I had a wonderful time at Complex Weavers Seminars.  I took six seminars: collapse weaves, turned tied weaves, double weave, four color double weave, three-shaft weaves, and crepe weaves.  I learned a lot – I couldn’t always follow every detail, but I got the main idea in all six seminars and am looking forward to investigating further on my own.

I thought Seminars was super well organized – there was always plenty to do, and the exhibits were terrific.  The keynote, by Patrice George, was great, and the luncheon speaker had us rolling with laughter as he talked about the history of the female bosom in fashion.  There were three exhibits: the juried exhibit “Glamour, Glitter, Glitz”, which was stunning, the Fashion Show, which was fun (I wish I’d been able to inspect the garments up close!), and the “Off the Runway” exhibit, which had lots of beautiful work.  (My favorite was a small piece by master weaver Inge Dam – I love her work, especially her use of color.  I want to be Inge when I grow up!)  There were also the Silent Auction and the Marketplace, which featured lots of beautiful (and tempting!) books, yarns, and finished pieces.  I had resolved not to buy anything, but wound up purchasing a used 8-shaft table loom – a beautifully crafted folding loom which is eminently storable at only 13″ wide.  (My mom is shipping it to me, fortunately, so I didn’t have to figure out how to fly it home.)

And, of course, it was wonderful meeting all the people whose posts I’ve seen on WeaveTech (and other mailing lists), with whom I’ve corresponded privately, and whose samples I’ve been admiring.  It really was like a nonstop party.

I’m flying home today, rested and refreshed and ready to get back to work!

I did get some inspiration at Seminars, particularly from Bonnie Inouye’s seminar on turned tied weaves.  I’m thinking it might make an ideal structure for the lightweight fabric inPhoenix Rising – I loved Bonnie’s sample with light – colored lizards (geckoes?) on a painted background.  I still have to think through all the pros and cons, but I think I could use this to make images of birds against a flame-patterned background – which would be totally awesome, thematically speaking.  I’ll think through it more on the plane – if it looks promising, I may just cut the cotton warp off the loom and put on a sample warp in fine threads.  60/2 and 120/2 silk, I think.

Finally, the latest book post went up yesterday morning, this one on the skills needed for design.  Tuesday’s post will be all about how you can make up for missing or weaker skills, and Thursday’s will be about ways to improve skills.  After that I’ll start talking about the design process from the very beginning – points of inspiration.  Check it out!

Those of you who know me personally will know that, in general, I’d rather be in the studio than anywhere else, including and especially parties.  I’m an introvert, and while I handle people interactions with reasonable aplomb, I nonetheless find dealing with people somewhat draining and therefore tend to do as little of it as possible, especially in groups.  (Single people I can deal with.)

So when I tell you that I’ve been the nonstop party girl at Complex Weavers Seminars the last few days, you’ll get an inkling of just how interesting and exciting the folks at Seminars are.  Every time I turn around I meet someone else enthusiastic about weaving – sometimes a person I’ve never met, sometimes someone I’ve met at other conferences, but quite frequently – squeal of delight! – someone I’ve been corresponding with or seen on mailing lists but never actually met in person.  It’s like meeting old friends for the first time.  We share a passion for weaving and textiles, and as a result I’ve spent most of my free time in the lounge or dining hall, chatting with other weavers.  I’ve had trouble sleeping most nights because it’s all so interesting and fun!  I come back to my room full of excitement over someone I’ve met or a new technique from one of the seminars, and then it takes me an hour or two to unwind, after which I get far too little sleep and then get up to do it again.  What fun!

Anyway, I’ve had four seminars so far, mostly covering weaving techniques – collapse weave, Photoshop for double weave, crepes, and turned tied weaves – and have two more today (three-shaft weaves and four-color double weave).  They’ve been wonderful, and I’m totally jazzed with some of the ideas that have come up, particularly in Marcia Kosmerchock’s collapse weave and Bonnie Inouye’s turned tied weaves seminars.  In particular, I’m thinking of a turned tied weave for the lightweight fabric in Phoenix Rising.  The heavy yarn would be 60/2 or 80/2 silk, the lighter yarn a 120 or 140/2 silk.  Painted background in the warp, with some sort of image in the weft.  The beauty of doing it as a turned tied weave is that it’s only one shuttle (faster weave) and I can paint the warp easily to color either pattern or background (or both!).  That will be a lot quicker than trying to paint the weft.

Seminars ends today (much to my regret!); I’ll be flying home on Sunday afternoon.  As lovely a trip as it’s been, it’ll be nice to see B. and The Fuzz again.  Not to mention my studio!