The Memphis Guild of Handloom Weavers
2008-2009 News & Events

Programs

Fiber Feast Luncheon

Saturday, May 30, 2009, 11:00 am

Thank you Susanne for hosting out annual spring luncheon. We all enjoyed delicious dishes, exciting plans, and a display of beautiful weaving by our youngest member, Susanne's granddaughter Emily.

Point in a New Direction - Workshop with Elaine Bradley

Saturday & Sunday, April 25-26, 2009, 9:30am-4:30pm.

Weavers will learn a variety of effects that can be woven on point twill threadings. Each weaver will work at he own loom to produce a gamp. Looms must be prepared before the workshop - help and loaner looms are available to new weavers. Drafting instructions and threading.

13 members participated. Cost - $100 for members, $125 for non-members.
Location: Rawlinson Studio, upstairs at Carrefour Mall, 6645 Poplar at Kirby.

Attending the workshop or not, weavers were invited to join MGHW and Elaine Bradley for dinner at Macaroni Grill, Poplar at Kirby at 5:00PM on Saturday April 25. Meet Elaine and enjoy hearing about the exciting things taking place in the workshop.

Weavers Create with Lace

Saturday, March 28, 2009 - Linda Weghorst

Weaver controlled lace weaves can add elegance and interest to handwoven textiles.

Linda demonstrated several techniques for hand worked open weaves (not loom controlled lace) weaves. These included Leno, Brook’s Bouquet, Spanish Lace, and Danish Medallion all of which can be woven with two harnesses. Free form Huck Lace using a four harness loom was also demonstrated.

Interested in reading more on these topics? Look for the following books, some of which may be hard to locate. Do not forget the amazing Guild Library we have for references.

Weaving: A Handbook for Fiber Craftsmen by Shirley Held
Weaving is Creative by Jean Wilson (in our guild library)
The Techniques of Freeform Design by Nancy M. Searles (Home Mountain Publishing), 1984.

Jacquard Mill Tour

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Jennifer Sargent gave a fascinating presentation about the Jacquard Workshop she attended at the Jacquard Center and the Oriole Mill in Henderson, NC. She show ed pictures of the design and weaving processes and some amazing industrial looms, topped off with her own finished works.

"I Love Weaving" - tapestry necklace by Linda Weghorst

Handwoven Jewelry Workshop

Saturday & Sunday, January 24-25, 2009

Our own Linda Weghorst taught 15 eager jewelry weavers the technique for creating beautiful tapestry-woven and beaded pieces for use as pine or necklaces. Several of the extra kits are available for $10 each.

See the gallery of member's work - more will added as pieces are completed. Participants - send pictures to mghw@memphisfiberarts.org.

Weavers Create with Lace - Saturday, March 28, 2009
Linda Weghorst

Weaver controlled lace weaves can add elegance and interest to handwoven textiles.

Linda demonstrated several techniques for hand worked open weaves (not loom controlled lace) weaves. These included Leno, Brook’s Bouquet, Spanish Lace, and Danish Medallion all of which can be woven with two harnesses. Free form Huck Lace using a four harness loom was also demonstrated.

Interested in reading more on these topics? Look for the following books, some of which may be hard to locate. Do not forget the amazing Guild Library we have for references.

Weaving: A Handbook for Fiber Craftsmen by Shirley Held
Weaving is Creative by Jean Wilson (in our guild library)
The Techniques of Freeform Design by Nancy M. Searles (Home Mountain Publishing), 1984.

Top 10 Meeting Highlights - March 28, 2009

A great big Thank You to Linda Weghorst for taking the time to teach us lace weaves at the march meeting. As always it was an excellent demonstration and very informative. Here are some of the highlights from the March meeting.

1. The surveys came in. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey. It really helps us to determine what we should schedule for the fall. If you have not completed a survey, please fill one out and bring it to the workshop. Another option is to fill it out online and submit it.
You can also send them to:
Eva Cassel
2073 Green Chase Dr
Hernando, MS 38632
We want to hear from everyone both beginners and experienced weavers.

