This evolved from the desire to weave a popular design in Summer & Winter but with no desire to use 2 shuttles. Turned taquete squares are created by straight-threaded units and color order reversals. I eliminated distortion between the blocks by threading them symmetrically. The horizontal yellow stripe was treadled as 1/3 twill in attempt to replicate the interlacing of the vertical yellow stripe. The horizontal & vertical stripes reading green & orange add interest.
Techniques:
Handwoven, turned taquete on 8 shafts, with a contrast stripe treadled as a variation of 1/3 broken twill.
Dimensions:
37.5 x 37.0
Materials:
8/2 cotton warp & weft, hemmed with all purpose sewing thread
Loom:
8 shaft Macomber floor loom
- Donna Flack Shadix
Donna Flack Shadix
A self proclaimed homebody & mother of 2, Donna Flack Shadix lives in quiet rural Alabama just outside of Huntsville. She was introduced to floor loom weaving in 2017 when her neighbor gave her an old counterbalance loom he wasn’t using & a gift subscription to Handwoven Magazine. Instantly addicted to the craft, she began scoping the online marketplace sites for a better loom. She found & bought an 8-shaft Leclerc Minerva in 2018 but now mostly only uses the pre-owned 8-shaft Macomber she acquired for her birthday in 2023. She’s been a virtual student of Jane Stafford’s online School of Weaving since 2021 & as a result has been designing her own drafts. Published in the Summer 2025 issue of Handwoven Magazine, her “Sunset Fiesta Towels” were initially woven as a prototype for the “Square Dance” baby blanket you see here. Notable modifications to the draft include the addition of incidental threads for symmetry of the squares and the 1/3-3/1 twill treadling of the yellow stripe.
