Have you ever learned something new and then got to travel and continue your education? What fun that would be. Janis Johnson our speaker got that opportunity. Janis’s life-long hobby has been learning how to make things. She started weaving on a rigid heddle loom in 2001, learning from books. Janis didn’t start weaving on a floor loom until 2010 during her second term as president of the Portland Handweavers Guild, when she thought it would be a good idea to understand what people were talking about. Little did she know that it would become an obsession, with learning opportunities for a lifetime.

Because Janis had taken a guild workshop on weaving velvet with Barbara Setsu Pickett, she received email about an opening in Barbara’s program through the University of Oregon to weave on manual Jacquard looms at the Lisio Foundation for Silk Arts in Florence, Italy. Janis had first learned about Jacquard looms in an early computer science class and found them fascinating, so she jumped at the chance.

Please join us in the afternoon November 18th to hear about Janis’s adventure.

Our fall felting will be checking out Jean’s new felting “toys”. Four of us at a time can make (unfinished size 2ft x 2ft) squares of felt fabric in the felting machine in minutes vs all day. You can make as many squares with about 4 layers of fiber as you like. Plus we will see some of her other industrial tools (e.g the 24 inch carding machine and the cord maker). If you would like to do flat wet felting and not need to do the shuffle and jive please join us.

Date & Time: December 7th – 9:30 am
Contact Gail Trotter for location and other details.

Bring lunch and prepared fiber and optional yarn to craft as many felt squares as you like. Contact Gail Trotter if you need more information.

Also let Gail know if you are interested in making the felt rocks for the ANWG guild booth floor. The booth team is interested in using the “stones” and “rocks” and they gave us sizes and amounts. We will “rock around the clock” after the new year.

For Oct. we will be making baskets at Jan Green’s home on Halloween, October 31st, from 10 til whatever. Bring a lunch if you like, and whatever you are working on. There are lots of materials if you would like to get started.
Hope to see you.

For more information contact Jan at: RichandJanGreen@comcast.net

October brings to mind watching falling leaves and leafing through books as the cooler weather comes and I am inside more. For our program speaker Randi Pankhurst, a fiber artist who works in paper, she might be designing the leaves of her next art book. I hope you will find inspiration to apply to your own art form in the OWG October 21st program.

Randi Parkhurst is a book artist and arts instructor, living and working from her home/studio in Olympia, Washington.
She creates interactive book art that flips, swings, rolls and snaps together, providing a unique view of this versatile medium. All of Randi’s pieces are made with her hand painted papers. Natural elements, such as leaves and flowers, stones and sticks, and rich, deep colors permeate her work, reflecting the beauty of her Pacific Northwest home. (from Randi’s website http://www.parkhurstpaperarts.com)

Will any of the National Days in October, http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/october/ , invoke your creativity for a fiber art piece or costume to be shared at the June picnic. October has days about people, pets and other potpourri. Here is a sample: National Ghost Hunting Day, Be Bald and Be Free Day ,National Cat Day, National Leif Erikson Day National Handbag Day If the October National days do not inspire you maybe another moth will   See: http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/calendar-at-a-glance/

Calling all felters or those who would like to learn come to Gail Trotter’s home and “Rock On” , making foam felted rocks for the ANWG booth, October 26th at 1 pm. Bring tools for needle felting or wet felting we can do either. If someone could bring a glue gun we can make different size rocks We have donations of fleece and some foam. If you have some special color prepared fleece you like, please bring.  RSVP or for more information contact Gail at getrotter@comcast.net.