2. Next we talked a lot about the Elaine Bradley workshop which is scheduled for April 25th and 26th. This date is changed from your schedule. It was changed at the February meeting because the majority of people who intended to take the workshop wanted it to be on Saturday and Sunday. The workshop is going to be at Lori Rawlinson's family studio located at Kirby and Poplar. We will email precise directions to everyone in the next week. There are still six spots available in the class. The price is $100 for members and $125 for non members.
Please contact us if you are interested.

3. We also decided that Monday the 20th of April we will be helping beginners set up their looms for the workshop. If you are a member and you want to take the workshop you can borrow a loom from the guild.
This is first come first serve. There have also be volunteers who are willing to help on other days. If you need help setting up your loom for the workshop please email us and let us know what will work for your schedule.

4. We are also looking for someone to host Elaine Bradley. She will be arriving on Friday and leaving on Monday. This will include driving her to and from the airport. We are looking for someone who lives close to Kirby and Poplar and who will be attending the class. Please let us know if you can assist.

5. Last but not least we will be going out to dinner with Elaine on Saturday the 25th after class. If you are interested and would like to meet Elaine you can attend even if you are not taking the class. The restaurant and the time are to be determined and will email more information before the workshop.

6. On another topic if you are interested in going on a field trip to Jackson to see the small expression's exhibit Bobbie Embrey had a great suggestion. On April 18th is the "Sheep to Shawl" for the CWSG.
It is going to be from 10 to 4 . Patti will be bringing her sheep to be sheared. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. They will have different stages set up for carding, spinning, dyeing, and weaving outside.
If you are interested in going on a field trip email Bobbie at bjembrey@comcast.net This will only happen if there is enough people interested.

7. We also got several people who wrote on their surveys that they were interested in weaving for the "Pink" project that is the topic for the show in Senatobia next year. So we decided this would be a great project for the weaver's challenge. "Pink" is supposed to signify breast cancer awareness and since October is breast cancer awareness month we thought it would be perfect to display at the Pink Palace and then display it at the Senatobia Show. This will allow you to display your project twice. The only rule is that there must be some pink in the piece. I hope everyone will participate.
It would be wonderful to have a whole bunch of pieces on display.

8. For those of you wondering what happened to "green" it is not dead.
In fact I am working on making a more detailed description for a more substantial show. I would like to make it the Weavers Challenge for the Pink Palace 2010. I would like suggestions.....so please let me know what you think.

9. The Education Chair will be meeting this summer to put together programs for the next year. If you would like to be involved in this email Susanne Allen. We are looking for volunteers.

10. The spring picnic is set for May 30th. This is not marked on your schedule so please make a note of it. I hope everyone will attend.
The place is supposed to be mom's and my studio, however it is still not completed so we will see if that will work. If not we will give plenty of notice if there is a change.

One last thing there is a Nilus LeClerc 6 harness loom for sale in Ripley TN. If you are interested contact Gail Cooper at (731) 635-2217

I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to seeing lots of members at the workshop.

Victoria

Top 10 meeting highlights
February 28, 2009

Well, another month is over and another successful meeting completed.

Let me start by thanking Jennifer Sargent for a both informative and inspiring program. I for one was absolutely fascinated with her work at the Oriole Mill in Henderson. Here are some of the highlights from this month's meeting....

1. We started the meeting off by handing out member surveys.
This is to determine how to effectively select programs and workshops for next year. I received 5 completed surveys back and expect that everyone else will bring theirs back, fully completed, to the Mach meeting. Please do a little research and find things that you are truly interested in. Look in magazines, books, and on the Internet and try to be as specific as possible. If you did not attend the February meeting, you can print out a survey from the Guild Site and bring it to us in March. This whole process is to make sure we are tailoring next year to meet the guilds needs and wants.

