Welcome back to WGGB!  What did you learn on your summer vacation? Inquiring minds want to know.  Hear from folks who went to MAFA. Or from those who attended other workshops or who learned something new on their own.    

There will also be a brief demo of the website so that you can use this resource more effectively plus we’ll be discussing some other upcoming guild business.

The word “silk” evokes thoughts of exotic lands and the most luxurious of fabrics.  Whether spinning, dyeing or weaving, silk is a magnificent fibre to work with. The hand, the drape, how light glints along its gossamer strands and the way it takes up dye is unparalleled in the world of natural fibres.

I have been working with silk for more than 45 years and I am still learning. My long-standing passion for silk emanates from a deep appreciation of:

• Silk’s long, colourful history.
• The recycle/reuse approach of producers, ensuring every bit of the crop is used.
• The biology of the silkworm, its life cycle and the silk gland’s synthesis of silk.
• The sheer wonderment at the form and function of cocoons.

In this lecture, I will walk you through the similarities and differences between silk from the different species of silkworms available to us as fibre artists. The species we will look at include Bombyx, Muga, Tropical Tasar, Temperate Tussah and Eri silkworms. Depending upon the species, silk is available in a beautiful array of colours from whites, soft yellows, subtle undertones of golds, soft grey browns, brick reds, tawny linen-colours to creamy vanillas. In addition to colour, the different species also possess subtle variances in thickness of the sericin layers, cross-sectional shape, length and longitudinal shape which causes the filaments to reflect light differently. This is why muga sparkles and white eri silk has a soft pearlescent glow.

In this lecture, I will also share my finishing methods for handspun silk yarns and handwoven silk fabrics as well as my top tips for dyeing silk roving and yarn.

About the Artist

Curiosity is what propels me. My fibre journey is a delicate balance between science and art. Research helps me to understand the intrinsic nature of my materials and practice helps me to improve upon the mechanics of skill. There is a point, however, where I must turn my mind off and allow my hands and intuition to guide me.  I have had articles published in both Spin Off and PLY magazines.

Artist’s website: www.claddaghfibrearts.com

 

Indulge for a moment, in the idea of sleeping in linen bedsheets that you have woven! Linen has imperceptible elasticity, incredible strength, and a finish that will last generations. Linen will tell you exactly what it wants and what you have “done to it” if it doesn’t like the way you handle it.

Material objects such as these are not divorced from their owners, inert ‘things’ with no life of their own. Instead, they are invested with meaning – emotional, religious, and even political. This presentation looks at material culture – linen, the history of bedsheets, and the process of making. We will share the inspiration and challenges of our quest to be hand weavers in an automated society.

About the Artist

Suzi Ballenger was born and raised in Indiana. She completed her BA at Keene State College in New Hampshire and her MFA in Artisanry-Fibers from UMass-Dartmouth. She has worked in New England as a weaver and teaching artist since 1996 and currently serves on the Board of The Handweavers Guild of America.  Her work has been published in Handwoven Magazine, Surface Design Association, and The Textile Society of America. She has a curiosity for material that stimulates her woven language; believing the fullest expression of a fiber can be realized through observation, rhythm, and structure. When not in the studio, Suzi can be found outside in the garden, swimming in the ocean, or walking on local trails.

Artist’s website: www.realfibers.com

Susan is a textile artist recognized for her weavings that are abstract in nature yet evoke ethereal landscapes, misty atmosphere and rippling reflections. Her work explores the relationship between layers of thread interlacing with each other within the plane of woven fabric.

Susan’s work has been exhibited regionally and has won awards at the Mid Atlantic Fiber Association and Convergence art exhibitions. In this lecture, Susan will present her journey as an artist using slides and samples of her work, and will discuss her processes and inspirations.

About the Artist

From an early age, textiles have always been an important part of my life through sewing, knitting, crochet and embroidery. Learning to weave in 2013 opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me and added another dimension to my textile passion. Weaving provides a unique venue to explore not only traditional craft, but to push the boundaries of craft into art.

In my work I use traditional weaving techniques and materials as well as non-traditional materials such as paper and wire. My warps are hand painted with some foresight and planning, but I allow the weft yarns to speak to me and choose them as I weave. I tend to work in series corresponding to the various warps I create and hand paint.

I received formal training as an artist and have worked in a wide variety of media. In addition to my current focus on weaving and fiber arts, I have also worked in jewelry design, colored pencil and pastel drawing, painting, stained glass, collage and ceramics, and for years was a sewist/dressmaker.

Artist’s website: www.susanbalascio.com/

Explore and experience creative ways to use every precious bit of hand-woven scrap. Some techniques require sewing, some a hot glue gun. Some ideas become great garments; some can be sent through the mail! Learn how to use some of the fusibles and stabilizers available, and learn to look at everything from old work, to the smallest scrap as an exciting new raw material.

About the Artist

Daryl Lancaster, a hand-weaver and fiber artist known for her award-winning hand-woven fabric and garments, has been constructing garments for more than half a century. She gives lectures and workshops to guilds, conferences, and craft centers all over the United States. The former Features Editor for Handwoven Magazine, she has written more than 100 articles and digital content, frequently contributes to various weaving and sewing publications and including Threads Magazine. She now has a YouTube channel, The Weaver Sews where she shares her extensive experience sewing handwoven garments. Daryl maintains a blog at www.weaversew.com/wordblog

Artist’s website: www.daryllancaster.com

The COVID pandemic propelled many people to change their lives in ways large and small. Some adopted puppies. Others stress-baked. Peggy Orenstein, a lifelong knitter, went just a little further. To keep herself engaged and cope with a series of seismic shifts in family life, she set out to make a garment from the ground up: learning to shear sheep, spin and dye yarn, then knitting herself a sweater.

