April 2015 - Whatcom Weavers Guild

Whatcom Weavers Guild Newsletter
Weaving in Whatcom since 1971
April Newsletter
Well I guess we can stop waiting for that last snowfall, and enjoy our Spring.
Have you visited the Skagit Tulip Festival yet? If you haven’t, don’t leave it too long—the daffodils are well on
their way, the first wave of tulips are out and beautiful and all the tulip fields and arts and crafts galleries are open
and very busy.
Our April meeting is almost upon us—April 8th—seems early doesn’t it, but that’s what happens when the first day
of the month is on a Wednesday! See all the news for the April and May programs by Kathy Hutchinson on Page 2.
Are you thinking of going to the Guild Retreat? And Fabulous Fiber ‘15 in September—look for news from Sheri
Ward on our very own conference on page 3. Much is now happening at the weavers room at Jansen Art Center in
Lynden—another opportunity to join a study group—see page 4.
And more! Thank you to everyone who has sent in news and articles—your membership loves it all!
Happy Spring weaving and crafting!
Pat Fisher, Newsletter Editor pat.fisher@comcast.net.
Guild
Board 2014-2015
Guild Board—2014-2015
President: Marilyn Olsen / Marilyn.Olsen@comcast.net
Past President: Sheri Ward / sheri.ward@icloud.com
Vice President & Programs: Kathy Hutchinson/kathyhutch4@gmail.com
Secretary: JP MacConnell / jan.macconnell@comcast.net
Treasurer: Cathy Thompson / clcthomp2@gmail.com
Workshops: tba
Librarian: Susan Clueit, smclueit@gmail.com
Membership: Marcia Ford / samijo47@q.com
Education: Barbara Snow / snowdyer@comcast.net, Karen Perry /
karendanperry@yahoo.com
Hospitality: Carolyn & Glenn Oltman / carolyn@oltman.com
Member-at-Large/ANWG Rep: Jenni Jimmerson /
jennijnotary@hotmail.com
Newsletter Publisher: Pat Fisher / pat.fisher@comcast.net
Wool Show: tba
Web Site: Sheri Ward / sheri.ward@icloud.com
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Programs for 2015
Meetings held at:
St James Church (lower level)
910, 14th St., Bellingham.
Second Wednesday of each month, September to December, February to June
6.30pm Social time
7.00pm Meeting start time
9.00pm Adjournment
July, daytime meeting tba.
Guild mailing address: PO Box 403,
Bellingham, WA 98227.
Website: www.whatcomweaversguild.org
https://www.facebook.com/
whatcomweaversguild
Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Programs for upcoming monthly Guild meetings, by Kathy Hutchinson
April 8 Guild Meeting:
Arunas Oslapas of Red Rivet Studios, will be joining us for our meeting on April 8. Arunas collects, paints, and
weaves discarded metal banding which is commonly used for strapping lumber and other palletized industrial materials during shipping. The steel banding is wildly unmanageable and the challenge of taming this sharp, springloaded material makes the creation of each receptacle a memorable event! Visit his web site to see his creations
http://oslapas.wix.com/metal#!portfolio , and join us on April 8 to be inspired!
May 13 Guild meeting:
The guest speaker on May 13 will be Kris Bruland of Handweaving.net. Kris Bruland is the creator of Handweaving.net, a digital weaving archive with drafts, historic weaving documents, and more. This website contains
58906 hand weaving drafts, many of which are public-domain.
Kathy Hutchinson, VP Programs. Email: kathyhutch4@gmail.com
April Daytime Weavers Meeting
The April meeting of Daytime Weavers will be Wednesday April 22nd (4th Wednesday as usual), at the Roeder
Home, 10:30 am- 1:30 pm. Bring lunch, show and tell, and something to work on. Also questions, answers, ideas
for future meetings (mini-workshops?). All are welcome.
Sondra Rose
676-6078
sondrose@earthlink.net
It’s Annual Dues Time! By Cathy Thompson
2015 Annual Renewal
One last reminder to renew your membership with this busy guild for 2015. Your renewal gives you first chance
to attend workshops, the annual retreat and all the other events planned. You secure your place in the roster and
have a personal name tag ready to wear at the guild meetings. All that plus the companionship of like minded lovers of string and things for a mere $25 for a single and $35 for a family. Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Cathy Thompson
Treasurer
Tastes of
September
miniconference
Stay tuned!
