Category Archives: Events
OWG Hosted the 2013 COE in Spinning
The Handweavers Guild of America (HGA) offers certification in fiber arts: Weaving, Spinning, Dyeing, and Basketry. Application who pass the rigorous requirements receive a Certificate of Excellence (COE) in their chosen field. There are two levels of certification: the first requires proficiency in the basic arts, and the second, Master of Specialized Study, requires a focused, specialized study. An overview of the program can be found at http://weavespindye.org/pages/coeoverview.html.
Olympia Weavers Guild was privileged to host the 2013 COE in Spinning. This year, applicants included one in Level 1 and two in Level 2. The program involves a registrar, who assembles the submitted work for review by two examiners. The process is overseen by two representatives from HGA. The OWG chairperson was Lana Schneider, who generously offered her own studio as the site for the examination, which took three days: one to assemble the team and the work, and two intense days of judging and documenting the process. Several members served as scribes, assisting the examiners in documenting the findings, and other members provided food for the committee and lodging for the HGA representatives and examiners.

2013 COE in Handspinning Committee – Examiners Judith MacKenzie and Jane Fournier, Registrar Kate Jantz-Koprivnik and Chair Lana Schneider
Photos by Sandra Swarbrick, HGA.
Mary Ann Sanborn, the other HGA representative, gave a very interesting presentation at the October Guild Meeting on Shaker textiles.
Both of the Level II submissions were accepted, and the applicants were announced on the HGA website, and in an upcoming issue of Shuttle, Spindle, and Dyepot Magazine.
OWG: Fiber Arts at Olympia Timberland Library, October 23, 2013
Timberland Regional Library District
415 Tumwater Blvd. SW
Tumwater, WA 98501
(360) 943-5001 or 877-284-6237 · www.TRL.org
News Release October 15, 2013
Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, Communications Specialist, 704-4508; 877-284-6237 x 2508
Olympia Weavers Guild to enlighten on fiber production
“Fiber: Our Common Thread” program will be at Olympia library at 7:30 p.m., October 23
Many of us are becoming aware of where our food comes from and how it is produced, but what about the fibers we wear every day? Members of the Olympia Weavers Guild will present “Fiber: Our Common Thread,” a program on fiber and the fiber arts, at the Olympia Timberland Library on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. Learn how cloth is produced, watch fiber artists in action, and try a bit of fiber production yourself. The event takes place after library hours.
In many places in the world, if you want a new shirt or a rug, you create it from the fibers on up. Guild members will describe the production of cloth from seed or animal to closet or home. A brief slide show will introduce the main fibers and techniques used to create textiles in this country, including information on home production of flax into linen and fleece into wool.
Program attendees will be able to see textiles made by guild members as they model or show them and to talk with the creators. Much of the evening will be a chance to watch spinners, weavers and felters in action and to see up close what is involved in the production of cloth. There will be an opportunity for attendees to try some of the techniques.
The Olympia Weavers Guild was founded in 1949. It is a nonprofit organization that promotes the study of weaving, spinning and many other fiber arts. Members meet once a month for most of the year and sponsor programs and workshops on weaving, spinning and other related crafts. More information about the guild is at http://olympiaweaversguild.org.
The Olympia Timberland Library is located at 313 8th Avenue SE. For more information, contact the library at (360) 352-0595 or visit www.TRL.org.
Timberland Regional Library provides for the information, reading and lifelong learning needs of the Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston county public at 27 community public libraries and 6 library service partner locations. The library system is funded mainly by local property taxes. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s program may contact the library one week in advance.
Janice Arnold: Palace Yurt at Evergreen Gallery
Janice Arnold gave a presentation to the Guild a couple years ago. For another look at her work, be sure to visit the Evergreen State College Gallery for this exhibit:
2013 Sheep to Shawl
Call for Entries – Fiber Arts Show, Sebastopol Center for the Arts
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Tumwater Middle School Teacher Seeks Spinning Demonstration
My name is Tyler Haywood. I am an 8th grade Social Studies teacher at Tumwater Middle School. I am one of two teachers who run the Homesteader program, which educates students on the life and times of the early Puget Sound pioneers. As part of this, we teach them hands-on skills.
Over the next three weeks, I will be teaching the girls how to knit and spin wool into yarn. Unfortunately, I do not know how to use a spinning wheel or a drop spindle, and the people who usually help us are not available this year. I understand that this is extremely short notice, but would there be any members of your guild willing and able to volunteer their time in my class? It would just be for two to three days, from 8:00 to 8:50 in the morning.
If this is not possible (and once again, I understand that this is very short notice), would next year be a possibility?
Thank you for your consideration.