2. Our biggest business of the day was creating an Education Chair.
Susanne Allen was nominated and elected to fill this position. This is the first step in getting an organized education program that not only gets people hooked on weaving but also will continue to further weaving education. Susanne along with other members have also expressed interest in teaching kids. So this is going to be a two pronged effort One with adult education and study groups, and the other with children's education. To make sure this is as successful as possible, we all need to participate and volunteer. If you have any ideas or just want to sign up and help please contact Susanne Allen at playswithstrings@hotmail.com.

3. At the meeting we also discussed reorganizing the guild's equipment.
We have decided that we will research the possibilities of standardizing the fleet of looms owned by the guild. This would include selling and replacing some the older larger looms with more compact looms. This is still in the research phase. It will probably be a long process that will start with replacing one or two pieces of equipment and continue as the guild can afford it.

4. In addition to replacing the equipment there is a lot of "odds and ends" in our guild room. The plan is to have a yarn/studio sale this summer. This means that all members would be able to clean out their studio and sell all that stuff we collect but do not need anymore. This is also in the idea phase. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

5. Because Susanne Allen is taking over the education chair she will be giving up her two previously held chairs Hospitality and Equipment. If you are interested in these positions please let me know. We will be nominating and voting at the next meeting.

6. We also voted on the exact days for the Elaine Bradley workshop "Point in a New Direction." The workshop will be held on April 25th and 26th at Lori Rawlinson's family studio. Directions will be given at the next meeting. The price will be between $100-$125 depending on how many sign up. The more that sign up the lower the cost. The price does not include supplies you will need either 10/2 cotton, or 8/2 cotton, or 5/2 cotton and a loom. If you do not have a loom you can borrow one from guild. This workshop works for both beginners and more advanced weavers. We will schedule a day in advanced to help people prepare their looms if needed. The deadline to register and pay for this workshop will be at the March 28th meeting. You can send us an email to let us know if you want to attend. Elaine Bradley will arrive Friday and leave Monday. We need a hostess please.

7. There were many questions regarding using more than 4 shafts in the workshop.
Elaine said she will instruct us on how to apply more shafts and give us drafts for that at the end of the workshop. She says working with four shafts is going to be enough work and we will be ready to use as many shafts as we want on our own after the class !?!

8. Mary Ann May is doing an excellent job putting the newsletter together.
We as members are not doing our part as to giving her our articles in a timely fashion. Therefore, it was determined at the last meeting that we will be doing things slightly different in the fall. We will try to have one member/month writing an article for the newsletter. You do not have to have special skills to do this. The topic can vary of course but be of interest to us weavers. This is of course in addition to what we already are trying to do. If you have any information for the next newsletter please email it to mamay@comcast.net before the 8th of the month.

9. A special thanks to Mary Jorgensson, Susanne Allen, and Lori Rawlinson who took time out of their week to come and clean the guild room. It desperately needed it. We will share this duty next year. This way our room will stay clean and ready for every meeting.

10. Last but not least, many members were proudly wearing their tapestry jewelry from last months workshops. They were all wonderful. Some members had continued to make several more pieces. Please send pictures of your work to Angela and she will be putting it on our web site for everyone to see.

The next meeting will be held on March 28th. Linda Weghorst will be having program designed to create with lace and add elegance to hand-woven cloth using weaver controlled Lace Weaves. Suitable for edges, accents, and woven designs these versatile weaves enhance functional and decorative woven textiles. I look forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting.

Happy Weaving,
Victoria Port

Top 10 meeting highlights
January 24, 2009

I start with an apology for not getting the “Top Ten Highlights” from last months meeting out to you in a timely manner. One would think with the economy falling apart I would be flying less but the fact is I am flying more. I have been so busy last weeks that I have barely had time to think. So here it is……better late than never!

