Weaving 101, The Old Oaks Ranch Arts Center, Part IV

The Fiber Arts Center is truly unique. My first three visits to The Old Oaks Ranch Fiber Arts Center were concerned with choosing wool for scarves, setting up a time to weave, learning to weave the project, and completing the task. I rushed in and rushed out. But, as I was leaving Friday night, I made time to stop to photograph a stone structure that catches one's attention. In doing so, I was captivated with all the sculptures around the stone structure and in the garden area. When blogging, you learn to use a camera; and, lo and behold, you see things you never would have because you take time to smell the roses to take pictures.


A Long Horn greeting as you drive in the gate.


This is the stone structure. One reason it is so unique is because the stones are standing up instead of laid flat. As you walk closer, you hear water.


There is a waterfall into a fish pond.

My trusty Jeep in the background, but you also get a feel for the size of the fish pond.


Suddenly fish appear.


There are a couple little holes around the floor of the structure with bubbling water.



These guys are my favorite, I think. The title is "The Conspiracy." Don't you just love them?


Isn't this lovely?


Looking back toward the Fiber Arts Center, there is a piece of art atop each fence post.

This is truly a wonderful piece.


Suddenly I spied this one.

This piece caught my eye; but if you look closely, you'll see two more pieces in the background. The area abounds with sculptured art.



True to its name, The Old Oaks Ranch, old oaks are everywhere. It reminds me of a heart.

Last, but not least, a couple of alpacas in one of the pastures.

I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did taking the photos. Until a couple of months ago, I had no idea this place existed. I'm doing my best to let people know about it.

Until next time, God bless.

Weaving 101, Part III

When you enter The Old Oaks Ranch Fiber Arts Center, you are greeted by Paris, the shop dog. Not only is he precious, but he is a ham. He gave me several poses.





If you will recall, I had a photo of this wrap just a few minutes after Kathy had finished warping the loom. It took hours, so I can only conclude that warping a loom is real work. :D


The finished wrap is 82 inches long. Kathy is tying off the fringe.


The finished wrap. Isn't it beautiful?! It needs to be washed and the fringe clipped.

There are several tabletop spinning wheels around the shop. I've yet to see someone spinning yarn, but the shop is prepared to do so.


This is a tabletop loom. Instead of pedals, there are hand levers to lift the threads.

The shop project. Everyone adds their touch to this piece. Notice the pegs at the top and there are pegs at the bottom. Weaving can be done on just about anything.

Until next time, God bless.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

Hello, what is your name; mine is . . .

Be sure to go over to Murrieta's 365 for more Straight Out of the Camera photos. To enter the photo is to have been taken by you and there has been no tweaking. Cropping is allowed.

Until next time, God bless.

Weaving Day 2, Part II

The goal was accomplished on Day 2 of Weaving 101 at The Old Oaks Ranch Fiber Arts Center.


The scarves still need to be washed and the fringe trimmed. The third piece on the right was was the left over wool on the loom after completing the scarves. I've folded it over and will probably make a small purse and, of course, trim the fringe, etc. Nothing is wasted.

To give you an idea of how the looms work, I took a photo of the 18" loom on which I wove the scarves. This loom has 4 pedals; bigger looms have 6.


I used 1 and 3 pedals to lift the threads when I went from left to right.

The pedals lift the two "thingies" in the back higher than the other two. The "thing" in the very front comes forward to beat the weaving thread down onto the piece being woven. I had a tendency to beat it pretty hard when Sandra, my instructor, told me to kiss it. Made sense to me and used a more gentle touch in the beat down. BTW, I don't have the lingo down yet, so "thingies" it is. lol Actually, while it is important to know the names of various pieces of equipment, I'm perfectly happy as long as I know what to do with whatever until I learn the language.

This is what it looks like from the side when the pedals are pushed down. A wooden boat holds the bobbin thread which passes between the lifted threads.


Pedals 2 and 4 are used to lift the threads to go from right to left. It is good to wear socks when working the loom.

The Old Oak Ranch Fiber Arts Center is so unique that I'm doing two more parts in this series. Stay tuned and check out the website.

Until next time, God bless.

