November Meeting - Making Christmas Hearts

Because last year's Japanese textile studies were so interesting, this year the guild decided to try another area in the world known for their fine weaving and textile techniques.  Scandinavia and all it has to offer is our theme for this year. 

To kick things off, one of our members suggested weaving paper Christmas hearts which are found in all the Scandinavian countries at this time of year.  To prepare for the class, we bought the book by Susan Foulkes called Christmas Hearts.  The instructors, Gloria and Beryl tried their hand at the beginners projects and found that they were a bit tricky to get the construction paper to slip through all the contortions needed.  Gloria had a brilliant idea about making a lightweight pattern heart so that people could learn the technique before they made one with the stiffer paper and that seemed to be just what was needed to get everyone started.

Soon members were ready to get on with the more complicated two color hearts, including a six year old who seemed to be enjoying the process immensely.

 

These fun hearts are used in all kinds of decorating in Scandinavia and are often hung on the Christmas tree, filled with candy or other goodies.  Check out this collection in Pinterest for more designs and tutorials. 

 

One thing always leads to another and Karen found a link to making Scandinavian Christmas Stars out of quilting fabrics.  Something else to try this

holiday season.  

 

 God Jul from all of us at the Reno Fiber Guild.