Orenstein hoped the project would help her process not just wool but her grief over the recent death of her mother and the decline of her dad, the impending departure of her college-bound daughter, and other thorny issues of aging as a woman in a culture that by turns ignores and disdains them. What she didn’t expect was a journey into some of the major issues of our time: climate anxiety, racial justice, women’s rights, the impact of technology, sustainability, and, ultimately, the meaning of home.

With her wry voice, sharp intelligence, and exuberant honesty, Orenstein shares her year-long journey as daughter, wife, mother, writer, and maker—and teaches us all something about creativity and connection.

About the Artist

Peggy Orenstein is the New York Times bestselling author of, among others, Girls & Sex, Boys & Sex, Don’t Call Me Princess, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, and the classic Schoolgirls. A frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine, she has written for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, AFAR, the New Yorker, and other publications, and has contributed commentary to NPR’s All Things Considered and The PBS NewsHour. She lives in Northern California.

Artist’s website: www.peggyorenstein.com/

Turning a draft remains a mystery to many weavers. In this presentation, we will go over the three main reasons for turning a draft. I will walk participants step-by-step through the process using sample drafts that we’ll turn together. Participants should print out the provided pdf booklet in advance to follow along. I will reference existing turned drafts, share my own experience in turning a draft, as well as demonstrate the Fiber Works ­­­­version for turning a draft. By the end of the presentation, participants will feel comfortable in turning drafts of their own.

 

About the Artist

I fell in love with weaving about ten years ago, when I retired from my career in graphic design. The two disciplines overlap perfectly through my love for color, pattern, and the design process. I became an artisan at the Hartford Artisans Weaving Center and began teaching as well as weaving my own creations. My classes focus on aiding weavers in understanding weave structures. The pandemic led me to launch ‘Modern Weaver’ with the intent of building a community of weavers desiring to connect with others through learning in a virtual setting. I love teaching structures in a simple, understandable way. It is my greatest delight when participants come away from my presentations with a clear understanding and feel confident enough to create their own cloth.

My work has appeared in Long Thread Media’s Handweavers and Little Looms magazines. I have taught virtual workshops around the US and have been a presenter at HGA’s Spinning and Weaving Week, as well as designing weaving patterns for WEBS.

Artist’s website: www.modernweaver.com

Thanks to Laurie for stepping in at the last minute!

Laurie will discuss this fundamental concept in weaving. Profile drafting is not just a shorthand way to write a draft. It’s a powerful technique for design. If you’ve ever seen a draft like this and couldn’t quite get it, Laurie will unlock profile drafting for you and will demonstrate the power of blocks.

About the Artist

Laurie lives and works at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. As a child she was fascinated by all things fiber, particularly when visiting Colonial Williamsburg. She learned to spin first, on a spinning wheel built by her grandfather. Spinners hang out with weavers and spinning became the entry drug as she developed her fiber habit. She has been weaving for over 30 years. Through conferences, weaving schools, and community college, she learned to develop her own weaving voice. Laurie shows and sells her work regionally and has taught across the US. As a teacher, she hopes each student understands what draws them to their craft. Her goal is for them to begin to understand what they love about weaving, and to develop the tools they need to express themselves through weaving. Her favorite moments are when a student has an “aha” experience. Then she knows that a weaver has been inspired to continue in their growth as a craftsperson.

Artist’s website: http://laurieduxbury.com

Sara and Dustin, owners of Reg Stone Glen, will take us on a journey of spinning and weaving equipment maintenance.  It’s time to take your of your looms and wheels!

 Artist’s website: redstoneglen.com

In this illustrated lecture, cloth leads us on a universal journey through space and time. We examine how cloth and the process of cloth-making has permeated virtually every aspect of life on earth. Examples are drawn from archeology, art history, contemporary living weaving cultures, and more. A very inspirational talk that truly celebrates cloth-making and its makers.

About the Artist

Sarah has been weaving since childhood.  Weaving and dyeing have been her vocation for almost 4 decades.  She has taught nationally and internationally and for many years taught Weaving and Textiles at Syracuse University.  She now makes her home in Providence, RI and has a studio in what was once the world’s largest weaving mill.    In her current studio practice, she focuses on custom-designed, heirloom quality Jewish prayer shawls.  

Artist’s website: sarahsaulson.com

Discover the possibilities of designing and weaving lace with this lovely weave structure. Over the centuries weavers have enjoyed creating lace and spots of lace using this technique. It is appropriate for fine linen as well as thicker wool. It can also be used in profile drafts. Enjoy learning about the versatility of Bronson.

 

About the Artist

Laurie lives and works at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. As a child she was fascinated by all things fiber, particularly when visiting Colonial Williamsburg. She learned to spin first, on a spinning wheel built by her grandfather. Spinners hang out with weavers and spinning became the entry drug as she developed her fiber habit. She has been weaving for over 30 years. Through conferences, weaving schools, and community college, she learned to develop her own weaving voice. Laurie shows and sells her work regionally and has taught across the US. As a teacher, she hopes each student understands what draws them to their craft. Her goal is for them to begin to understand what they love about weaving, and to develop the tools they need to express themselves through weaving. Her favorite moments are when a student has an “aha” experience. Then she knows that a weaver has been inspired to continue in their growth as a craftsperson.

Artist’s website: www.laurieduxbury.com