“After housing a tapestry factory founded by Louis XIV’s Finance Minister Colbert in 1664, Beauvais became France’s national tapestry centre under Napoleon. The traditional “low weave” technique is still used in its workshops today. “You Are Here” meets the master craftsmen who weave colourful creations for France’s state buildings.”
The next meeting of the guild will be held on May 24th at the Fiber Loft. The program will be presented by Deb Kaplan and will be on Unusual Materials. Here is her description:
Unusual materials are both ancient and modern. Some will seem similar to yarns you have used before, others will be quite different. Horsehair, paper, straw, stems, unusual silks, plant and animal fiber yarns, and over-twisted yarns have been used for centuries. Elastics, plastics and stainless steel, copper, brass and synthetic metallic yarns are all newer. We’ll look at them all. Why use some of the more unusual materials available? How do you go about evaluating them? We will look at the properties of some more common and not so common materials and compare and contrast.
Come for refreshments, socializing and a selection of library materials at 7 pm. The program will begin at 7:30 pm. A representative of the Fiber Loft will be at the meeting if members wish to make purchases at the store.
Social Catalysts Charitable Foundation Presented by Christine Wyman
Tuesday, April 26, 2015 at the Fiber Loft, Harvard, MA. Come at 7pm for refreshments, to peruse library selections and to socialize. The program begins at 7:30pm.
Christine Wyman will talk about the founding and current status of Social Catalysts Charitable Foundation, www.socialcatalysts.org, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that creates weaving programs in order to help employ individuals with significant disabilities. Products similar to the bags pictured above will be available for sale at the meeting.
Christine Wyman, Co-Founder, Social Catalysts – B.S., Materials Science & Engineering, Cornell University, MBA, Dartmouth College, Past Chair and Current Member, Central Massachusetts Advisory Board, Center for Women & Enterprise
After a career in high tech R&D and marketing, Christine founded Social Catalysts, having seen first-hand the difficulties that individuals with disabilities face and the need for solutions. Christine and her co-founder, Ashwin Mehta, learned to weave at the Fiber Loft and those skills laid the foundation for their work at Social Catalysts.
Two longtime porch activities are now combined into one simple contraption thanks to designers Damien Ludi and Colin Peillex, creators of the Rocking Knit. The wooden rocking chair is rigged to knit as you sway back and forth, producing a cap from minimal energy output. The invention was produced as a part of Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne‘s Low-Tech Factory, a workshop that encourages students from the industrial design program to invent simple machines that at once create an experience and a material good. Ludi and Peillex premiered their contraption at Designer’s Saturday in Langenthal, Switzerland and produced a video that demonstrates their invention below.
Thousand Island Arts Center, home of the Handweaving Museum, will be hosting this event again this year in Clayton, NY. If anyone is interested, the registration deadline is 12April. Details can be found at http://tiartscenter.org/whc.php, including registration forms.
The March meeting of the Nashoba Valley Weavers’ Guild will be presented by Jacquie Chalmers on Circle Weaving Techniques and an example application – covered buttons. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 22nd, 7 pmat the Fiber Loft in Harvard, MA. Please note that the actual meeting will start at 7 pm. Join us for socializing, refreshments and to peruse library selections at 6:30 pm. Class will include how to warp the circular loom, weave a design and how to finish the project. We will then take it off the loom and use it to cover a button. After making a button using the basic weave we will learn one or two additional weaving techniques to achieve different visual effects in the finished work.
*** Kit/materials : $5 for members, $10 for non-members. The guild is subsidizing this workshop by paying half of the materials fee for members. Includes circle loom, threads, buttons; material to make 4 buttons.
*** Students should bring a size 18 tapestry needle and scissors.
Instructor Bio: Jacquie Chalmers – Jacquie splits her time between the calm of her studio in upstate New York and the frenzy of busy Boston Massachusetts. She has taught many classes at Fiber College, shows and guilds. A long time knitter, spinner, dyer, felter and needle tatter, she has recently focused on circle weaving. She loves nothing more than mastering a new skill, applying it in a new way and sharing it with others.
Mary Merrill Fiber Weekend with 1:00 pm John Colony Lecture
Sunday, March 20, 2016, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Fuller Craft is delighted to present Mary Merrill: Fields of Interest (March 19 – April 17, 2016). This legacy exhibition will celebrate the life and creative practie of Merrill, a renowned weaver whose creative practice gained its greatest momentum in her later years. Retrospective in scope, the exhibition will offer a holistic view into the life of this masterful weaver, spotlighting the myriad influences that inspired her work: lush color pallettes, international travel, domestic life, and a fervent love of weaving. On Sunday, March 20, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm members of the Weaver’s Guild of Boston will hold demos and drop-in workshops (at 11:00 am – 12:00 pm and 2:00 – 3:00 pm) for tapestry weaving and drop spinning in our studios for children and adults. At 1:00 pm, don’t miss featured guest speaker John Colony, owner of Harrisville Designs, Harrisville, New Hampshire. This exhibit is sponsored by the Weaver’s Guild of Boston. Reception included with admission. Lecture $7 ($15 Nonmembers)
Nashoba Valley Weavers' GuildPosted on by Penny Lacroix
This was sent to us to share. It was sent by Susan Connolly suzliden@gmail.com. If anyone has been to this in the past, please reply to the post and let us know what you thought.
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This year’s three day fiber arts program will be held June 24 – 26 at the Denmark Municipal Building, Denmark, Maine.
The website is now updated with this year’s schedule of exciting fiber workshops. There are 37 workshops to choose from. Many of our favorite instructors are returning with some interesting workshop offerings, as well as, several new instructors.
Full details about the workshops and registration information can be found on our website www.pleasantmtfiber.com.
Nashoba Valley Weavers' GuildPosted on by Penny Lacroix
The weather is still kind of indeterminate – typical New England – but it sounds like the most probable scenario is that the heavy stuff is going to be underway right when we would be leaving the meeting to go home. To be on the side of caution and keep everyone safe, we have decided to cancel the meeting tonight.
