The Third Time Is the Charm

A lesson in being true to your abilities

The third time was the charm. Top left: Attempt #1, Middle left: Attempt #2, Bottom left and Right: Success!!!

This is the story of not learning from past experience. I’ve participated in many exchanges or swaps in many crafts/arts. They are always stressful for me. I seem incapable of creation on demand. I always want to exceed my abilities and produce a masterpiece. And yet, once again, here I am.

So despite all my prior experience with exchanges, earlier this year, in April I think, I signed up enthusiastically for the American Tapestry Alliance Postcard Exchange. My task was to weave a large postcard sized (5” x 7”) tapestry representing the theme of Connection. We were to communicate with our assigned exchange partner and find a connection and weave a tapestry to symbolize it. So far, so good, right? Nothing hard in any of this. The latest date for shipping the postcard was 9/30/2023-plenty of time, right? Thankfully that deadline got extended to 10/31/2023.

So what’s the problem? I’ve only been tapestry weaving since June 2022 so I am a really only at the beginning of my journey. In May I get an email with my partner assignment and she is a tapestry artist in Scotland who has been weaving for 40 years. FORTY YEARS!!! My enthusiasm then turned into a huge sense of inadequacy. Nothing I could weave would ever be as good as whatever she wove for me. I became stuck with a capital “S” and began distracting myself with cross stitching and knitting and binge watching all five seasons of Fringe instead of weaving.

Fast forward a couple of months and I realize I must do something…anything…to move this project forward. So I start sketching designs and after a dozen or so I settle on a design representing a connection we have: genealogy. Slowly I begin to choose my yarns and get my loom warped. Eventually, I begin weaving. I hate weaving the design. It is not my style and it’s really far too detailed for the size of the tapestry. It is also far above my skill set. The creativity gods took pity on me and somehow my new puppy found my loom and chewed the loom and the tapestry. The loom was salvageable, the weaving not so much.

And the process begins again with fewer sketches and lots less detail. The loom is warped, yarns are chosen. So far, so good. I’m really loving the design and I decide to try a technique I’ve only just begun to learn-you know what’s coming, right? The part of the design that used that technique looked like crap because I really hadn’t developed that skill yet. I wish I could say the dog ate this one too but I destroyed this one and returned to square one.

So, will the third time be the charm? This time I decided to create a tapestry in my usual manner. I used to do a lot of Zentangle art and really love the mindfulness and stress relief it offers. I tend to do my tapestries in a similar manner letting the yarn, my fingers, and my state of mind to inform the design. I selected a color scheme inspired by the late Silvia Heyden in her weaving called Hurricane-golden yellow, hot pink, black, and white. I just let the colors flow and used techniques I was familiar with like wedge weave, pick and pick, and eccentric weave-techniques also favored by Silvia Heyden. Yes indeed, the third time was the charm and I couldn’t be more pleased with my ultimate result-it is totally a reflection of me.

But how did this tapestry relate to the theme of Connection you ask. To answer that I’ll quote the message I wrote on the other side of the postcard;

‘My inspiration for this color scheme was Silvia Hayden’s weaving called “Hurricane”. We are all as tapestry weavers connected in some way to those who wove before us-I feel especially connected to Silvia’s work. I think our tapestry weaving “ancestors”inform our own work and connect us as a community.’

And, you might ask, will I participate in the next Postcard Exchange in 2025? Well, of course I will. I will have forgotten how awful not being able to get this right felt by then but will remember how wonderful it felt when I hit my stride. Hopefully I will remember to stick with what I know and be true to my own personal style.