UPSTAIRS on it.  This shop is kind of awkward because it has 3 little rooms.  It has yet another fabulous selection of seed beads (two walls!), but I ended up finding some really fun glass accent beads that I couldn't pass up.  Warning for down-staters: Cash is king in the U.P. and this store only takes cash or checks.  Luckily Mary and I had enough cash together to purchase everything we had picked out.

I also got started on my very first Herringbone Stitch project!  I was enjoying playing with the way it curves with the larger beads and now I am trying to figure out how i want to finish it.  I have made all of the waves face one way by stitching peyote stitch along the bottom, but now I'm stumped.  Expect a follow-up!