Summer harvest, summer heat and summer fun!

Here in York, about a half a mile from the ocean (with water SO cold that I wear a wet suit to swim even in August) the temperature this evening is 83 and it is 9:15 at night! Heat wave!  I am wearing one of the sarongs that I brought back from Bali. Speaking of sarongs, I brought back a pile of them. Here is a gang-way of New England women in Indonesian garb! This photo is from my recent Island Women's week~ 7 days, 9 women, 200 acres of Maine rocks and the deep blue ocean.

All is well here. My studio has been buzzing with life, and I'll catch you up on Macomber tips as well.

First a word of thanks to everyone who sent me lovely emails of support after the storm that blew up my yard. Tomorrow, there will be a LARGE crane to remove the two large oaks that loom (bad pun?) over my studio. Many of the broken and fallen trees have been cleared out. Slow, heavy work. Here is how my yard looks now. More sunshine, but major garden work ahead as I had a shade garden.



My big studio news is that on July 15th I installed the "Tree of Life" at the Temple Israel in Portsmouth. This piece was over a year in process (partially due to conflicting other projects). I am so pleased with the piece. Here are some images taken of the completed piece as well as some close ups.

Here it is on my studio floor. I'm trying to get it to be straight!

 It is 4' by 7' hand dyed linen and rayon. Brocade woven with hand stitching. Installed with velcro strips.

Some details.

And here is the piece just after we finished the installation. Later next month I will get a professional photographer to shoot it! There is a plaque that goes over to the right, that is why it looks slightly off center here.

At the dedication, there were about 100 people. I had to write and read a short speech about the piece. I will post this text on my website soon!


Now on to all things Macomber!! First of all, in case you have tried to call the shop this week (July 26-30), it is closed. I can still take your orders, and will get them in to Eddie on Monday.

Don't hold your breath...but VERY soon I expect to have a manual that you can download as a PDF. This manual is courtesy of a very gracious and generous person who helped me by organizing all the blog posts and images into a comprehensive document. I am SO excited and grateful for this effort. So hang on.....soon, it will be ready for you!

TIE UP HOOKS ~ here are the two styles of tie up hooks.  The upper hook is the new style SUPER HOOK. These hooks go over the lamm and into the treadle. The lower hook is the old style or REGULAR TIE UP HOOK. These go into the treadle and then into the small hole in the black strip running across the lamm.

It is advised that you only use one style of hook on your loom. If you are doing well with the old style, then treadle on! If you are having trouble with the old style, you might consider replacing all the old hooks with the new SUPER HOOKS. The hooks in this image are for the CP size loom. Essentially the B model hooks are the same only longer. 

Clever customized add-ons for your Baby-Mac~
These images come from weaver Steve in the mountains of Colorado. The first image is of a magnetic strip that is mounted on the castle as a place to hold notes, drafts, treadling sequences, or inspirational quotes.

Secondly, a way to mount your lease sticks in a fixed position at the back of the loom.









And finally, I want to continue to share stories and
images from Bali. This image is from a 700 plus year old banyan tree, called Desa Gesing. Notice not only the scale of the tree, but the fact that they have wrapped it in the traditional poleng cloth.

This traditional black and white cloth is used is to wrap trees, shrines and as clothing. The black and white checks symbolize the Balinese belief that all life is made of a balance of good and evil, dark and light.






Thanks to everyone for your continued orders and support. I am off for more time on the water, but thanks to the genius of 3G networking, I will have internet and phone.

Happy summer! Keep those cucumbers coming, tomatoes aren't far behind!

~Sarah