All best,
Tyler Haywood
[email info@olympiaweaversguild.org for contact info for Mr. Haywood]
Beach Grass Trip
Hi Bill
Can you share this with the Guild members who might be interested ? Lois Thadei, Olympia
Dear Olympia Weavers Guild Members:
OK, my Aleut basket weavers. It’s beach grass getting’ time again. Hooray. This is the traditional grasses I harvest every spring for weaving. You are invited to join me.
If you’ve been weaving with the waxed linen following our presentation last month for the Oly Weavers Guild you can join me. If you wish to continue your weaving using the traditional wild grasses, this is the last time I will be sharing a wild grass harvest session.
Hopefully you can make it.
How it Works:
Let me know if you are coming, so I can expect you. aleutwoman@comcast.net leave me your name, e-mail, phone including cell phone.
We meet at Trader Joe’s parking lot at the 2nd exit to left on Highway 101 just N of I-5 in Olympia, WA.
May 26, 2013 8 AM.
On the coast it will probably be blustery, blistering hot, colder than heck, sunny, rainy, foggy, wet raining, snowy, windy and, and, and …….. Wear layers, bring a scarf, weather resistant shoes/boots, gloves and such.
What to Bring:
· a couple gallon jugs for collecting sea water
· a sharp harvesting knife (I use a pareing knife and also brind a big old chef knife)
· an old bed sheet
· a few zip loc bags (who knows, might find something you want to take back)
· a pocket full of cordage or strings
· munchies, juice
· A damp washrag in a zip loc bag so you can freshen up
· Money so we can stop at a restaurant and eat a hearty lunch when we are done
· Sun block, bug spray, eye glasses as needed, cameras.
What we Harvest
We will be collecting an armload of Elymus Mollis, which appears to be having a GOOD YEAR. We will swing over to Bowerman Basin and also check on the 3 cornered sedge, cat tails and water iris. If it looks like we can harvest some big handsful we will. Also, canary reed grass is usually ready for a harvest at this time. We time the harvest to concide with the ripening of Salmonberries. But, given our hectic urban schedules, sometimes we are off by a week or two. We work with it.
Again, where we meet and how we Travel
We meet a 8 AM at the street edge of Trader Joe’s parking lot at Hwy 101 and Harrison/Cooper Point in Olympia. Once there, we will arrange any carpools that wish to form. We’ll be back before dark. Of course, if you take your own vehicle, you are in charge of your own time schedule. It’s about a 11 ½ hour drive to the harvest site not far from Westport, WA.
Fun
Lois “Louie” Chichinoff Thadei (Aleut-Sealaska)
MAILING Address Only: 120 State Ave. NE #1455 – Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: 360-539-5031
Cell: 360-259-4827
E-mail: aleutwoman@comcast.net
Web Site: www.aleutwoman.com/
Alaska Native Arts Foundation: http://www.alaskanativearts.org/shop-artist-individual?id=148
Aleut People Worldwide: http://wdict.net/word/Aleut+people
Washington State Arts Commission: http://www.arts.wa.gov/folk-arts/master-artists/thadei.shtml
Old Masters (NPR): http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuow/sets/72157622974889054/
My photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aleutwoman/
Showcase February 2013
Gallery

This gallery contains 33 photos.
A new feature: Showcase on the Web! We will be posting galleries of the showcase items of the month. Photos by Guild Historian Marianne Hoepli
Openings Available for Nancy Hoskins Beyond Boundweave Class (Seattle Weavers Guild)
A note from Mora E.L. Jackson, Seattle Weavers Guild:
“I am the educational chair (workshops) at the Seattle Weavers Guild and would like to let you know that a few more slots are open for the upcoming Nancy Hoskins workshop scheduled March 2 + 3 in Seattle. If anybody is interested in the workshop, please contact me (sunshein21@yahoo.com or call 253-217-829 between 9 am and 9 pm).
SWG Workshop Sign-Up
Workshop: Beyond Boundweave
Instructor: Nancy Hoskins
Website: http://nancyhoskins.com/
Workshop Dates: Sat March 2 – Sun March 3 (2 days)
Loom requirement: 4-8 shaft, 10 (preferred) or 12 dent reed, 2-4 small shuttles (you can substitute butterflies)
Skill level: Intermediate (know how to dress loom, if using a floor loom know how to change the tie-up, weave with multiple shuttles)
Beautiful boundweave structures– from the simple to the complex — will be our inspiration as we cover theory, technique, and the basics of weaving weft-faced patterns. We’ll explore the functional and decorative possibilities of boundwoven cloth for clothing, rugs, and art fabrics by weaving a set of samples on 4 or 8-shaft looms. In a content-filled and
friendly workshop you will discover how to draft, design, and weave weft-faced textiles that are both decorative and durable by weaving a set of examples with patterns — geometric, floral, flamepoint, or figurative — on a variety of threadings and shafts. Table or floor looms with 4 or 8 shafts will be dressed with plain weave, twills, point twills, krokbragd, rosepath, and other threadings to create colorful boundwoven cloth.