Quilt Block Towels in Summer & Winter

I always have a mental queue of weaving projects and structures that I want to try. One at the top of my list was Quilt Block Towels from Handwoven Magazine. They are woven in summer and winter, which is a weave structure I had not tried before.  This creates a reversible fabric with one side lighter in color and the other darker.

Winding on!

I thought this project would use up a cone of stashed bleached 8/2 cotton. Then I used it all up before I was finished and had to buy more!

This project was a real challenge for me to keep track of the pattern, not mess it up, and to remember to do the correct tabby pick in between each pattern pick. Each towel has some sort of treadling error in it. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that I don't yet have a good understanding of how the weave structure works and could not read my weaving well enough to notice errors. I look forward to doing more reading and projects so I can better understand it.

I used a Leclerc double bobbin boat shuttle for the pattern weft. It was not my favorite but I improved my technique. Not sure if I just dislike double bobbin shuttles in general or if it was that shuttle in particular. I am going to give a Glimakra double shuttle a try and see if I like it better.

I made three towels: two purple and one yellow. I thought the yellow would look really nice but there isn't enough contrast to see the pattern clearly. I decided to cut off the first two towels and wash them before proceeding with the next. It was a good experience to learn how to do that but it did not leave me with much warp!

Close call at the end of the warp. Almost ran out!

I absolutely love the texture of the towels. They are very squishy and absorbent! I kept the yellow for myself and the two purple towels are gifts.  I will definitely try summer and winter again, hopefully with fewer mistakes on the next attempt!

More info on my Ravelry project page.