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Fabulous Fiber ‘15, by Sheri Ward
Things are coming together nicely for our mini-conference in September. We hope you all choose to join us for
fun with fiber in September. This will be a great way to get inspired and focused for those fall and winter projects!
Fabulous Fiber ’15 will be held on September 9-12, 2015 at the Jansen Art Center in Lynden WA, Wednesday
through Saturday. We’ll have use of the entire Jansen Center, from the weaving studio to the alley workshop.
There will be plenty of space and time to hang out with your fiber friends as well as take advantage of the workshops that will be offered.
Karen Selk will provide our keynote address on the evening of Sept. 9. Karen was the managing director of Treenway Silks for over 30 years, and she has been a textile designer and artist since 1972. She has traveled extensively throughout Asia, learning and being inspired by all aspects of silk production and traditions. She’ll be sharing those experiences with us in her keynote address, Textile Treasures of Asia.
Here are some of the workshops that will be offered on Thursday through Saturday:
Embellishing by Karen Selk
Raven’s Tail weaving by Courtney Jensen
Natural dyeing by Kim McKenna
Bow loom weaving by Marilyn Romatka
Double weave by Liz Moncrief
Felting a hat by Donna Hunter
Beginning weaving by Teresa van Haalen & Sheri Ward
Fractal spinning (with a twist) by Mary Ellenton
Wire weaving by Marilyn Moore
Tapestry & design by Joyce Noordmans
We’re still in process of adding some spinning and basketry classes, so this list is not quite complete. Stay tuned!
The conference will also feature exhibits from workshop leaders and attendees, a vendors’ hall, informal study
groups, and plenty of space to spend time with your fiber friends.
The instructors’ exhibits will be on display for the months of August and September, and will be shown in the Fine Arts Gallery and the entryway into the Jansen Art Center. The attendees’ juried show will be in the Chamber
Hall, along with some instructional posters on weaving, dyeing, spinning, and felting.
We’ll be ready to open registration by mid-April to our guild members and members of the Peace Arch guild.
Registration to others will open in mid-May, so guild members get first choice of workshops. Registration for the
conference will include a ticket to the keynote address and two full days of workshops, at a cost of $170 total.
Visit the guild’s website page for Fabulous Fiber ’15 for class information and registration details as they become
available: www.whatcomweaversguild.org/fabulous-fiber-15.html . The registration form will be available there
in mid-April.
Karen Selk—Workshop Description
We will incorporate a holistic approach to learning different techniques by using them to embellish a small
bag. Stitches, beads, ribbons, cords, tassels, cocoons, feathers, lace and other riches will be used as artful finishes. Participants will build a palette of colours and textures from their treasure boxes to create a piece of varied
techniques.
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
2nd Guild Retreat—Save the Date!
The 2nd Guild Retreat will be held at the North Cascades Institute, May 22-25, 2015. Join your fellow fiber artists in a long weekend of learning and all around fiber fun. Stay for a day, stay for them
all! Stay tuned for more information.
Kathy Hutchinson, kathyhutch4@gmail.com
Summer and Winter Study Group
The first meeting for our study group on Summer and
Winter will be on April 9, at 1 pm in the Jansen Art
Center Textile Studio.
Several guild members recently completed a study
group on overshot-patterned double weave, and many
in the group wanted to continue with a different topic; summer and winter was our consensus for the next
topic.
At our first meeting for the summer and winter study
group, we’ll talk about what we all want from the
group, and how we want to set things up. Someone
suggested we thread up one of the looms at the Jansen, and also have something on our own home looms. Summer and winter is a bigger and more diverse topic than overshot-patterned double-weave, so this might be a good way to go. Also, we’ll
want to set aside more time for discussion than we did for the double weave study group.
Susan Clueit ran across a copy of Handwoven that's a nice starting point for a study of summer and
winter: May/June 2006. If you’re interested in this study group and have a copy, take a look. I'll
bring my copy to our first meeting so people can copy from it if they want.
In discussion with Karen Bacon at the Jansen, she asked if the study group participants would each
be willing to pay the Jansen $20 total for the study group, for the space and for use of a loom. As an
example from another studio, she said the ceramics studio is charging $5 per session when people
come into open studio and want to try their hand at ceramics. So, for our study group, we'll likely be
in there 3 to 5 times, and $20 seems reasonable. To register for the study group, visit www.jansenartcenter.org . Cost of the study group will be a $20
registration fee and a materials fee.
