November 17 Program by Liz Moncrief
This program provides new and sometimes unknown but relevant information on the care and maintenance of your loom and weaving equipment.  Just as fine furniture needs attention, your ‘working’ equipment is in constant use and deserves your focused consideration.    We’ll cover loom types, mechanisms, maintenance and repair, solid advice for new weavers, and helpful tips for better outcomes in your weaving.

During her career as a Forester, Liz also maintained a small business of spinning, weaving and dyeing and has exhibited several woven pieces in Colorado, Wyoming and now Washington galleries. In addition to teaching weaving and spinning in Skagit Valley since moving to Washington in 2014, she has also repaired looms and wheels for twenty-some years and revels in bringing an ‘old Dame’ back into useful service.

For more about Liz Moncrief see: http://www.aweaversway.com

This month’s program we “Focus on Lace” with Laura Fry. She chose weaving as a career in 1975 and took weaving classes at every opportunity, including study at Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta and Varpapuu Summer Weaving School in Finland. She started her business in 1977 and since 1980 has worked full-time as a professional handweaver.

What is woven lace? Carrie May writes: Lace weaving is not just about patterns of holes or spaces. It is about structure. Weaving …- uses warp threads which are anchored at both ends and crossed in straight lines by wefts threads. It is hard to make circles and curves out of right angles. When lace is woven, the pattern often does not show up until the fabric is off the loom and washed. Only when the fabric is relaxed can the pattern show. For more see: http://www.weavingindiana.org/PDFs/LaceProgramHandout.pdf

Laura is from Prince George, B.C. where the 2019 ANWG conference will be held.

Coco Chang shared fiber arts at Camp HOPE! The campers loved this activity. All 60+ kits were used up and they wanted more yarn.

The left over Kumihimo kits from demonstrations at the Thurston County Fair were donated by the Olympia Weaver Guild to Camp Hope.

Guild members teaching this fall at Arbutus Folk School. Current Classes include Patti Logan November 4 at 1PM

Also Emily Gray,  see her note below:

Dear Olympia Area Fiber Arts Community —

I hope you’ll help me in spreading the word about a beginning drop spinning class that I am teaching at the Arbutus Folk School in downtown Olympia, the first four Tuesdays in October.  While I hope that students walk away feeling confident about how to spin a continuous thread and ply it into yarn they’ll use, my even greater hope is that they will walk away with a sense of the great fiber community we have in the Olympia area.

Tears of Duk’Wibahl International Gathering of Indigenous Visual Artists of the Pacific Rim

An exhibition featuring the work of Indigenous artists from North America, Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia.

August 26,  For more information and times see Upcoming Events: http://www.evergreen.edu/longhouse

At the weaver conference I met Pirkko Karvonen and learned of her work and life.  The message she had rang true to me.  See the videos and her work  at http://openstudios.athabascau.ca/?q=pkarvonen

Treadle Lightly all over the campus of the University of Victoria I did on my first NW Weavers Conference.   http://www.anwgconference2017.com  (see their blog for pictures)
I was so impressed with all the volunteer work that went in to hosting the conference and the delightful events that were planned. I have a lot of opportunities to expand on this year integrating the information I learned.

The guild booths had great imagination and creativity.  Each represented the theme and their community with humor and a variety of techniques to tell their story. The Olympia Weavers Guild won 1st place in Best of Construction ( construction of each of the pieces shown).  Thank you to all who contributed to the booth from design, construction and assembly and distribution.  I have rocks rolling around in the back of the car waiting from their return to their creator.

All the shows (Fashion, Juried and Individual) inspired me with their design to the application of techniques. They really showed the diversity of the fiber arts and their utility in our lives.   The keynote speaker from Maiwa, https://maiwa.com, express the need to believe in a Slow Textile Movement to support community and preservation of the art and craft of textiles.

The Prince George Fibre Arts Guild  http://fiberarts.org/directories/guilds/Prince_George_Fibre_Arts_Guild has invited us to come to Confluences the 2019 Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds Conference June 11 to 16th 2019.  I hope you will plan on going.  2021 Salem has taken the challenge of hosting the conference.

Here is a list:

8 sk, 100 gm each, 120/2 Natural silk (Treenway)
9 sk, 100 gm each, 60/2 Natural silk (Treenway)
3 sk, 50 gm each, dyed (Dk Green, Magenta, Dk lavendar)
60/2 silk (Treenway)

I also have 5 1/2 sk white silk cord, Size about 16/2 (not marked) and weight is a guess, maybe 1/2 pound. (Purchased in China)

Price is on most of these to total of $375. I am asking $200 for all or make me an offer. Will sell separate if I must.

Call Diane at 253-267-5760, or email: sigdi02@gmail.com

In February Teresa Sullivan did a presentation on art and her bead work. Some of the items she showed us she is teaching at Shipwreck one of the guilds advertisers. A couple of weeks ago a few of us took her class on making pods. She has good instructions and was very helpful in keeping us on track in learning the techniques of 3 dimensional beading. The variations on increasing and decreasing promises many different looks. June 13th she is teaching the Zig Zag bead which makes an interesting component and could complement braid work. For more information on the class see: http://www.shipwreckbeads.com/catalog/Classes/Beading-Classes//orderBy/sku/itemsPerPage/20/page/1/item/6CS0617-ZZ

Volunteers needed for Thurston County Fair to have fun demonstrating and assisting fair goers in Weaving, Spinning or Felting.

When: Aug 2nd – Aug 6th

Shifts: Morning 10AM-1PM or Afternoon 1PM- 4PM

Volunteers will be given a free entrance ticket for a three hour commitment.