The Best of Tennessee Craft: 2024 Biennial opened at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, on October 14th. These bead tapestry crochet baskets are among the over 70 artworks from some of the best craft artists in Tennessee.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make the closing Artist Reception on December 13th from 5-7pm, but I hope you will!
An exhibit that opens July 26th at Bailey Contemporary Arts in Pompano Beach, Florida, features textiles that incorporate words into the fabrics. I’m happy to say that my Yes No and White Lies bead tapestry crochet baskets and He Said / She Said, Too are included.
Yes No is read from top to bottom:
Three rounds of Yes and three rounds of No.
Twelve Yes and Twelve No on every row.
Twenty-four up and down all around.
Twenty-four diamonds in a row.
Twelve merged hearts below.
How many times is Yes a No?”
You may interpret the message as you wish, but my intention is that the victim is saying, “No”, but the perpetrator is saying,” Yes”.
What inspired White Lies? We live in a complex world where very little is black and white. The truth hurts but is ultimately less painful than an embellished white lie. Let there be light. Let there be truth. Let there be no more white lies!
He Said She Said, Too, is based on my observation that history, for the most part, has been written by men from their point of view. What women say is often labeled as heretical. The same situation is often perceived very differently from a man’s or a woman’s point of view. This is the second of 2 pieces that explore the same topic.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see the exhibit in person – but I hope that you can! If so, please post comments and pictures!
Needlework is the theme of the Winter 2023 issue of PieceWork Magazine. This issue includes several articles about crochet, including my own that looks at tapestry crochet stitch variations in Colombia, Guatemala, Finland, Israel, Türkiye, Cameroon, and Morocco.
I thought of titling it “Different Strokes for Different Folks” because there’s no right or wrong way to tapestry crochet. The choices are many: the type and number of yarns, loose or tight tension, slip or single or half or double crochet stitches, carry the color or run it along the back, insert the hook into one or more loops? These choices influence the imagery and determine whether the fabric will be stiff or supple. I hope you’ll be inspired.
I really enjoyed talking to Kathi Grupp, the hostess of the Handweavers Guild of America’s Textiles and Tea.
If you missed the interview, it’s posted on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/hgaweavespindye and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/100064513731475/videos/132325216583449
My Create Whimsy interview with Lynn Woll is now online. Lynn’s thoughtful questions sparked such great memories. I hope you’ll take a look!
Positive Negative: Greed vs Generosity and Entitlement vs Responsibility is my most recent double sided bead tapestry crocheted piece. The open rim and positive dazzling interior invite and emanate love and the qualities that I hope will overpower the negativity of the exterior.
Positive Negative: Greed vs Generosity and Entitlement vs Responsibility, cotton thread and glass beads, 7″ x 9 1/2″, 2022.
I should probably rename it Negative Positive because this basket was rejected by one juror but awarded second place in another international exhibit, Small Expressions, sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America. This traveling exhibit will be at Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, WA, July 5 – September 3, 2023; Haywood Community College, NC, September 21 – November 9, 2023; Yadkin Valley Fiber Center, NC, December 8, 2023 – February 15, 2024; and Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Gallery, TN, March through early May, 2024. I hope you’ll be able to see it in person and soak up the positivity!
The American flag has inspired several projects over the years. A few magazine and book publishers let designers keep their rights, but most don’t. Since I no longer own the rights to my previous “flag bags” I decided to design some more. The below example has a narrow oval base, a 13 stitch wide star motif (to commemorate our original colonies), and 50 stars. The 1″ wide eagle button is perfect, don’t you think?
My original intention was to make a more three-dimensional shaped purse (like the one below) but the above bag is too tall and the fabric is not very stiff, so I redesigned and repositioned the stars and switched to a smaller hook. The size 1 hook and tight tension produced a stiffer fabric that maintains the triangular shape (formed by the button and handle placements).
All the bags in this posting were crocheted with my new favorite, Omega Sinfonia cotton, which is thicker than size 3 cotton thread and available in more colors.
So, what do you think? The Stars Shoulder Bag and Patriotic Purse patterns are available on Ravelry, and you don’t need to be a member to purchase them. I hope you’ll give them a try!
My three day tapestry crochet workshop (August 26-28, 2023) at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, PA, is already open for registration! We’ll do the above projects, one each day. I’ll also teach how to design motifs with three different tapestry crochet graph papers, use a bead spinner to thread beads onto yarn, and block projects with a steam iron.
A large hook, two wool yarns (one beaded), and loose single crochet stitches will be used to tapestry crochet the flat bead felted bag on Saturday.
A cylindrical beaded basket will be tapestry crocheted with a smaller hook, beaded cotton threads, and tighter stitches on Sunday. Each thread will be loaded with one bead color, eliminating the need to load the beads in a specific color sequence ahead of time! The motif is formed on one side of the fabric by adding a bead to each stitch and on the other side the colored threads echo the image.
Flat tapestry crochet will be the focus on Monday. Unlike traditional crochet, flat tapestry crochet does not show the back of the stitches on every other row.
It will be lots of fun and learning, too! I hope to see you there!