For more information, or any questions, feel free to contact me, Sheri Ward, at
sheri.ward@icloud.com
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Garment Construction and Finishing, with Daryl Lancaster
Who?
When?
Where?
Greater Vancouver Weaver’s and Spinner’s Guild
April 24-26, 2015
Queensborough Community Centre,
New Westminster, BC
Time?
9am-4pm
Registration fee?
$260 (Canadian—to be paid by check or money order in Canadian funds)
Info & registration? susan.irwin@shaw.ca
Garment Construction and Finishing Techniques—a 3-day workshop
A crash course in garment construction, fit, finishing and all around fun! For weavers or anyone interested
in learning to construct great looking and great fitting garments.
Learn to be creative with your seam finishes, buttonholes, closures, linings and embellishment.
Color, sett, fabric finishing, this is a terrific class for those wanting to laern to sew clothing from their hand
-woven or other special fabric, as well as for those more experienced wanting polished and professional
results.
Participants will have the opportunity to draft a custom pattern for a simple unlined jacket. Sewing machines are optional!
More information: darryllancaster,com.
Submitted by Donna Hunter.
Classified—Loom for Sale
Harrisville loom 4 sale:
Portable, folding, 22” weaving width 8 harness, in excellent condition. Extra reeds and heddles. Email for photos. $800.00.
Contact:
Meredith Baker 360-941-5176
Candy Meacham 360-671-9079
mer58b@yahoo.com
candy.meacham@earthlink.net
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Treadle Lightly—ANWG 2017 NW Weavers Conference
ANWG Conference 2017
The ANWG 2017 Planning Committee thought we would take the summer off while we had the
chance, so it has been pretty quiet around here. We did get two big steps completed, though.
First, the conference website is up and working. We hope you will come and have a look at
anwgconference2017.com. You can also link through the Northwest Weavers’ Guild site.
Second, we have a logo designed by Jeff Warner, a graphic artist from Vancouver, BC. We loved
Jeff’s clean, simple design and his visual pun on our theme. Just to make life interesting for all of
you, we have a 2 color logo, which will be reproduced in all six primary and secondary colors—
green, orange, pink, blue, purple and yellow. Check out the logo on our website. You can watch it
cycle through the colors. We have also put the colors, with their RGB and UK1/Pantone codes on
the website to help with your weaving plans.
Watch for an announcement about our keynote speaker in the next couple of months. Also watch
for details about the Fashion and Juried show categories. We want to give you lots of time to create
great things to share.
Finally, if you like to blog or spend time on Facebook, Twitter or in another group, spread the
word about ANWG 2017.
Christine Purse
2017 Conference Chair
Late arriving news:
The conference will include:
Pre-Conference 3 day workshops—Wednesday-Friday, June 28th to June 30th.
Welcome and Dessert Reception and a Shop ‘til you Drop in the Market Hall, Friday June 30th.
Half day and full day seminars—Saturday and Sunday, July 1st and 2nd.
Fashion Show—Saturday, July 1st.
Banquet and Keynote Speaker—Sunday, July 2nd.
We are looking forward to hosting the next ANWG Conference.
We are looking for instructors for classes—please contact us through the ANWG Conference website.
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Contributed by: Kathy Hutchinson
Tracing Roots:
Delores Churchill and the hat of the Long Ago Person Found.
Just Released!
“This remarkable, beautiful and accessible film traces roots of
differing kinds – natural roots collected and woven into exquisite baskets and hats, and also cultural roots of kinship
traced across boundaries of time, space and generation
Tracing Roots will stimulate discussion among students of all
ages and from a wide variety of disciplines."
–Julie Cruikshank, Anthropologist and Author, “Do Glacier’s Listen.”
Tracing Roots, a 35 minute documentary, is a portrait of an artist and teacher. The film is also a
mystery, following master weaver and Haida elder Delores Churchill on a journey to understand
the origins of a spruce root hat found with Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, the Long Ago Person Found.
The 300-year-old traveler was discovered in Northern Canada in a retreating glacier. Delores's
quest crosses cultures and borders, involves artists, scholars and scientists and it helps us think
about the meaning of connection, knowledge and ownership.