  1. I have to start by Thanking Linda Weghorst for a wonderful workshop. We had a fabulous time and learn new tricks of the trade. It was truly a fun two days. For everyone who was unable to attend, Linda has some extra kits that can be purchased at our next meeting for $10. E-mail Linda with any questions. We would like to see the participants results displayed at the next meeting. Please bring them finished or not…
  2. I also have to Thank all who brought food for the two days. It was delicious -what a spread. We ate like royalty!!
  3. The major decision made at this meeting was the forming of a new guild position. We will now have an Education Chair. This person will be tasked with delegating, and keeping track of instructors and volunteers. They will have the ability to come up with and seek out solutions for our education classes to make them run smoother.
  4. Also after our next meeting we will be having a short meeting regarding these education programs. This includes “Scarf in a Day”, “Beginning Weaving”, and other advanced classes. Please attend and bring suggestions if you are interested in teaching or volunteering to help. We will be incorporating our scholarship money into our education program. Please bring suggestions to help with any of these ideas.
  5. I would like to welcome Emily to the guild. Emily is Susanne Allen’s granddaughter and she is already a very talented weaver. She is one of our first youth members and her membership opens up many opportunities for kid programs. This topic will also fall under the Education Chair and we will have to explore all the possibilities.
  6. A suggestion was made at the last meeting to clean out the guild room and sell all the extraneous items. This would allow us to up date some of our equipment and fix things that need to be fixed. This is still just in the suggestion stage and we will discuss it further at the next meeting with both of our Equipment Chairs Marcia Taylor and Susanne Allen.
  7. Mary Jorgensen our Guild Liaison informed us after millions of emails she is finally getting a response from the Nashville guild and HGA representative. While it is taking some time the program is off to a start. If you have any ideas or contacts with other Tennessee, Mississippi, or Arkansas guilds please email Mary the information.
  8. We are still expecting Elaine Bradley for her “Point in a New Direction” workshop in April. As soon as we get a response from her we will let you know the cost and the location of this workshop. I hope to have all this information and a sign up sheet at the next meeting.
  9. We will be handing out questionnaires at the next meeting to determine what programs we will need to schedule for next year. The more input that you give to us the better we will be able to tailor the programs to meet the needs and wants of our guild. One suggestion has been to have the ladies from Habu come and teach us a class exotic yarns etc. We are already looking into this suggestion. Please start thinking about next year and bring the suggestions to the next meeting.
  10. Last but not least the February meeting has changed from the original program. Jennifer Sargent will be giving a lecture on the Oriole Mill in Henderson. This was originally scheduled to happen in October of last year but was moved due to some conflict. I look forward to seeing everyone on February 28 at 9:30 am in the guild room

Sincerely,

Victoria Port

Hands-On Kumihimo - Saturday November 22

Two dozen weavers became braiders in a hands-on program with Victoria Port and Angela Schneider. Everyone started 8-strand kumihimo samplers using hand-held disks. We had samples of other braids, advanced braids on square kumihimo plates and five marudai (braiding stools) to try out. Okay braiders - let's see how you use kumihimo to complement your weaving! Linda Weghorst suggested it would make a great cord to accompany the tapestry woven jewelry in her January workshop.

Top 10 meeting highlights
November 22, 2008 - Hands-On Kumihimo

Hello Ladies,

Let me start by saying "WOW" what a turn out. It was nice to see so many people show up especially with the holidays right around the corner. Thank you to everyone who showed up and participated on Saturday. Also a great big thank you to everyone who stayed to warp the looms. I know this was a very long day but it was greatly appreciated. Now on to the highlights from last weeks meeting...

