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.
This is an in-person meeting that begins at 7:00 PM with social and library browsing time. The program–Creative Meditation: Finding Connection through Making with Christopher Croucher starts at 7:30 PM.
Creative Meditation: Finding Connection through Making
Meditation isn’t just about making your mind go blank. In fact, unless you’re a monk high in the Himalayas, that’s really not the goal of meditation at all. There are so many ways and so many reasons to practice reaching a meditative state including stress reduction, clearer thinking and even some health benefits. One of my favorite ways to reach that state is to dive fully into a creative project.
In this workshop we will briefly discuss meditation, what it is and isn’t, and some of its benefits. Then we will practice together with a guided meditation about connecting with our craft and art. All you need is an art or craft you’d like to work on, preferably something a bit repetitive or simple like a simple knitting project, spinning, stitching or simple embroidery, sketching or anything that doesn’t require checking on a pattern.
I look forward to sharing this technique with you!
Christopher Croucher is an artist, performer and healer who enjoys weaving (pun intended) those three aspects of his work together to create beautiful experiences for those he encounters. Chris practices a wide range of arts and crafts including but never limited to spinning and knitting, watercolor painting, sculpting, pyrography, sewing, and in many cases anything else he can get his hands on. He is a professional dancer and choreographer and is currently growing his meditative dance series called Letting the Land Lead. He also works with groups and one-on-one clients as a massage therapist and energy healer and teaches workshops based on all of his work. During whatever time he has after doing all of that, Chris loves to be in nature. Most of all, he simply loves sharing his passion for the magic of the world.
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.
Every June we have elections for half of the NVWG Board. All terms are for 2 years unless noted. This year we will vote on the following positions:
(Job descriptions for the open positions are below. All positions are described in our Bylaws document .)
Per our Bylaws, the nominating committee is made up of all of the Board members whose terms are not expiring. That committee will be headed by Laura.
As our new Bylaws dictate, there are term limits for the Co-Chair and Secretary positions. This means that Penny and Krista cannot continue in these rolls. We must nominate new people for these positions.
Please make nomination suggestions to Laura or any current Board member. The Board usually meets for an hour just prior to our regular Guild meetings, and we generally have a lot of fun. Please consider joining us!
Excerpt from Nashoba Valley Weavers’ Guild, Bylaws Article IV, Duties
The Guild’s February meeting is two weeks from now. Our program for the meeting is “Setts and All Their Glory” with Susan Conover. This is Susan’s newest presentation and is filled with oodles of pertinent information for the hand weaver when it comes to obtaining the proper sett for your next project.
The beginning of the talk contains reed maintenance (carbon and stainless steel), including storage solutions and rusty reed prevention and repair. Plus, a nifty conversion chart for Imperial vs. metric reed sizing. Susan then moves into the nitty-gritty with:
It’s not every day that one of our members is on TV!
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/weaving-passion-fiber-arts-penny-lacroix-westford-studio/
Nashoba Valley Weavers Guild
December 6, 2022, Meeting & Workshop RSVP Required
1:00 PM–3:00 PM (in-person only)
Congregational Church of Harvard, 5 Still River Road, Harvard, MA
Fran Levi will present Hemstitching & Friends
On-loom techniques for stabilizing first and last weft rows and really dressing up a piece of weaving. This is a fast paced, hands on review of some of the neglected tools in your weaving toolbox. You will go home with a sampler of techniques for future reference.
Things to bring:
Sewing scissors
Sewing glasses
Selection of tapestry needles
Tie on tags for labeling (I’ll bring some if you don’t have them handy)
Tatting hook or tiny crochet hook (optional)
Knitting needle 12” or shorter any size between 0 & 5 (optional)
Magnification (optional)
Personal work light (optional)
We are asking that those who are planning on attending to please RSVP so that we have an adequate number of kits prepared. Here is the link to the RSVP form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf20BU0z3oC4CdBzUpEYr_akNAXtgCrlhOlCp-SRe60h3ZGkQ/viewform?fbzx=1794918075375150655
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!