Nashoba Valley Weavers' Guild

The May Nashoba Valley Weavers Guild meeting will be at the Congregational Church in Harvard, MA. This is an in-person meeting. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM, followed by our presentation with Kristin Kelley-Munoz.

Tapestry Weaving from a Former Multi-Shaft Weaver’s Point of View

After spending over 20 years as a multi-shaft/cloth weaver, and prompted by the pandemic-forced closures of shows such as Paradise City, Kristin changed her weaving practice completely, starting over again as a tapestry weaver. After learning the basics through online classes, she was accepted into the two-year, low residency Foundation in Tapestry program at the West Dean Tapestry studio, one of the last remaining large tapestry studios in the world, located in southern England. In this presentation, Kristin will give an overview of tapestry from its ancient roots through to the current state of the field, and share her experiences in making this change and her studying at West Dean so far. She will bring along samples, books and a few different types of small tapestry looms for Guild members to see and try out, time permitting. She will also provide an extensive list of resources that she has found helpful in her journey – in case anyone else would like to explore the slow art of tapestry weaving as well.

The March 2023 Nashoba Valley Weavers Meeting Zoom Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 28, at 7:00 PM. Our program for the night is a tour of the Saunderstown (RI) Weaving School historic looms with Norma Smayda.

HISTORY

The Saunderstown (RI) Weaving School was established in 1974 and continues to offer classes in handweaving on floor looms. The school began with two Glimakra looms and a Monica table loom from Scandinavia, two small Harrisvilles’, one big Hammett, and five weaving students. This number quickly grew to between twenty-five and thirty students per semester, year-round. Over the years more looms came in, many were donated, others were bought, new, and used, and occasionally a few looms were left to make room for others. At this time there are about forty-five floor looms, plus several table, tapestry and band looms. Over twenty-five loom makers are represented. Some of the looms are historic, and most have stories to tell. Two looms belonged to Weaver Rose, another was built by Milo Gallinger for his wife Osma, one loom was used in the Bauhaus, another is a specially designed two-legged loom, and one was built by a Hollywood movie actor for his Rockette wife. The weaving school also houses a large library of about 2,000 volumes. This will be a narrated slide show into the workings of the Saunderstown Weaving School.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Norma Smayda learned to weave in Norway, and occasionally returned there to teach. In 1974 she established and continues to run the Saunderstown Weaving School. In addition, she lectures and gives workshops, especially on her favorite topics–Scandinavian weaving techniques, weave structures, and the work of Weaver Rose and Bertha Gray Hayes. She has written two books: Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes and Ondulé Textiles: Weaving Contours with a Fan Reed.

This year’s theme:  Out of the darkness, into the white!

As we begin to re-emerge into a new Pandemic-induced normal, we reflect on things we’ve learned during quarantine.  We learned that inclement weather meetings don’t need to be canceled when they are held online.  We also learned that some speakers are willing to “Zoom in” from different locales, giving us affordable access to presentations that are out of our geographical area.  Finally, we learned that many of us appreciate “in person” meetings when it’s safe to do so, especially when Show and Tell is involved!  This year’s program calendar tries to balance all of these lessons.  Check out our upcoming programs here.

This year’s Challenge: Weave something using just one color (color of your choice) and white.  Get as inventive as you like!  What effects can you create?  Which tints of your chosen color do you like best?  Challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone, or stay right within it.  Have your piece(s) ready to showcase and talk about at the Annual/Potluck meeting in June!