  1. Jennifer Steger showed us all the work she has been doing with our old photos. She has organized all the photos into albums, which will be located in the guild room for everyone to view. Jennifer has also prepared a digital version, that will eventually be part of our web site. Way to go Jennifer. We are now one step closer to going paperless.
  2. Also, we are still planning on doing artist profiles on our members and their work. Over the holidays please start thinking about what you would like to include on this digital profile. If you have interesting photos of your work and previous guild projects please include these on a disk. If you have an artist statement or even a favorite quote, that might work too. Please start thinking about this, because I want to have this well on its way before the next Pink Palace Craft Fair.
  3. On that note Mary Jorgensen informed us about the success that we had at the Pink Palace this year. While this was a good year there is always room for improvement. Some suggestions were to add a guest book for new potential members to sign. Also it would be nice to have business cards for members to use when there is interest in their work.
    Finally we will be setting up several meeting days to prepare tags and cards for the next fair. One last thing, please start planning and making items for the fair. This is so important because if we do not have the participation, then our booth looks empty. This is not the message we want to send.
  4. Mary Ann May did a great job again with the newsletter! However it has been brought to our attention that she is not getting a lot of information from the members. Please everyone needs to help with this newsletter. You can send in either an article, a photo, an editorial, a recipe, or anything else you think might be interesting. We need to help Mary Ann May get the information in a timely manner. If you have anything that you would like to submit please send it to commonthreads@memphisfiberarts.org Remember the deadline for the December newsletter is Dec 8th.
  5. There has been a change in schedule. Jennifer Sargent has agreed to give a presentation about the Jacquard Workshop she attended at the Jacquard Center and Oriole Mill in Henderson on February 28, 2009.
    Eva Cassel and Mary Jorgensen's program will be moved to next year and will probably be made into a mini workshop.
  6. We have still not decided what to substitute the Joyce Quigley award with. However it was determined that most of our members would like to use it for educational purposes. Some suggestions were to use it to teach school kids, summer camp, and further education for adults.
    For now we will label the money "Educational Purposes" and we will continue to discuss the topic at the January meeting. Please think about this and if you have any more suggestions email us at eccassel[at]aol[dot]com
  7. Linda Weghorst gave us a wonderful preview of the January workshop.
    She had wonderful samples and it is obvious that it will be tons of fun. It was determined that the workshop will be 10-4 on Saturday the 24th and 1-5 on Sunday the 25th. Please mark your calendars. Also you must sign up for this class because there is limited space. If you have any questions please email Linda at lgweghorst[at]comcast[dot]net
  8. Project Green was suggested as a guild challenge project. The idea is to take something that is now very hip very community oriented and make fiber art to represent it. By doing this we can catch the communities interest. If there is enough people who are willing participate, I will go to great lengths to see if we can find some interesting places to display the work. The idea is to think outside the box and make a statement on an important issue.
  9. It has now been announce that Convergence will be held in Albuquerque in 2010. Start saving your pennies, it looks like it will be lots of fun. You can find out more information at the HGA web site weavespindye.org
  10. Last but not least we had a wonderful hands on program about Kumihimo. Members got a introduction to Kumihimo and were able to try several different braids. For anyone who is interested in continuing Kumihimo the Guild purchased several books that will be available for check out in our library. The Braiders Hand is a good place to start looking for more information and tools regarding Kumihimo.
  11. This meeting was so packed that I am having to add an eleventh point. The Scarf in a Day classes have been extremely successful .
    There will be another one on December 6th. If you would like to help teach please email Angela at mghw@memphisfiberarts.org.

The next meeting is the Christmas Party on the 13th. You will receive a Christmas Card by mail with directions and information about the party. Please bring your favorite dish and at least 1 item to auction off in our silent auction. See you soon,

Victoria

PS One last thing: Carolyn Webb will be teaching a Nuno Felt class on April 11, 2009. This looks like it will be a wonderful workshop. It is $100 per student for an all day (10-4) workshop. The $100 fee includes class and a generous kit fee. The kit includes all materials needed to complete a large scarf or shrug in the workshop. Supplies are hand-dyed silk chiffon fabric, dyed wool roving, hand-dyed mohair locks, yarn embellishments, buttons for shrug. Questions may be referred to Althea Church, cccthea[at]bellsouth[dot]net or 662-281-0342. You can also get information on Carolyn Webb at cactuscarrie[at]msn[dot]com.