"The story unfolds like roots, in multiple directions all at once…although Churchill is the
subject of the documentary, she is also one of its architects. It is her weaving, the art of it
and the intellectual quest she lays before viewers that gives the film its humble humanity.”
-Indira Arrigra, Anchorage Press
Screened at:
The Limelight, April 15 at 6:00pm
Western Washington University, Academic West, April 16 at 7:00pm
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Contributed by: Kathy Hutchinson
Happiness is a Needle and Thread Away: New Data on Mental Health Benefits of Knitting
Sid LipseyMarch 16, 2015
Turns out, it is possible to knit yourself into a better state of
mind. Clinical psychologist Ann Futterman-Collier who runs
the Well Being Lab at Northern Arizona University, is studying what Arizona Public Radio station KNAU calls “Textile
Therapy” — the emotional benefits of knitting, as well as
crocheting, weaving and quilting.
"People basically have a vacation from their problems," she
tells KNAU. "They can forget about what’s bothering them,
and they get into something in the moment that energizes
them, that leads to the repair in mood."
Futterman-Collier studied 60 women suffering from various levels of stress. She had them either work
with textiles, write or meditate. During their respective activities, the women kept track of their moods.
And for good measure, Futterman-Collier also took saliva samples, monitored their heart rates to determine their stress levels and measured their inflammation. She then compared the stress-reducing results
of each of the three activities.
"Textile handcraft making was associated with the greatest mood repair, increases in positive, decreases
in negative mood," she tells KNAU. "People who were given the task to make something actually had
less of an inflammatory response in the face of a ‘stressor’."
Futterman-Collier’s conclusion jibes with other research on the benefits of handcrafting hobbies. In January, Yahoo Makers looked at three similar projects:
Betsan Corkhill, a licensed physiotherapist and founder of Stitchlinks.com, published a report of knitting’s health benefits, which she says includes curbing anxiety attacks. “You are using up an awful lot of
brain capacity to perform a coordinated series of movements,” she said. “The more capacity you take up
by being involved in a complex task, the less capacity you have for bad thoughts.”
A very small (38 participants) study in the Eat Weight Disorders journal found knitting had positive effects on women suffering from eating disorders.
A study in the OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health journal cited the benefits of needlecraft in
blocking negative thoughts, calming oneself through repetitive motions, and providing opportunities to
socialize in knitting groups and social circles.
As for her own textile therapy study, Futterman-Collier tells KNAU: “People basically have a vacation
from their problems. They can forget about what’s bothering them, and they get into something in the
moment that energizes them, that leads to the repair in mood.”
So if that old saying is true and “idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” hands that are busy knitting might
be the workshop for positive thoughts.
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Whatcom Weavers Guild
Weaving in Whatcom s inc e 1971
Classifieds
Looking for a loom, or swap??
I am looking for an 18-inch, 4-harness table loom. I would like to sell (for equivalent cost) or trade for a 13-inch,
8-harness table loom.
Contact me at 360-201-2921
Teresa Van Haalen
Workshops in Fibers and other interesting stuff:
Dyeing, soaps, lotions, felting, spinning, weaving, botanicals…
Please check my website as my schedule is always changing and usually current.
Liz Moncrief, www.aweaversway.com, 970-692-3949
Happy clicking! Interesting websites and links
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Blazing Shuttles (Warp source). http://www.blazingshuttles.com
Craftsy (crafts and sewing online classes). www.craftsy.com
Handweaving.net (zillions of drafts!). http://www.handweaving.net/Home.aspx
Syne Mitchell’s WeaveZine. http://weavezine.com/
Complex Weavers. http://www.complex-weavers.org/
Weave Tech. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeaveTech/
HGA (Handweavers Guild of America). http://www.weavespindye.org/
Webs (Yarns for weaving and knitting). www.yarn.com
Halcyon Yarns (supplies and yarns). www.halcyonyarn.com
Ravelry (knitting and crochet community). www.ravelry.com
Wearing scarves. www.scarves.net (click Knot Library)
Do you have a favorite you would like to share with your fellow members?
Send it to me—Pat Fisher, Newsletter. Contact: pat.fisher@comcast.net
Upcoming Calendar Dates To Remember
April 8
May 13
May 22-25 2015
September 9-12
June 28th to July 2nd 2017
April Guild meeting
May Guild meeting
2nd Guild Retreat
Fabulous Fiber '15 ANWG mini conference
ANWG Show—Treadle Lightly—Victoria, BC
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