Weaving 101 Day 1

Today was my first lesson in Weaving 101. I am weaving two scarves with Peruvian alpaca wool. One scarf is a Christmas present for my youngest son and the second scarf is a Christmas present for my daughter-in-law. Both ride motorcycles . . . my son travels approximately 100 miles to work from Bryan, Texas to Houston when the weather is good. My daughter-in-law rides for pleasure, but she also trains her dogs for search and rescue. She and the dogs go when called, and there is practice at least once or twice a week. These scarves should come in very handy considering their various activities.


I am to set aside two days to do the scarves. I've gathered together some necessary equipment to carry me through the hours: a CD player, some protein bars, three CDs, and a screw. Need to take the screw so I can stop at Home Depot to get either a counter sink drill bit or 50 same sized screws with a smaller head for the cabinet hardware for the makeover bathroom and for the kitchen. Twenty-four years with the same kitchen hardware is long enough. :D And, my jeep does not leave the house without several errands on the list.

This is Sandra, my instructor. She is delightful.

This is the Peruvian alpaca wool chosen for the project.

Sandra pre-warped the loom.


The first scarf in progress. Jennifer's scarf will be different because I am using the gray and white thread as the weaving thread whereas black is the weaving thread shown here. Hubby doesn't know it, but it looks like there will plenty of these two colors left to weave him a scarf. I'll add another color, perhaps, or see if Sandra will set the loom up in a different pattern.

Here is a loom being warped. This lady is doing a wrap for herself, and it took hours to set the loom up.

The loom is ready for weaving.

Look at this scarf. Isn't it beautiful?

I am so new to weaving that I cannot remember the type of thread being used, but the design is coming from the weaving thread.

Day 2 of Weaving 101 is tomorrow. Both scarves should be completed. I found a rhythm and am comfortable with a tension. The second scarf should go a little quicker. Weaving is really cool.

Until next time, God bless.

Bathroom Re-do Update V

The bathroom has finally come together with the exception of the back splash. My first fused glass, back splash design was too complex for my skill level, so I've had to go back to the drawing board. I have several ideas which I'll start working on next week. Once a design is decided upon, there are ten 4 x 6 inch tiles to assemble, fire in the kiln and install around the vanity top.

This is the before. Pretty drab, isn't it. lol

This is the suggestion from Layla of The Lettered Cottage.



I changed it for this look after playing around with Behr's Color Smart.


The brown trim on the shower curtain ties to the mirror. The white curtain ties to the white fixtures and tile.

Several years ago, I removed the usual 4 x 4 mirror over the vanity and replaced it with this mirror which hung over my mother's dresser. I had it reframed in mesquite.

The antique, leaded glass window with a touch of red.

The red in the picture ties back to the leaded glass window.

Whew. The hard work is over and the rest, i.e., back splash, is going to be fun. There are few more details to complete, i.e., changing out the light switch plates for brushed stainless/nickle ones, pick up two stainless door pulls, and, ugh, replace the grout around the bathtub.

Until next time, God bless.

Bathroom Makeover IV

I am almost done. A few more touch ups are needed. I may should have put a second coat because I've found quite a few places that were missed, but to tell the truth, the bath is so small and a real pain to paint. I spent a lot of time moving the ladder after first finding a place to put the paint so as to not accidentally knock it over.


I did not do the best taping job. I bought a small sample of flat white paint and used a flat, square artist brush to cover the brown paint on the ceiling.

Not perfect, but much neater.

Installed the new light fixture. Gad, what a difference when compared to the old one. I've been wanting to change it out for years but did not have the courage to do it myself. Well, I did it myself today. Just hope the house does not burn down. lol

Found this picture at Bed, Bath & Beyond. The red ties to the red in the leaded glass window hanging in the bathroom window.

Ahh, new towels and towel rack. Had a difficult time getting the rod to stay put. In fact, there was a flaw in it; but since it fell off the wall a couple of times, it took some paint with it. This is one of the touch ups planned for tomorrow.

The plan is to finish up tomorrow. I painted the shower curtain hangers a dark coco brown and am waiting to make sure they are completely dry before hanging the shower curtain.

I think I am going to love the final product. It is worth the effort. I've been wanting to redo this bath for at least five years. lol I just couldn't get inspired.

Until next time, God bless.