Top 10 meeting highlights
September 20, 2008 - Convergence Recap and PPCF preparation

Hello Weavers,

Another successful meeting!!! What a great turn out! Thanks to everyone who came and participated. Here are the top 10 highlights from the September meeting:

  1. Don't forget the Pink Palace Craft Fair is October 2nd through the 5th. If you have items you want to sell or you want to sign up to work the booth please contact Mary Jorgensen (901) 683-2918. If you are working the booth make sure you get a pink wrist band from Mary. Also anybody who still has a peacock loom please make sure they are warped and ready to go before October 1st. They will be needed for the kids. Make sure to tell all your friends to come see our booth.
  2. It was voted by a majority vote that we will be taking the class "Point in a New Direction" with Elaine Bradley. In this class we will learn the versatility of point threadings and how you can weave diamonds, laces, textures and more. New and experienced weavers will weave a sampler of point weaves for future reference. You'll no longer be asking "what's the point?" Thank you to all who emailed a absentee vote. Your votes were counted.
  3. It was decided that we will purchase a digital photo frame. This will be used to display our photos from workshops, member projects, and artworks. We will have it out during events such as the Pink Palace Crafts Fair to show people how much fun and talent our guild has. It will be an excellent tool to promote our guild during different events.
  4. We further discussed the new Scholarship suggestions that will replace the current Joyce Quigley award. It was determined that everyone need to put there suggestions into writing and bring them to the next meeting. Please think about this so that we can find a worthy cause to promote our art form.
  5. Mary Jorgensen will be our new guild Liaison. This new position was designed to enhance communications between our guild and other local guilds. The point is to help each other by sharing ideas and sharing travel cost for workshops. By sharing the cost this may allow us, on occasion, to have more expensive instructors come and teach us.
  6. Don't forget that October 1st is the deadline for membership dues. The dues are still $30. If you have not paid them yet please send them to the Guild's mailbox.
  7. October 8th is the deadline to send all your articles, recipes, tips on weaving, and all other information that you would like to include in the newsletter. Please participate and send this information in a timely fashion to Mary Ann May or email the guild using the link at left.
  8. There will be a new section on each meeting called "From the Mail Box." This section will include items either mailed or emailed to me by members, other guilds, and contests etc. If you have something, that you would like to be included in the meeting, please email it to Eva and label it "Mail Box." I will then know to include it in our next meeting.
  9. Thanks to Linda Weghorst, Angela Schneider, and Eva Cassel who put on a great program about convergence. We got to see lots pictures and hear the stories about the classes they took. They did a wonderful job getting everyone motivated and ready for the next Convergence in 2010.
  10. Next month Jennifer Sargent will give a presentation about the Jacquard Workshop she attended at the Jacquard Center and the Oriole Mill in Henderson. This is such an interesting subject, that we thought it might make for a fun road trip. Please keep this in mind when you watch the program and let us know if you are interested.

Our next meeting will be October 25th at 9:30 am. We will see you there!!!

Happy Weaving,
Victoria And Eva

 

 MGHW Workshops 

 

 

 Class offerings 

Beginning Weaving Class - Weekend Scarf!
Saturday, May 2, 10-4 & Sunday May 3, 1-4

This new class offering is for new weavers that want to start from the beginning! Participants will chose their own color(s), learn to read a weaving draft, set up the loom and weave a scarf to wear home on Sunday afternoon. Cost: $60; Class limit: 6. Details and Registration

Weave a Scarf in a Day!

January 31 was our 5th weave-a-scarf-in-a-day class since October, and this time we had 13 participants! Everyone did a great job on their scarves! See class highlights. This class also prompted idea for future classes to be announced soon.

Beginning Weaving class - September 6-7, 2008

Learn the basics of loom weaving. Start with an empty loom. Learn to read a draft, prepare a warp, thread the loom, and weave a sampler with at least four different patterns. Class is $65, including membership in the Memphis Guild of Handloom Weavers for the 2008-2009 year. Class details and registration.

 

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