Tapestry crochet redirects my mind to focus on things within my control – and since repetitive activities (like crocheting) release endorphins, I owe it my sanity. Designing new pieces stimulates my creative side and incorporating words adds another dimension. Sharing each finished project is pure joy, especially when someone notices.
I was raised to trust people, to believe what they say. Although experience has made me less naive, I’m still a walking target. I detest all lies, even the little white ones because misinformation is destroying lives and the planet. My latest pattern expresses my personal frustration but the instructions include the alphabet, for more upbeat or even darker messages. It’s cathartic!
The weather turned cold and wet in Tennessee a few days ago, making it the perfect time to stay inside and learn something new at the Sarratt Art Studios of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. I learned about tapestry crochet in Guatemala. A few of the participants in my Felted Tapestry Crochet Bag workshop were Guatemalan so tapestry crochet came full circle over the weekend! In fact, the gentleman on the right (below) is from Jacaltenango, the remote town where I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1970’s. Small world!
Hopefully, everyone who participated will help spread the news about this wonderful technique by teaching tapestry crochet to others who will teach it to others who will teach it to others . . .
I shared the inspiration and technique used to bead tapestry crochet “White Lies” with juror, Judy Zugish, and other HGA Convergence attendees at the recent “Dogwood to Kudzu” basketry exhibit. Just click the picture or the caption to hear more about it. Thanks so much for making this video, Kennita!
The Handweavers Guild of America ‘s Convergence last week in Knoxville, Tennessee, was educational, relatively safe, and so much fun! Don’t be fooled by their name, though, because this organization embraces a lot more than just weaving, including spinning, dyeing, felting, sewing, bobbin lace, sprang, and crochet!
On Friday morning I taught how to load size 8 seed beads onto Aunt Lydia’s size 3 crochet cotton thread with a spinner, how to design a motif, how to carry a color, the bead tapestry crochet stitch, and how to crochet a basket with a beaded motif. For more about this class, take a look at my previous blog with a link to a video.
I visited exhibits after class. There were so many in the Convention Center and downtown that I had to return several times over the course of the conference to take them all in.
What else did I do? Well, I attended talks and fashion shows, learned how to do sprang with Carol James, toured Arrowmont, the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Collections Preservation Center, and crossed the state line to visit the Center for Craft, the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, SewCo, and Local Cloth in Asheville, NC.
The best part, though, was meeting so many talented and excited fiber enthusiasts in classrooms, ballrooms, lecture halls, elevators, and on the tour buses. Time well spent.
The Handweaver’s Guild of America produced several videos about the classes being offered in July during Convergence in Knoxville. The interview that features my bead tapestry crochet class is between minutes 2 and 9 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftsawomn56Y.
Hopefully this interview will motivate you to give bead tapestry crochet a try – even if you can’t make it to Tennessee this summer!
Tapestry crochet has helped me through some of the toughest times of my adult life. It continues to help me deal with misinformation and now the pandemic. Lies are prolonging the pandemic and making so many innocent people suffer and die! I retired from teaching at TTU last summer, but will never stop trying to open minds and expand horizons. My most recent contribution is:
Prevention Trumps Disease: Covid Hijacks Independence but Masks and Vaccines Ransom Freedom attempts to rectify the confusion between masks, vaccines, and freedom. Although Covid-19 is the disease overwhelming us now, all types of preventable illnesses restrict our freedom. The healthcare system, represented by red crosses, is able to contain, treat, and eliminate many diseases, thereby restoring our freedom to walk, run, dance, eat, pray, and sing together. Red, white, and blue represent more than just the United States, as the flags of many nations include the same colors. It is disease that takes away our freedom, but vaccines and masks can restore it. Doing something for your own good and the good of the world should not have to be mandated, but in some cases it is the only way out of a dangerous and disastrous situation.
This piece is in the 2022 Craft Biennial at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts, through June 12th, 2022. Not only are the compliments the finished piece is receiving a pleasant reward, the concentration required to bead tapestry crochet such a complicated basket was meditative and the repetitive motion released endorphins. Combined, tapestry crochet is a win-win-win!
My YES NO basket is one of 52 pieces (selected from 1100 entries) included in The Excellence in Fibers VI juried exhibition. Just click on the arrow under the Vessel category in the photo box of the exhibit web page to see it. The online exhibit runs through March 28th, 2021.
The basket is read from top to bottom:
Three rounds of Yes and three rounds of No.
Twelve Yes and Twelve No on every row.
Twenty-four up and down all around.
Twenty-four diamonds in a row.
Twelve merged hearts below.
How many times is Yes a No?”
You may interpret the message as you wish, but my intention is that the victim is saying, “No”, but the perpetrator is saying,” Yes”.
How did I crochet different images on both sides of a single-walled basket? It was accomplished with four beaded threads, a white thread with white beads, a white thread with red beads, a red thread with red beads and a red thread with white beads. Carrying 3 threads made the fabric stronger and and having red and white threads with red and white beads allowed me to place red or white beads where they were needed while crocheting red or white stitches, following a graph. I used the same technique to make the White Lies Basket.
My web page includes a free video that shows how to tapestry crochet with 2 beaded threads and my Bead and Felted Tapestry crochet book has more projects using two beaded threads. I hope you’ll give bead tapestry crochet a try!
