Rick just finished a walnut coffee table using a plank of Oregon claro walnut that he had kicking around the shop for about 25 years. For the legs he used leftover pieces from a kitchen he just did for a house in Twisp. These were from a homestead tree down in Wenatchee that had been through a wildfire. One of the pieces had a big split down the middle which he had to separate to keep the leg stable. When he did that, he found an actual walnut embedded in the crack – the tree must have grown around it. He managed to glue it back in there when he fashioned the leg!
Our friends in Wenatchee stopped by last weekend on their way into the valley for some skiing. They fell in love with this table and are buying it, so it will never see the inside of a gallery. We are taking it to them tomorrow when we go down for a medical appointment.
On the weaving front, I put a warp on Kingston, the 32″ Macomber at home, to do my guild “challenge” project. It needs to be finished by the April 15 meeting and this year it is a color challenge. We each drew an envelope with a color photograph, and the challenge is to weave something using at least 4 colors from the photograph, and no others. My picture is of cherry tomatoes on the vine, laid out on a wicker basket.
I had colors in 8/2 cotton from WEBS that worked but it took me a while to decide what sort of thing to weave. I didn’t want to do a towel for some reason. Then I remembered a project in Handwoven magazine last Nov/Dec that used a Bateman Boulevard draft to make fabric for a tablet sleeve. I really liked the mid-century modern look of that fabric and decided to accomplish 2 things – my color challenge, and an exploration of the Boulevard weave to see where it might lead me.
I wound up with 4 napkins for the challenge part, and have warp left on the loom to try some variations. There are 4 colors in the warp – 2 greens, a warm brown, and tobacco. When weaving, I used the red-orange for the pattern weft and one of the warp colors for the tabby weft. So the four napkins are each a slightly different color, and it was good to see what changing the tabby weft did to the overall color of the fabric.
I have also kept up with spinning, inspired by my time up on Orcas Island in February.
A 3-ply yarn using 3 rovings from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. Two of them were merino/tencel and one was wool/bombyx silk, but all three were dyed in the same Autumn colorway.
A 2-ply yarn using 4 oz. of Bluefaced Leicester purchased many years ago from Chameleon Colorworks.
On Saturday we are off for a week-long vacation to Lake Quinault on the Olympic Peninsula, and then to Port Townsend and LaConner. Can’t wait!!
Twisp of Fate 
Of course, the table is beautiful – and the walnut really adds to the story. Wonderful job on your color challenge – the napkins are perfect for that! And as always, your yarn is lovely.